Niesen | Success Story

Key benefits

• Improved equipment tracking by linking accessories to the main container rental equipment items
• Enhanced stock monitoring to ensure accurate availability of rental containers
• Automated invoicing provides significant time savings, stationery, and mailing costs
• Increased customer service as customers view the details and availability of rental containers
• Centralising operations enabled a 30% growth in inventory without increasing staff
• Reporting, tracking acquisition, and maintenance costs provide clear insights and inform decision-making

The challenge

Niesen System Logistik launched its container rental and vehicle division in 2016. A steady growth and investment in its rental fleet led to a search for a more efficient solution to manage its rental processes. Before contacting MCS, Niesen managed its equipment rental across multiple systems, making it more challenging to improve operations and increase efficiency.

One of the primary motivations for changing the system was to better manage the rental of accessories for each item of equipment.  Previously, the company had to manually enter every accessory, as they were not visible on their existing system. It often resulted in the company not always knowing the whereabouts of all supplementary items when on-hire.

The company strives to provide the highest level of customer service and respond flexibly to customer needs. They wanted to include an advanced inventory system to improve the control and visibility of rental containers, as well as automate invoices.

Niesen was looking for a system to completely digitalise all its processes, becoming more efficient and facilitating future growth. The company also plans to implement a webshop to improve customer service and increase sales.

The Solution

By consolidating all its processes into a single, easy-to-use system, Niesen has significantly enhanced its productivity and added value for its customers. Customers can view the range of rental equipment and availability using the company’s Online Portal that links to MCS-rm.

Implementation

“The MCS team adapted the system to ensure that all our needs were met. Our main contact was always available and helpful.”

Ease of use

“Of course, it took some getting used to at first – a new programme, everything is unfamiliar at first. Once you get to know the basics, you quickly realise how easy the system is to use.” In training colleagues, we realised how simple it is to create contracts and invoices: write a quote, click a button, complete a contract and create an invoice. It was really an ‘aha’ moment when we realised: ‘This is really fast and easy to do.’”

Batch invoicing

“With batch invoicing, we can process around 500 contracts per month automatically with just the click of a button. Once we initiate the batch, the invoices are generated and sent directly to customers based on their preferred method of communication. Currently, out of approximately 450 invoices per month, 448 are sent via email, while the remaining two, which are for private customers, are sent by post. Monthly billing used to take a whole day; now it takes just 15 minutes.”

Why MCS?

“We felt that the functionality offered by MCS Rental Software best suited our processes and system requirements. The ability to integrate all of our processes – rental, sales, and transport – into one system was the key factor in our decision. MCS offers the functionality that best aligns with our processes and system requirements, making it the ideal choice for Niesen.”

Improved Customer Service

“Customer service has greatly improved. Not only can our clients view the full range of products in our Online Portal, but we can also send quotes and order confirmations with all the necessary information in just a few clicks. The same goes for terminating rental agreements. Using the system, we can record equipment collections and send confirmations to our clients with the click of a button, eliminating the need to manually send written confirmations. The process is effortless.”

Better inventory management

Linking each item of equipment to a set list of accessories makes it easier for warehouse teams to track the location of every piece of equipment.

“Now that the system links accessories to the main item of equipment, we always know which customer they are with. Previously, we had to enter each accessory manually as they weren’t visible in our system. We also have the ability to track inventory and can ensure that we are able to deliver at any time.”

Improved scaleability

“Niesen’s container hire business has seen remarkable growth thanks to MCS Rental Software. By centralising our processes into one software program, we’ve significantly reduced office bureaucracy and sped up operations. We’ve added over 100 new office containers to our rental fleet, representing an expansion of approximately 30%. Despite this growth, we’ve been able to continue working with the same number of office staff. Thanks to MCS, everything is easier and more efficient.”

Comprehensive reporting and analysis

“MCS Rental Software provides us with comprehensive reporting and analysis capabilities. We can track acquisition costs, maintain a complete rental history for our containers, and monitor repair costs. The ability to receive complete reporting on container rentals, customer groups, and market activity is a significant advantage.”