What to consider when choosing an ERP system for equipment rental industry

Choosing an ERP system isn’t easy. Not only will you have to consider the ERP system’s reviews and the vendor’s reputation, you’ll also need to see if the features cater to your specific industry needs. Take the equipment rental industry, for example. There are various niche challenges that you’ll have to navigate, such as managing complex reservations, pricing models, equipment availability and maintenance history.

The right ERP system can help. Here are five questions we recommend you ask yourself to help you make the right choice.

1. Does the solution allow you to have complete visibility over your business processes? 
2. Can the solution offer real-time data and business intelligence? 
3. Do you require mobility in your solution?  
4. Will the solution eliminate paper trails and make overall operations more effective? 
5. Do you require support and service as part of your solution? 

1. Does the solution allow you to have complete visibility over your business processes?

As mentioned earlier, equipment rental businesses like yours will often find managing bookings, contracts, pricing models, equipment availability etc challenging. An ERP system that’s designed for the equipment rental industry will help you overcome this challenge.

Not only will you see an overview of your business processes at a single glance, but you can have live data feeds on your upcoming bookings, equipment maintenance schedules, invoices and delivery routes. All of this data will come through into one centralised location as the solution can integrate with your other business systems (especially your ERP) and allow you to easily import data from multiple sources.

This makes it easier for you to enhance your offerings, team productivity, process efficiency and customer satisfaction all at once.

2. Can the solution offer real-time data and business intelligence? 

An equipment rental industry-specific ERP system will deliver accurate, real-time data collected from your equipment, helping you track their usage and health. This can be used for predictive and preventative maintenance - something that can be hard to keep track of when you have multiple assets as part of your operation unless you use technology.

Access to business intelligence capabilities allows you to make more informed decisions. For example, insights into the industry can help you monitor changing trends, and flag issues and resolve them before they become a problem.

This helps your business stay competitive.

3. Do you require mobility in your solution?

Your field-based staff need access to your ERP system when they’re on-the-go. The right solution allows them to easily enter and update information regardless of their location. All they need is an internet-enabled device.

Not only will this boost your staff productivity and efficiency, but it can also reduce costs. For starters, your field staff can use their own devices to access the ERP solution - meaning minimal additional investment for you.

4. Will the solution eliminate paper trails and make overall operations more effective?

The most efficient and productive businesses have ditched paper trails and even spreadsheets in favour of automated technology. Managing spreadsheets and hard copies of notes is very time-consuming and leaves the door wide open for manual errors.

The right ERP system will allow you to import data from any digital source, such as a spreadsheet, so you can slowly leave that behind. Data entry will be much easier too, thanks to features such as predictive text (contextually based on what the system knows about your business and industry) and automatically flagging potential issues like missing information.

5. Do you require support and service as part of your solution?

Even the best systems experience errors from time to time. The right equipment rental industry-specific ERP system will come with round-the-clock support from the vendors.

Whether you’re struggling with updating your solution or you need some help in training your employees on how to use it, the right solutions vendors can offer assistance whenever you need it.

There’s more to consider in your search for the right equipment rental solution…

When you ask these questions and evaluate the solution that will work for you, you’ll find that your rental operations become more efficient. It’s the beauty that technology can bring to the equipment rental market.

Asking these questions is just the beginning. You also need to consider the industry challenges digitalisation can solve, plus separate the essential software features from the ‘nice-to-have’.

Learn more by clicking the button below to download our guide to choosing the right rental solution.