Gone are the days when rental businesses were run via spreadsheets with just a few team members. With today’s vast array of rental industry solutions, it seems impossible that we used to do business this way! The rental management industry offers various Rental ERP solutions that promise efficiency, clarity and insights to your business. Moving on from those spreadsheets has never been easier. But when your business is booming and you’re ready to invest in a comprehensive end-to-end rental industry solution, how do you choose which one to go for? What are the non-negotiables of an outstanding rental management system?
This article lists six crucial factors for consideration for rental companies looking to upgrade or renew their Rental ERP system: costs, requirements, comprehensiveness, reporting, developments and support.
1. Keep costs low and ROI high
Of course the biggest consideration when implementing new equipment rental software in your business will always be the bottom line. How much is the implementation going to cost, and then how much time is going to be lost in the change management process. When considering costs it’s crucial to see the bigger picture – not just the rental management software price per month. You also need to watch the number of consultancy hours, the amount of training time required, the integration and customization costs and, of course, the potential cost of the impact on your customers. All of these costs can be reduced by ensuring that you choose the correct rental industry solution and the correct provider to guarantee the benefits of equipment rental software.
Implementation costs, for example, can be cut by choosing embedded solutions above 3rd Party solutions. This will lower the number of interfaces, time and costs to develop them. On top, an experienced provider with trained consultants who have experience and full focus in the rental industry can accelerate implementations tremendously.
If you run on SAP, you can benefit from am out of the box equipment rental solution fully embedded in SAP ECC or S/4HANA with SAP consultants who know the ins and outs of the rental industry. Similarly, the training and change management processes within your business can be expedited by choosing a provider who understands your current business systems. and already knows the challenges your team are going to face.
Finally, upgrading to a rental industry solution is going to be a game changer when it comes to delivering excellence to your customers – but the implementation process needs to have a minimal impact on your business. Choosing a provider with the correct experience can mitigate this cost. FIT Global, SAP’s development partner for equipment and dealer management, rental & leasing, has been here before. Benefit from an expertise partner know the steps to take to reduce the impact on your business and ensure a smooth implementation of your new rental management system.
2. Consider the needs of all stakeholders
While your customers will be a priority, it’s also important to consider the needs and specific requirements of all the stakeholders involved in your project and in your business processes. This includes the users, your suppliers, shareholders, existing customers and even your future customers. A successful end-to-end solution gives each stakeholder a way to action their needs in the (re)newed system.
Although this seems obvious, finding and identifying the individual needs of stakeholders in can actually be difficult. Some stakeholders are not obvious, or their needs may vary, even if they are part of the same team. In the rental management industry there are many specific processes and various opportunities to increase utilization rates, availability and embrace IOT capabilities. These might not always been recognized as needs, but for sure will be seen as great opportunities. That’s why it’s crucial to find a specific Rental ERP industry solution and not a generic ERP solution. FIT Global’s team of consultants are experts in identifying your stakeholders and speaking directly to their needs, making sure that you consider all necessary information during your rental transformation journey.
3. Look for an end-to-end solution
Alongside selecting specific rental management software, it’s important to ensure that the solution is an end-to-end model. One common mistake businesses make when selecting an ERP solution is an over-reliance on customization. We know – your business is unique! But standardization in business processes is valuable. Relying on customizations is a slow and expensive process and making any changes after implementation can be difficult.
A far better approach is to look for and adapt to an integrated end-to-end solution. Software is made to model the best industry practices, and so if you find that your business processes deviate hugely from this it’s worth asking why. To truly get the benefits of equipment rental software, take the best practices as a starting point to reshape your normal business practises and adapt to the system, rather than insisting on lengthy customizations.
Once again, having a solution that was built with your industry in mind is of the utmost importance. An generic ERP solution just won’t cut it when it becomes to the blueprint of your rental business processes. For SAP customers, there is rental industry solution available, out of the box and fully embedded in SAP ECC or S/4HANA.
4. Choose excellent reporting capabilities
Big data is the idea on everyone’s lips at the moment – how you can make your data work for you and see insights that are a prerequisite for running your business well. It’s an exciting time if you can really make decisions based upon ‘one version of the truth’. That’s why you need equipment rental software with a very strong central master data concept to provide excellent reporting capabilities.
When to invest in maintenance, when is the best time to sell assets, what is the availability and utilization rate of equipment, what is the depreciation of assets, what is the optimal time for marketing to customers? FIT Global created a unique central data card to combine data from SAP’s digital core with all specific equipment/asset management data. The inbuilt asset reporting functionalities of your Rental Industry Solution should speak directly to your situation.
5. Stay on top of technological developments and trends
One common problem with embracing new software solutions, and an issue that holds businesses back from technological innovation, is the fear that as soon as you spend money your chosen solution is out of date. This way of thinking is out of date. Technological innovations happen at lightning speed so an investment in technology should not be seen as a one off, rather the beginning of a lifelong improvement process. When the initial implementation project ends, the business and technological development process really has just begun.
Simply purchasing and installing a rental industry solution does not guarantee the benefits of equipment rental software. If you run on SAP or any other ERP system. Staying on top of trends and changes to the system, seeing which development works for you and ensuring your team becomes technologically literate within the SAP universe is crucial to maximizing your return on investment. Invest in training, audits and new ways of working.
SAP continuously embeds innovations in S/4HANA and FIT Global leverages rental innovations immediately across all customers. So run with new functionalities, try out new trends and you will find insights, ideas and opportunities that will innovate your business and keep you ahead of the competition.
6. Ensure outstanding support services
So you’ve got a solution in mind, you’ve gone through the implementation process, the last consultant has left the office and you’re confident that you made a great choice… Then the business has an additional ask or something goes wrong and you’re on your own to fix it. If you’ve chosen an end-to-end solution, the chances are that it’s not going to be too hard to find a solid solution. It’s easier, though, if you have a team of experts behind you who are eager to help you navigate to that part of the instruction manual or even develop any additional solution.
Having a support team you can depend on for your equipment rental solution is crucial. Every second counts when it comes to IT solutions and if your team is struggling to find the right answers it can be a nail-biting situation getting everything working smoothly again. Having experienced rental industry consultants available can be the difference between getting up and running again with minimal costs, and continuing business as usual.
SAP ECC or S/4HANA – FIT Global Solution
Of course all of these components are built in as standard in our intuitive SAP rental industry solution. With FIT-Rent our customers turn their rental business challenges into exciting rental opportunities. Our comprehensive and fully integrated end-to-end processes are built with your industry in mind.
Our user-friendly interface with SAP Fiori means that your team can adapt easily and our accelerated approach ensures fast implementation with our expert rental management consultants. That means you get the benefits of your equipment rental software faster. Our expert team specializes in your industry, making sure you’re always ahead of the competition with our technological updates and trends.
Finally our support is designed to assist you every step of the way, and your implementation is in safe hands. It’s never been simpler to streamline all your rental processes in SAP S/4HANA with FIT Global.
Are you ready to talk with our expert team about what a new rental management system could do for your business? Contact us today.
