PRODUCT SHOWCASE: September 2012

Use these advanced software products to find efficiencies in your business.

Full life cycle solutions
Texada
www.texadasoftware.com
Texada Software provides Systematic Rental Management enterprise software to manage the complete equipment ownership life cycle, from acquisition, rental and sales of construction assets through to disposal. Texada Software is offered in the cloud or as a client-based service, and is deployed in some of North America’s leading construction rental companies. With deployments of over 1,000 users, SRM is scalable to meet the needs of any sized customer.

Customers expect quick, easy and consistent service. Rental operators need software that enables personnel to find better, faster methods to deliver. Fewer keystrokes, quicker inventory checking, and easy contract preparation means less wait time for customers; less wait time means fewer reasons for customers to switch to the competition.

SRM delivers accurate, up-to-the-minute information on revenue, profit and key performance indicators. Which customers pay promptly and which ones don’t? Which customers are most profitable, what locations are most efficient and where can service be improved? SRM provides insightful information that can improve revenues and enhance the bottom line.

Detailed utilization reporting highlights what is in demand, what is being used frequently and what is sitting in the yard. Downtimes are minimized by pre-scheduling preventive maintenance – as functional equipment life increases, profits rise.

Day-to-day activities require streamlining, invoices need to be generated more efficiently, inventory tracking should happen at a detailed level and Internal processes need to be constantly measured, adjusted and revitalized. Rental operators need software that reduces theft, tracks progress and ensures audits and security meet set standards. All these can be accomplished with SRM software.

Awards for innovation
Solutions by Computer
www.solutionsbycomputer.com
Solutions by Computer has introduced a comprehensive business management solution for rental operators who want state-of-the-art inventory control capabilities at an extremely affordable price point. Enfinity SaaS offers subscription-based access to SBC’s flagship Enfinity rental system, winner of multiple industry awards for software innovation. It moves traditional server functionality to the cloud, which accomplishes the following:

• reduces upfront costs
• eliminates the need for system management
• harnesses the Internet for seamless access
• automatically performs repetitive tasks such as data backups
• ensures that the rental business always has the latest software release

Enfinity SaaS offers access to the latest range of rental applications, including Enfinity’s recent integration with DPL America that extends GPS capabilities and provides enhanced telemetry for asset tracking. The SaaS option offers all of the functionality included in the system’s latest release 3.0, including:

• pull for delivery order staging and change tracking
• enhanced kit capabilities (“assemblies”) for items that are often combined into a single rentable unit but may also be rented separately
• physical Inventory-taking while open for business, with automatic adjustments to counts as transactions occur

SBC’s Enfinity software also provides intuitive tracking and processing of all rental transaction types, and can give end-renters the option of accessing their account information and reserving rentals through a secure Internet portal.

Flexible parameters
Point-of-Rental Systems
www.point-of-rental.com
Designed by rental people for rental people, Point-of-Rental Systems’ Enterprise Software for Windows is a complete rental management software with flexible parameters that can be set to serve any type or size of rental store. The software provides a wide variety of features as well as optional modules to fit the rental operator’s business needs. Some examples include a dispatch centre with GPS that interfaces seamlessly with Point-of-Rental transactions, a fully integrated purchase order module designed specifically to handle sub-rentals and re-rentals, a service order module for recurring service of on-rent equipment, and a business intelligence dashboard that can be tailored to your specific company goals. To help owners and managers keep a close eye on trends, over 400 reports can be automatically generated, and an unlimited number of others can be created using Crystal Reports.

Known for its ease of use, the intuitive counter system writes transactions for quotes, rental, sale, reservation, asset sale, internal repair orders and work orders, and includes the ability to clone, continuation bill, line item bill, reprint, fax or e-mail transactions. Other features include integrated accounting, automatic electronic invoicing, mass fax and e-mail settings, wireless notifications, automated maintenance scheduling, CRM and an employee time clock.

The software also integrates with Point-of-Rental Systems’ web design and management services to provide businesses with full-featured websites optimized for smartphones. Scheduled automatic updates ensure that website inventory is always current, and quotes and reservations can be created instantly with the shopping cart feature.

By automating many processes, Point-of-Rental’s Enterprise software can eliminate errors and increase efficiency as well as ROI. Software support is available 24 hours per day, seven days per week, with a subscription that includes updates. To better use new capabilities, advanced training is available at various locations throughout the year.

Mobile checkout
QThru
www.qthru.com
QThru has announced the launch of its mobile platform: a new technology for retailers that enables shoppers to scan items using a smartphone as they shop, facilitating an efficient checkout from their phone. The QThru system has had a successful test market deployment in the Seattle area.

“Given recent advancements in technology, consumers are realizing there is a better way to check out of a retail store without standing in a long line,” said Aaron Roberts, founder and CEO of QThru. “Current self-checkout stations only magnify the problem because they are slow and inefficient and create a bottleneck in the store. QThru provides a simple solution that saves time while also building customer loyalty.”

After a simple installation, a retailer’s products and pricing are synchronized with the QThru cloud. Customers can then download the QThru smartphone app and start shopping. To complete the checkout process shoppers enter a previously stored passcode and scan a QR code at a checkout kiosk, which completes the transaction from their phone. QThru uses a cloud-based, fully PCI-compliant, secure storage facility to protect payment and personal information. A receipt is generated from the kiosk, which is highlighted in a different colour and is reviewed by a store employee at the door.

Aaron Roberts has spent 20 years building consumer-facing services through technology. Most recently he was a senior software development manager with Research in Motion, leading and growing successful products used by tens of millions of customers. “For the past year and a half we have worked with retailers to understand their needs,” said Roberts. “We are convinced the QThru platform provides a turnkey solution for enhanced efficiency, loyalty and security for any retail business. The greatest challenge was not the comprehensive database integration but rather the ability to include weights and measures for items such as produce. But we knew if we could handle that scenario then we could handle anything else.”

The cost for a retail store to integrate with QThru is free. Adding a checkout kiosk is $900 and the inclusion of a digital scale brings the price to just $5,000. The software is simple to integrate and does not require a specialist.

“We’ve been testing QThru for six months at the IGA Ridge Supermarket in Snoqualmie, Wash.,” said Tyler Myers, president of the Myers Group. “We wanted to see how our customers embraced this alternative technology and it was enormously popular. We plan to install QThru in our other retail locations, including a hardware store. QThru also allows us to offer added value to our customers through exclusive announcements, events and coupons and we plan to install it now at all of our grocery and hardware stores.”

Friendly and configurable
Unique Business Systems
www.unibiz.com
CR2 from Unique Business Systems integrates all aspects of the business from equipment acquisition to sales, managing the rental fleet, parts sales and servicing as well as internal and customer-owned equipment. Using state-of-the-art technology, CR2 has been designed to be extremely user friendly and user configurable. This offers increased flexibility in enabling rental operators to customize processes and business workflow.

Taking business to the next level requires improving the productivity of staff. CR2 provides rental operators with the necessary tools to achieve this. By connecting different departments and providing real-time information across the entire organization, CR2 helps grow business.

CR2 rental software is suitable for:

• distributors and dealers of construction equipment
• equipment rental and sales co-ordinators
• re-rental and consignment managers
• parts inventory managers
• service and repair facilities
• dispatch coordinators
• warehouse managers

Intuitive use
Alert Management Systems
www.alert-ims.com
Alert Management Systems’ EasyPro heavy equipment rental software offers inventory management that meets rental operators’ issues. Alert’s equipment rental software can schedule heavy equipment maintenance, manage internal and customer work and evaluate how heavy equipment is used. Return on investment can be calculated. Parts and heavy equipment sales can be managed from purchase order through receiving, pricing, sales and service. The advanced Counter Intelligence System improves the efficiency of counter operations with integrated credit card processing, bar-code check-in, signature capture, fax and e-mail, and driver’s licence imaging. Alert EasyPro’s equipment rental software is designed to be easy to use by being intuitive. It has powerful billing, reservations, dispatch and transportation management features. Alert Management Systems also offers dependable support.

Canadian software
Open Door Technology
www.opendoor.ca
Rental Management Software from Open Door Technology is designed to fast-track rental businesses. Rental companies today need rental tracking software to solve problems with inflexible rental terms, limited access to real-time information and inefficient invoicing cycles. Dynamics NAV Rental Management software gives them a system flexible enough to handle their unique requirements and achieve a competitive edge. Rental Management is a system that uses the power of a single database to give rental operators the access and flexibility they need.

Open Door offers a complete solution for rental tracking software. Dynamics NAV Rental Management is a comprehensive rental system employing the power of Microsoft Dynamics NAV, a system in use by over 70,000 organizations world-wide.

Users have total visibility as information is shared across the system through a single database, which eliminates multiple data entry points. Integration with Microsoft Dynamics NAV offers access to a full suite of other modules including financials, purchasing, customer relationship management, service management, manufacturing, job cost, warehouse management, human resources and payroll.

Rental Management software allows companies to track equipment reservations on rental quotes and orders to properly match customer demand to available equipment and determine the optimal mix of equipment in the rental fleet. Users can create fixed asset groups to manage reservations without committing specific assets until they are shipped out to the customer, or quickly check availability of rental assets by asset, group, location or user-defined equipment categories and features.