51
RENTAL IT
IRN NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2013
Big data
Some of the world’s largest
rental companies are using
specialist software systems
to manage their pricing. When
will mid-sized companies
follow them?
IRN
reports.
How these ‘big data‘ systems work is complex, but
essentially they analyse vast amounts of data on a
real-time basis to tell a company where there are
opportunities to increase prices, whether by product,
sector or geography.
Zilliant offers two main products: Margin Max
(which works on improving pricing) and Sales Max
(about generating higher revenues). Mr Anderson
says it is Margin Max that is finding most favour
in the equipment rental sector. Sales Max is more
problematic, because the project-based nature of
rental activities can send misleading trend signals to
the system. He says the company is working now to
adapt Sales Max to the rental sphere.
If it has been large rental companies that have
benefitted most from the technology so far, then
Mr Anderson says this is about to change, with
Zilliant soon to introduce a ‘lite’ version of its Margin
Max software, which he says will be suitable for
smaller companies, bringing the benefits of price
optimisation to businesses in the €50-150 million
revenue sizes.
Meanwhile, Zilliant continues to expand its
footprint in Europe. Cramo started with a pilot study
in Sweden last year and there are plans for the entire
company to be covered eventually. At Ramirent,
implementation will proceed once the installation
of its new Wynne Systems software is more fully
complete. The Atlas Copco Specialty Rentals contract
is a more recent development, and its smallest
equipment rental customer yet.
For those interested in learning more about price
optimisation, there are a number of conferences and
events worldwide. In Europe, many are organised by
the European Pricing Platform (
.
eu). In the US, the Professional Pricing Society
) organises conferences in
North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.
IRN
T
he rental industry’s largest businesses are
becoming extremely sophisticated about
the way they calculate their pricing, with
several now using specialist software to help them
understand pricing trends and opportunities.
So far it seems that two US companies, Zilliant and
PROS, have been winning the major chunk of the
equipment rental business available.
Zilliant, based in Austin, Texas, took on the Sunbelt
Rental account as early as 2006 and since then
has added United Rentals, Cramo, Ramirent and,
most recently, Atlas Copco Specialty Rentals. PROS,
meanwhile, is a Houston, Texas company that has
won business with Hertz equipment Rental Corp
(HERC) and Coates Hire in Australia.
Of course, what these rental companies have in
common is their size – all are among the biggest
rental players in the world with revenues of more
than €200 million, and usually much more.
Large company focus
Phil Anderson, Zilliant’s vice president of sales
for Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific,
acknowledges that its software – offered as a ‘Cloud’
solution (or Software as a Service (SaaS)) – is best
suited right now to large companies with revenues
over the €150-200 million mark.
This is because pricing is structured around
the volumes of revenues put through the system,
and it is with large businesses that the revenue
improvements are significant enough to justify the
investment in the software.
Mr Anderson doesn’t want to give too much away
on pricing, but he says annual revenue improvements
usually exceed the investment figure by a factor or
10 to 30. For a €500 million revenue business, he
says the software can generate €5 to €15 million
additional business.
IT highlights
■
RMI Corp in the US is this year celebrating its
30 year anniversary. The business was founded by
Paul Chapdelaine, who today remains president
of the company. “It’s hard to believe how far both
equipment and technology have come over the
years” ,he says, “From DOS based systems backed
by a server room to web based solutions where
data is stored in the cloud, we are incredibly
proud to look back on these last three decades”.
■
Helen Sowerby, senior vice president of
business development at Result Group, writes in
her company blog that the day of the paperless
rental office is getting closer; “the places where
you currently use paper - delivery and pickup
tickets, yard picking documents, servicing check
lists, engineers working out in the field - can all be
managed electronically from mobile applications.
Forget pieces of paper being lost in the field…
It may not just be about devices, with large
corporate systems now increasingly capable of
receiving and sending data electronically, you can
load up files of invoices from your major vendors
rather than keying them in, send invoices to your
customers by email or as electronic files or go
the whole way and create a direct communication
interface”.
■
ERP Software News recently ranked Indian-
based Ramco as one of its top five ‘Cloud ERP’
vendors, offering a software as a service (SaaS)
solution. Ramco’s software solutions include an
ERP system for equipment rental companies.
Ramirent plans to
implement Zilliant’s price
optimization software.
A Cramo vertical mast platform. The company started
a pilot project with Zilliant in Sweden last year.
