Equipment sharing platform for companies

Problem

Many companies own a large fleet of equipment, which can include lots of different types of machines. But their usage rate is often very low. Equipment such as cleaning machines are typically only used between 10 and 20 per cent of the time. At the same time, the costs of purchasing and servicing the equipment are high. Due to a lack of data, there is a lot of overlapping in the equipment owned by companies within the companies themselves and between companies. Good solutions for more efficient management and follow-up of equipment have not been available.

Solution: a platform for companies to share fixed assets

Through the eRENT service platform, the customer can follow up and manage its fleet of equipment efficiently, flexibly rent out its own machines and rent machines from others. Follow-up is based on NFC/QR identifiers and/or GPS trackers that can be used, for example, to update the location and status of the fleet on the service platform with the help of a mobile phone. Customers can also attach their followed-up equipment to eRENT’s rental service, which brings different rental agencies together to the same platform. Improving the usage rate of the equipment on a large scale may in the long run reduce the consumption of natural resources when new equipment no longer needs to be manufactured to the same extent as before.

Revenue logic and benefits to eRENT

The company receives commission on the rental transactions carried out through the portal and monthly service charges from the equipment follow-up service. Cost-efficient follow-up of the equipment is a prerequisite for flexible rental that eRENT can use to speed up the culture of the industrial sharing economy and create international growth business.

Benefits to customers and end users

eRENT’s clients include equipment rental agencies, construction firms and companies from different sectors. The service enables rental agencies to have “real-time inventories” and to receive higher return for the capital tied to the equipment. With the new rental channel, equipment can also be shared between competitors. The service will soon include an electronic maintenance book to remind the owner about the upcoming maintenance of the equipment. The service reduces the workload of construction firms when the platform can be used to request tenders from several operators at the same time.