Fast-Growing Heavy Equipment Dealer Improves Data Analysis and Saves Costs with All-in-One Rental Management Solution

• Product

  Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, ODT Rentals, ODT Service

• Company

  ProSource Machinery

• Name & Job Title

  Derek Dicks - Owner CEO

• Industry

  Heavy equipment machinery dealership & rental center

Problem/Challenge

ProSource Outgrows Limited Rental Software

ProSource Machinery is a heavy equipment rental center and dealership for well-known industrial and construction companies like SANY Equipment, RokBak Trucks, and Hydrema Construction Equipment. With headquarters in Billings, Montana, ProSource Machinery was established eight years ago as a small, independent rental company. Since then, they branched out into sales and evolved into a dealership model. They now have additional branches in Colorado Springs, Platteville, and Denver, and have expanded their team of four to 26 in just a year and a half.

In its early stages, the company was able to manage its operations using a basic rental solution called Texada Software. But as the organization started to rapidly grow, they faced challenges with the software’s lack of functionality around rentals and financials. “The metrics are different at the dealership level, so we were struggling to track some of the payroll and financial information, doing a lot of workarounds and manual entries and processes that were just taking a lot of time,” explains owner and CEO, Derek Dicks. “I realized the old system was outdated. It worked for us when we were smaller and less complex, but it doesn’t work with our new dealership model. There were metrics we simply could not measure at all and, in my experience, if it cannot be measured, it doesn’t exist.”

Derek began searching for a new all-in-one rental management system that fit ProSource Machinery’s current dealership needs and could easily scale with their operations in the future.

Solution(s)

Making the Move to a More Cost-Effective, Scalable Rental Solution Powered by Microsoft

One of the company’s biggest priorities in a new rental management solution was cost reduction. They needed the ability to deep dive into each of their three main departments (Sales, Service, and Parts) to analyze profitability and performance.

After looking at several ERP and rental solutions, Derek and his team selected Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. They strategically partnered with Open Door Technology because of their vast experience in the equipment rental industry and their rental-specific apps built for Business Central to centralize rental management into an all-in-one solution: ODT Rentals and ODT Service. According to Derek, “The fair cost was important, but the BIG appeal with Business Central was that the ODT solutions are designed to integrate with Microsoft products seamlessly, so our system can easily be customized if we want to change parts of it down the road.”

To keep costs low and reduce risk, ProSource Machinery and Open Door took a multi-stage approach to implementing Business Central and the ODT solutions. There were many complex aspects of the project, including a complicated parts inventory and resource restraints, but Open Door guided the ProSource Machinery team through the entire process and fully prepared them for the new system.

The heavy equipment dealer successfully went live on Business Central and then rolled out ODT Rentals and ODT Service a couple months later. The team was happy with the training and support Open Door provided. As Derek explains, “The Open Door team was great; they went out of their way to answer all of our questions and find solutions to our problems. The part I really like is that they’re listening to us and considering our suggestions to make the solution easier for us to use.”

Results

Capitalizing on Growth with Faster Data Analysis and Smarter Reporting

ProSource Machinery has been using Business Central with ODT Rentals and ODT Service since June 2022 and is experiencing significant improvements across the organization in employee productivity, data insights, process efficiency, time savings, and cost reduction.

“It’s been a lot easier to get the data we’re looking for in Business Central,” says Derek. Now that staff can instantly access accurate financial and operational data and reports, they are much happier and faster at their everyday jobs. According to Derek, “With Business Central and ODT, we have all the numbers in front of us to tell us where we’re not being efficient and where adjustments should be made.” For a fast-growing company that struggled to see all the necessary numbers and metrics, this has already started driving business improvements and process efficiencies in their core departments.

Another noticeable benefit ProSource Machinery has experienced so far has been extensive time and cost savings. Now that management can easily access timesheets, maintenance records for customers, company assets, and rental utilization at the click of a button, expenses and payroll can be done a lot quicker than before. “Almost every day I’m finding something new I can do with the system that I wasn’t aware of before,” says Derek. He feels that Business Central with ODT’s rental-specific functionality better fits their dealership model and long-term growth goals.

Derek says he would recommend Open Door and its advanced rental management software in a heartbeat. In fact, in the future he hopes to convince other equipment dealerships to adopt the same system so they can all work together and measure the same data. “I’ve really enjoyed working with everybody at Open Door as they get things done and are always available to help. If it makes sense – they’re on board!”