Managing a fleet of construction equipment is the single biggest headache for site managers and foremen in the industry. Idle equipment and poorly managed fleets account for 30% profit loss in all North American construction jobs–often costing thousands of dollar per hour. Work site managers view their fleet like a bench of talent. And when equipment sits idle it also creates an idle workforce causing even greater profit loss. This costs the NA construction industry $1.2 Billion every year. It’s a huge problem in an industry with razor thin margins and no modern way to get it under control.

Because construction is still mostly analog, you can only see the equipment in front of you, and not the ones sitting dormant. This was a major problem for United Rentals, America’s largest equipment rental provider, because you want your customers to make money off of your equipment, not lose it.

The construction industry is an old-school hand-shake, relationship-based business. Margins are small with single digit annual growth that hasn’t evolved in decades. So we asked a simple question: “How might we enable construction site managers to make money off their rented equipment. Not lose it?” For site managers, technology can’t be a major investment or risk and must fit seamlessly into their work lives. By creating “Digital Toolbelt,” a predictive and intuitive data-powered mobile app, we took worksite equipment management out of the analog dark ages and put unprecedented insight and control into the palm of their hands.

To start, United Rentals has more telematics data on more equipment than any other rental company. Telematics tracks equipment activity and health in near-real time. So we knew what all equipment was–and wasn’t–doing and when it needed maintenance. Next, we employed a CX research process to understand our customers: their work, their problems and their culture.

Armed with equipment and customer insights we identified four high-impact experience pillars to address the problems our site managers face managing their fleets. Combined, these pillars provide unprecedented insight and control over equipment productivity and profits which enable an industry with razor thin margins to be more efficient and profitable. The resulting experience platform makes it easy to Rent, Track, Service, and Control these massive equipment fleets – on their mobile devices. “Digital Toolbelt” was born.

To transform the way work gets done, we had to also transform ecommerce to work better for our customers. Amazingly, none of the leading equipment rental companies rely on ecommerce. Unlike traditional retail, it’s too difficult to forecast inventory, ensure availability and govern price variances. Our streamlined reservation process simplifies eCommerce. Price comparisons help save money and protect budgets. Fleet management and digital pickup features meant that only the right equipment was on-site at the right time. Predictive maintenance monitoring helped identify issues before progress slowed or it became a danger. If an issue was flagged, United Rentals could replace equipment on-site in just hours, saving the customer and the jobsite time and money. Lastly, for those moments where customers wanted to hear a friendly voice, we had specialists on standby to answer questions over the phone or via live chat, ensuring we didn’t lose the personal interaction customers expected.

As the construction rental category leader, United Rentals has the footprint and reputation to transform the way work gets done. More than a rental tool, Digital Toolbelt is a mobile hub that offers control over every piece of equipment on the job site helping managers optimize every dollar of their rental cash flow.

In year one alone, Digital Toolbelt increased fleet efficiency across North American worksites by 30%. And because their customers saw more profit, United Rentals had a 66% increase in digital rental revenue in an industry that didn't previously leverage eCommerce. By inserting mobile ecommerce and management features into a previously analog industry, Digital Toolbelt drove a 54% conversion from analog renters to digital loyalists.

If digital tools were actual tools, they’d make the job easier every time they were in your hand. We accomplished just and made it possible to move tons of equipment with your fingertip.