Revolutionising Car Rentals: How Digitisation and Data Drive Success

Speed Lease has been operating on the Czech market since 1998. It specialises in providing mobility services in the short and long term, concentrating their services in two areas: vehicle rental in Prague, Brno and Ostrava; and vehicle leasing for clients throughout the Czech Republic and Slovakia.  

It is a strong player in the sector with a background of a strong global brand concious about digital transformation being an essential part of business modernisation and development. Therefore, Speed Lease had some motivations to undergo this transformation:

1. Enhancement of End-to-End Process Efficiency: Streamlining operations to ensure smoother and more cohesive workflows across all business functions.

2. Transparency of Processes: Achieving greater visibility into all operational processes, enabling better monitoring and control.

3. Reduction of Operating Costs: Implementing cost-saving measures through improved efficiency and automation.

4. More Effective Use of Human Resources: Optimizing the allocation and utilization of human resources to maximize productivity and job satisfaction.

5. Increased Competitiveness: Leveraging technological advancements to gain a competitive edge in the market.

Reasons for Developing a Digital Strategy:

1. Insufficient ERP Functionality and Inadequate Implementer: Addressing the limitations of the current ERP system and the shortcomings of the implementer to ensure robust and effective resource planning.

2. Lack of Insight into Digital Tools: Overcoming the gap in knowledge and understanding of available digital tools that can enhance business operations.

3. Inefficient processes: high proportion of administrative processes and manual intervention, data quality, data analysis for decision making, low level of online communication.

4. Ineffective Use of Company Data: Integrating and utilising data from various sources more effectively to drive strategic insights and actions.

The collaboration goals among EDIH B4I and Speed Lease encompass a comprehensive analysis of the company's state and process description, the identification of key development potentials using digital tools, and the creation of activity plans for the digital development of the company starting from 2024 and beyond. Additionally, the goals include providing detailed descriptions of proposed digitization projects along with the definition of relevant economic indicators to measure their impact and success.

Aware of their challenge, Speed Lease benefited from the services of EDIH B4I due to their extensive understanding of the technologies, software tools, and processes involved; their expertise, which allows them to propose and assess tailored solutions the company, drawing on their knowledge of practices across various industries and EDIH B4I's independence from specific suppliers, enabling them to design solutions that can be effectively applied.

EDIH B4AI provided an integral service that started with a detailed and complex analysis of the company processes. This analysis encompassed business cases such as car leasing and rental services, vehicle purchase, the entire vehicle life cycle including leasing and rental service, management of servicing and tires, processing of fines, service invoicing, and vehicle termination along with used car sales. Additionally, an analysis of the ERP used in Speed Lease was performed considering aspects such as its potential for the future, together with an analysis of process maps.

Once all the analytical phase has been performed, a clear proposals of next steps was defined. This proposal included diverse aspects to address the key challenges of Speed Lease, including decission making in relation to the status of the ERP system and the necessity for the development of an entire ecosystem of ERP and other applications, which involved IT development. Finally, in line with the decissions taken, the project road-map steps where prepared.

As a consequence of the service provided by EDIH B4I to Speed Lease, some valuable outputs have been achieved by the SME:

Qualitative indicators:

• The strategy implementation commenced in the first quarter of 2024.

• Approximately 40 projects have been identified for implementation.

• A tender process for a new ERP supplier is currently underway (as of May 2024).

• The implementation of all project activities is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2026.

Quantitative indicators:

• Expected Investment Amount: CZK 7.9 to 13.8 million (approximately €300,000 to €550,000).

• Estimated Annual Savings: CZK 11 million per year (approximately €440,000 per year).

• Increase in Productivity: Equivalent to saving approximately 3 Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs).

• Reduction of Additional Costs: CZK 0.35 million per year.

• Increase in Sales (Business Deals): To be determined by 2026.

• Improvement in SPEED LEASE Business/Operational Performance: To be determined by 2026.

On the other hand, EDIH B4I has also experienced and preceived certain benefits derived from this collaboration with Speed Lease:

• Getting to understand new unique challenges of each different SME we work with

• Possibility to transfer experience between customers, matchmaking.

• Further collaboration with the SME : development of training package for the SME staff in the B4I Digital Academy in this particular case.

The collaboration experience provided some good practices:

• Begin with a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the following key processes: order receipt and processing, product development, production and assembly, warehousing and logistics, administrative processes, and other key activities specific to the local context.

• Identify potential opportunities to leverage the benefits of digitisation within each individual process. 

• Develop a project concept, draft of the project time plan.

• Include CAPEX and return-on-investment calculation.

In summary, the folloring Do's and Don'ts can be highlighted: