In the sale, rental and service of machines and equipment, you have to deal with many different processes. It seems like an almost impossible task to properly automate and manage all of that. But if you want complete control over your business, one complete ERP solution is the best way forward.
Many departments, many processes, many requirements and wishes
Take a tour of your company and ask each department about the processes they go through, documents they use and reports they consult. Purchasing equipment and parts, quoting and selling equipment and parts, the complete rental process, accounting, planning, executing and administering work orders, managing inventory, contacting customers, suppliers and partners, contract management, fleet management, etc. The biggest challenge for your organization is to have all these diverse processes under control so that they are carried out timely and correctly.
"The biggest challenge for your organization is to have all these disparate processes under control so that they are done in a timely and correct manner."
Complex integrations and imperfect information
It is not easy to find a single system capable of supporting and managing all these processes. Often one of the following decisions is made:
- Different systems, e.g., a financial package, a rental solution and a service planning system, which are then linked together.
- An ERP system with limitations where it is taken for granted that some processes are not supported at all, if at all.
- An ERP system for which many customizations are being developed
While these choices are all meant to make things easier, they actually make the problem worse. Option 1 leads to complex and expensive integrations that, moreover, can never compete with one central system. Option 2 is using ERP without being able to enjoy the main benefit of ERP - controlling ALL business processes. And option 3 is complicated and expensive to develop and maintain.
Go for one ERP solution
The main common problem with the above choices is that they don't provide what your equipment dealership necessarily needs: complete visibility into your equipment from every department and throughout its lifecycle. So to become more successful, you'll really need to go for a single ERP solution that can deal with the challenges of sales, rental, service, parts, finance and all the other issues that are daily realities for equipment dealers.
Philip van Kemenade is marketing manager at Dysel and has daily contact with end users of software.
