CAT partner Allied Rental improves efficiency with Sycor.Rental

Allied Rental Modaraba, the first rental business for mobile equipment and machines in Pakistan, was founded and listed on the Karachi stock exchange in 2007 and has been growing ever since. Allied Rental started with the capital equivalent of 5 million USD and today its market capitalization is at 73 million USD. As a CAT Rental Store, Allied Rental specializes in the rental of mobile power supplies, construction machines, trucks and trailers, tractors, lift trucks, mobile cranes, and mobile lighting. In 2014 the company was the seventh dealer in the world to reach 5-star status in the CAT® Rental Power Operational Excellence Program.

"The rapid growth of our vehicle and equipment fleet, and therefore our company, in the last few years prompted us to invest in our IT infrastructure and to look for a suitable ERP solution," explains Murtaza Ahmed Ali, CEO of Allied Rental Modaraba. There were several goals for the implementation: standardizing processes, creating an integrated system for the management of the entire company, and harmonizing the database of the rental specialist to support management decisions. "From our perspective, it is essential to have an overview of our entire business, quickly at all times, so that reliable controlling mechanisms can be used ," says Murtaza Ahmed Ali. "Only then is it possible to identify and realize potential for improvements in the planning and operating processes."

Microsoft Dynamics AX and Sycor.Rental implemented in six months

Allied Rental ultimately chose Microsoft Dynamics AX as the most modern ERP platform in combination with the industry solution Sycor.Rental. "Out of all providers, Sycor met our requirements best with this solution," Murtaza Ahmed Ali explains. The partnership approach used by Sycor for international implementations also proved convincing: A local Microsoft partner implemented Microsoft Dynamics AX with the required knowledge of specific national requirements in the areas of finance, law, and taxation, while the rental experts from Sycor oversaw the implementation of Sycor.Rental. "For Allied Rental, we started with the Microsoft Dynamics AX partner Evincible Solutions and an in-house IT team from Allied Rental. The in-house IT team was trained to implement Microsoft Dynamics AX and performed exceptionally well, thus the implementation of Microsoft Dynamics AX, along with Sycor.Rental, took just six months," explained Marco Arndt, responsible for the worldwide partner business at Sycor. Martin Stange, Senior Consultant and Sycor Project Manager for the Allied Rental project adds, "In cooperation with the in-house IT team, we implemented Sycor.Rental to support the rental process. We supported the planning, development, and testing of the functions required by the customer. Training for the Allied Rental employees was provided by us as well."

All goals reached

Allied Rental now controls all rental processes with full integration in Sycor.Rental. This includes order processing, the scheduling of equipment and machines, and the billing of customers. The industry solution supports the setup, conversion, and removal of machines and equipment, deliveries and returns. All process and procedures are carried out satisfactorily via Sycor.Rental and Microsoft Dynamics AX. "Sycor.Rental and Microsoft Dynamics AX make decisions easier for our employees at every stage of the process. In addition, the harmonized database improves the quality of service in customer-related processes such as sales and scheduling," says Allied Rental CEO Murtaza Ahmed Ali, elated about the results. Streamlined purchasing processes aligned with market requirements and automated processes for sales, orders, and billing improve the reliability of the financial forecast.  "So far we have achieved our objectives with the implementation of Microsoft Dynamics AX and Sycor.Rental and further look forward to taking advantage of the features offered in the service and maintenance and scheduling modules," he continues. "We improved quality and efficiency in our processes, and customer satisfaction – while simultaneously reducing costs." The service and maintenance module as well as the scheduling module are planned for go live by the end of the 2017 financial year.