Executive Summary
ODR has been slow to modernize and take advantage of the software that is available to streamline business practices and drive efficiency. An example of this is the company’s current manual process for rentals. The manual nature of the process not only makes it inefficient at the time of the rental, but makes it very difficult to maintain documentation over the long run. Tracking damages has been a particular pain point, as damages cost the company money, create customer service problems, and it is important to be able to track and recover damages. It is recommended that ODR replaces its current paper-based system for renting with rental equipment software that allows for rentals to be tracked digitally, and then integrated with the company’s billing software. This paper will outline the multiple different benefits of bringing in rental equipment software to digitize this process and improve efficiency and documentation.

Introduction

Outdoor Recreation Center (ODR) is a rental business that operates mainly on military bases. The business model is renting out outdoors equipment and large party supplies. The model is fairly simple, but in order to be profitable, the company must be able to rent out equipment at a price that reflects the purchase cost of the equipment, and the operating costs of the company. Damaged equipment is harder to rent out, so damages must be recovered from the person who damaged the goods, or from that person’s insurance company. ODR has a captive audience, which has meant that it has not emphasized modern business practices, because it simply has not needed to. However, attention should be paid to all aspects of business reputation, and the overall profitability of the business model.

Previous Approaches

The company operates in a very manual way, only using computers for scheduling appointments and for billing. For handling the rentals, the company still uses paper forms. This creates a few different problems. First, paper forms are relatively inefficient. The time it takes to fill out the paper form is about the same as digital, but organizing the documentation, and referencing it later, takes much longer than if this documentation was digital. The second problem is that in many instances the equipment is returned with damages. The paper documentation makes it difficult for ODR to track damages, and bill for them accordingly. A common scenario is that someone returns an RV, and there is some damage noted. It is difficult to reference prior rentals in order to determine whether the damage was pre-existing or not. In...…which could also be a pathway to increasing business, in addition to reducing labor (Leschohier, 2013).

Conclusions

Incorporating rental equipment software into ODR’s operations will deliver several benefits. The most important of these is the ability to more effectively track damages to the equipment that is being rented. The current manual process makes it difficult to document damages, and therefore it is also difficult to recover them. An electronic system of documenting rentals will allow for more effective tracking of damages, facilitate better recovery of damages from customers or insurance companies, and will deliver some other spinoff benefits as well.

Among these spinoff benefits is the possibility of integrating the rental software with the billing software, to streamline the recovery of damages. Furthermore, ODR will be able to maintain a customer database, which can aid in marketing, for example creating a loyalty program. The company will also be able to gain the ability to flag customers who routinely damage goods, and those from whom it proves difficult to recover for damages. All told, modernizing this aspect of the company will bring it into alignment with other rental companies, such as the car rental sector, and help it to deliver the digital customer service that customers expect in 2019.