ERA launches best practice e-book

The European Rental Association (ERA) has published a new e-book looking at the key topic of digitisation.

The e-book features examples of best practices from three rental companies – Boels, Riwal, and Zeppelin Rental and can be downloaded on the ERA website, http://erarental.org/en/publications/e-books/e-book-on-examples-of-best-practice-for-digitisation-and-it-in-the-rental-industry

Pierre Boels, ERA president, said, “This e-book is a great introduction to how embracing digitisation can really drive our industry forward.”

Zeppelin Rental won the Digital Innovation award at the European Rental Awards 2017 for its holistic approach to digitisation. In September 2016 it launched online rental, making it the first company in Europe to provide its customers with a comprehensive online rental solution. This includes real-time availability of its rental fleet at more than 120 locations, along with specific terms and conditions and transport costs for each line item.

The Boels case study highlights how the rental company has benefited from switching to a digital parts management system. SmartEquip has delivered an 80% reduction in the time taken trying to identify, find and order replacement parts, as well as a substantial reduction in the number of line items that Boels holds in its central warehouse.

The e-book also features an in-depth look at telematics, thanks to Riwal. The company won the Access Rental Company of the Year category at the International Awards for Powered Access (IAPAs) 2017, where judges singled out how Riwal was ‘innovative with new technologies’.

In this case study, Riwal outlines how it has rolled out telematics from Trackunit over the past decade. It also outlines how Big Data and the Internet of Things are expected to transform the rental business model in the near future.

Pierre Boels added, “We are very grateful to the executives who gave their time to share best practice in such a detailed way. They have helped us to create a very useful guide for other rental companies which are looking to implement digitisation in key areas of their business.”

For any additional information, please contact the ERA secretariat at era@erarental.org