Basic MRP rental is catching on

Renting simplified MRP systems is slowly catching on among SMEs, as manufacturers realise the scale of cost and time savings on offer. That’s the verdict if RentIT’s recent fortunes are anything to go by. Managing director Guy Amoroso says that last month was the best to date, and that adoption is growing. Its latest win ousted a £120,000, 46-user conventional ERP deal for an aerospace subcontractor: that company is now paying £2,000 per month, and has already become another reference site for the 123MRP suite. The secret seems to be partly in the pricing model (it’s completely transparent, with a cost per month estimator on the firm’s website), partly the commitment (there is none, so it’s zero risk), and partly in the ease of set-up and running. Users claim virtually instant payback, since no-one has yet spent more than £5,000 on set-up and implementation – and thereafter it’s a relatively small monthly fee. Amoroso says that having Access Dimension financials integration, plus Microsoft .Net coverage and a new release (v5) around the corner, can only make the deal more attractive. He believes that “providing the 90% that most manufacturers need” is a compelling argument, and adds that “seeing is believing”. His point: since his company is geared to minimum involvement with customers, its developers have had to make set-up and operation foolproof and intuitive. The fact that RentIT is still around and growing – with UK university technology centres, three VARs and dealerships now set up in Australia, the Czech republic, Italy and Holland, proves his point.