Candour

City Hire

Giving the customer complete control

Overview

Taking an e-commerce website brief and developing new software to create a transformative, scalable digital service.

The problem

The construction tool hire market was crying out for a more transparent and accountable hire service. Customers were frustrated by the amount of time spent by staff both on site and in the office placing (and chasing!) orders and deliveries.

A disconnect between those that needed the equipment, and those responsible for ordering it, meant that time and money were wasted, resulting in projects falling behind schedule and running over budget.

Our approach

We took the initial e-commerce website brief and, hand-in-hand with the client, extended it by designing a complete digitisation of the ordering and hire account management process.

The Candour team worked extremely closely with City Hire to translate their complex in-house workflow into a usable online system. City Hire became a core member of our team during the process, epitomising our collaborative and inclusive approach to design.

Candour developed a bespoke integration with the Syrinx ERP system. This involved building a complex piece of middleware to mirror the onsite Syrinx database to allow for the demands of handling web requests.

Results

Our team developed a bespoke service gateway to integrate the new website and all of its functionality with City Hire’s back office systems.

The platform we created allows sites to access real-time stock levels and place orders directly, from any device. Push notifications automatically alert their office that an order awaits approval, saving time and streamlining the ordering process.

Further automated notifications advise delivery times and due dates for return, minimising waste. Office staff have visibility via a dashboard featuring all items on hire and ordered for future use, at any one time, enabling stricter cost control.

Initial reactions to the recent soft launch have been unanimous in their enthusiasm: for City Hire’s existing customers, the advantages of this unique service are clear. Our solution provided functionality that had never before existed in this sector, giving City Hire a massive lead over its competitors.

Candour went to great lengths to really understand what we wanted and to align that with the needs of our users.

Warren Burgess, Managing Director, City Hire

Get in touch

Please call us on
+44 (0)1603 957068

or email
[email protected]

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