Growing Medical Equipment Rental Company Reduces Processing Delays by Automating Multi-Divisional Purchasing and Rentals with a Single System

• Product

  Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, ODT Rentals

• Company

  Country Care Group

• Name & Job Title

  Chandra Shekhar - IT Systems/Business Architect

• Industry

  Medical Equipment Rentals and Sales

Problem/Challenge

The Struggle to Support Multiple Systems Across Divisions

Based in Mildura, Victoria, Australia, Country Care Group is a large and well-established multi-division company with nearly 350 employees and 85 independent member stores that sell and rent medical and assisted living equipment all over Australia.

Because each store had been procured from different operators, separate ERP and rental systems were in use in each State. The Queensland stores were using MCS Rental Software, New South Wales stores relied on MYOB Accounting Software and Microsoft Excel, while Victoria stores were using a Windward system. As a result, Country Care Group’s retail division team and finance division (head office) team continually struggled with data entry, lack of visibility, and customer service challenges across multiple locations.

The IT team also had its own set of problems, according to Chandra Shekhar, Country Care Group’s IT Systems/Business Architect. “If you have three different systems, IT has to support three different systems,” he explains. To reduce confusion and processing delays, Country Care Group needed to find an integrated system to streamline work processes and improve employee productivity.

Solution(s)

Finding an All-in-One System with Advanced Rental Capabilities

Management realized that they needed an all-in-one solution to eventually roll out to the other divisions and stores. Country Care Group’s wholesale division had previously seen success with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, so the decision was made to consolidate and migrate all ERP systems in their retail division to Business Central.

Another key reason behind selecting Business Central was its rental integration capabilities. After investigating several software vendors with competing rental products, Country Care Group’s IT team selected an affordable rental solution with the processing capabilities required for the ERP and sales side.

ODT Rentals integrated seamlessly with Business Central and has the flexibility to be implemented across different business areas and locations. According to Chandra, “We wanted a rental system that was modern and could be supported by a well-established company for the long term. That was a big advantage the integration of Business Central with ODT Rentals offered.”

To implement ODT Rentals, Country Care Group selected Open Door Technology based on their reputation in the Microsoft network. “We were quite happy working with ODT as they were ready to work with us, are always very professional, and have been around for a fair bit of time,” Chandra says. “We never wanted to build a rental product from scratch or be left with a product no one could support. Our experience with ODT was an advantage. A long-term relationship is valuable to us. We were satisfied with their support.”

Results

Country Care Group Experiences More Streamlined Processing with New Integrated Purchasing & Rentals System

Now that the different ERP and rental systems have been consolidated and ODT Rentals has been implemented in several stores within multiple States, Country Care Group’s IT and retail teams are relieved they can effectively focus on supporting one system. Store managers can now login to the system and manage any store remotely, as well as easily cross-train people from other Country Care Group divisions.

In the New South Wales stores itself, the company has seen revenue growth of 15% over six months where the new system has significantly reduced processing delays. Retail operations have become less stressful for employees, and they are now able to find information faster than ever before. Chandra explains, “Using Business Central with ODT Rentals across the board has made things easier, and we can handle all the in-house processing. Staff can now handle more sales and revenue, and we don’t need a vendor to sit with us and solve any IT problems due to the different systems anymore.”

“With the efficiency gains achieved by using ODT Rentals, we expect our rentals revenue to grow and at least double in a year’s time,” says Chandra. “Business Central with ODT Rentals has proven so far to be a very robust, competitive, and adaptable system. I’m very satisfied with the product and would highly recommend it to other rental companies.”