On any construction site, the efficiency of heavy machinery is crucial to the success of the project. As with any machinery that is used extensively, these pieces of equipment experience typical wear and tear and occasionally break unexpectedly. These lapses in operation can be extremely costly for construction companies. ConEquip Parts, based in Sanborn, New York, is committed to helping these companies get the parts they need quickly.
Founded in 2008 by Albert Alexander and Ben Krentz, ConEquip Parts sells new and used parts for heavy construction equipment. This is basically anything that moves dirt, such as the typical yellow machinery that is seen at construction sites. While some companies purchase parts preemptively as part of their ongoing maintenance, most customers purchase parts when something breaks. This makes the issue extremely time-sensitive, as out-of-commission machinery costs a project valuable time and wastes money. To address this, ConEquip partners with hundreds of different vendors around the world, allowing them to ship parts from vendors closer to the customer, getting these products to their destinations much faster. As the company likes to say, “One call gets you back to work.”
With a global reach and continuing success, ConEquip needed the flexibility and overall integration that an ERP provides. Odoo, it turns out, was the right choice for the job.
From spreadsheets to stalemates: ConEquip’s quest for the right ERP
When ConEquip first started, the company used simple spreadsheets to track business information. This method was manageable at the time because Albert and Ben received only a handful of orders every couple of days. After a while, however, its growth demanded a more established system, at which point the company transitioned to using QuickBooks and Method:CRM to manage operations. This combination of platforms worked for quite some time until, about six years ago, ConEquip finally outgrew its Quickbooks-based system.
The company quickly realized it needed a more comprehensive ERP solution for its business operations and explored options such as Hubspot, Netsuite, Salesforce, and other industry-specific options. ConEquip initially decided on Salesforce, hoping that the popular software would be what the company needed. Chief Information Officer Bob Lawrence explains that at ConEquip, the sales team is the core of the business. Getting quotes together quickly is of key importance, and the majority of the time, there are multiple vendors on a single quotation or sales order. Because of this, Bob says that the company really needed a system that was flexible enough to accommodate its unique requirements. Unfortunately, Salesforce was not up to this challenge:
Salesforce, we did actually purchase. We went through the integration and just found that it did not work for the sales team when we got deeper and deeper into the integration.
With Salesforce not working out as expected, Bob began considering alternative solutions. Years prior, he had become aware of Odoo and decided now was the right time to take a leap of faith with a second ERP. ConEquip made the bold decision to abandon its Salesforce integration and switch to Odoo instead.
How Odoo helped ConEquip build a custom-fit solution
In its first six months live with Odoo, the company started off just using Helpdesk for a ticketing system, really testing the software to make sure it was the right fit. Bob says it quickly became clear that no other ERP was as flexible as Odoo. With a Python-based environment and full code access, Odoo allowed ConEquip to customize the software specifically to its needs.
We try and set ourselves apart by constantly evaluating inefficiencies, and Odoo gave us the ability to not just evaluate where we’re not efficient, but actually attack it with a module or some code that we’ve written ourselves to overcome the issue that we’re having. The flexibility of having that open code base yet also a cloud-hosted setup…made the most sense for us. We could develop and not have to worry about that side of it.
Bob says that Odoo’s customizability is one of the biggest benefits Odoo has afforded ConEquip– particularly, how quickly and effortlessly these changes can be made. Adjustments such as who can confirm a sales order or who can generate a PO can be made within Odoo almost instantaneously. For example, when the sales team expresses a need or a problem they’re encountering, Bob says that the company is able to develop a module right then and there to address the issue. What takes only a couple of hours' worth of work in Odoo would take much more time and, more importantly, a lot more money to achieve the same result in another software. He says that other systems simply don’t have the flexibility to do what Odoo does.
We’ve constantly evolved our process along the way, and the beauty of Odoo is that it allows us to. We’re not stuck in this rigid environment.
Odoo’s overall integration has been a game changer for ConEquip, especially compared to the fragmented nature of the company’s old system. Although Method:CRM was technically integrated with Quickbooks, Bob explains that the connection between the two platforms was still fragmented. When it came to accounting, it was difficult to close things out properly due to this lack of connectedness. Odoo’s tight integration, on the other hand, has given ConEquip the visibility and capabilities it desperately needed.
As a company that deals with time-sensitive issues and has vendors all over the world, ConEquip needed a software platform that was flexible and all-inclusive. With over 16 years in business and many more ahead, ConEquip knew that Odoo had the capabilities to support the company’s endeavors for the long haul.
ConEquip Parts: Building a Strong Foundation with Odoo