Imagine purchasing heavy equipment as seamlessly as ordering a pizza. Sounds impossible? Not for Machinery Partner. Powered by Odoo, this online B2B marketplace, focused on selling, financing and servicing heavy equipment has revolutionized the way communities access industrial assets, ensuring efficiency, transparency, and customer success.
Founded in 2020 during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Machinery Partner was created to simplify equipment ownership for manufacturing businesses. CEO Clement Cazalot, who grew up in a family of contractors, saw firsthand how the right machinery could drive local economic growth. The company was built to remove barriers in a traditionally opaque industry, offering a curated marketplace where businesses can easily source, select, and transact the best industrial tools.
Initially started in the aggregate industry -the process of making rocks a.k.a. crushing and screening industry- Machinery Partner has expanded to serve categories such as concrete, waste management, and quarrying. Their mission: to empower local businesses with high-quality equipment, backed by data-driven insights and exceptional customer support.
"How do we enable industrial businesses to grow with the quality of their equipment? That’s the problem we set out to solve."
The challenge? Disconnected systems and manual processes
Like many companies before adopting an ERP, Machinery Partner relied on internal databases, and manual tools to manipulate the data such as Excel and Airtable. As a result, tracking orders, managing inventory, and coordinating shipments required extensive human intervention, increasing the risk of errors.
Organizing equipment fulfillment was particularly challenging, as machinery sourced from various locations had to be shipped across the country with minimal visibility for customers and internal teams.
"Before Odoo, fulfilling an equipment order was a complicated, error-prone process. We needed a centralized system to manage operations seamlessly."
Revolutionizing operations with Odoo
Machinery Partner has seen significant improvements in four key areas since integrating Odoo:
Customer support efficiency:
- With Odoo’s Helpdesk module, logging customer issues and ordering necessary parts from the same ticket has never been easier.
- Response times have been significantly reduced, enabling faster issue resolution and higher customer satisfaction.
Fulfillment process optimization:
- Previously, shipping machinery required manual coordination via Slack and email. Now, Project centralizes order tracking and updates.
- A process that previously required three to four people can now be managed by one or two, reducing labor costs by 50%.
- New employee onboarding for shipping logistics dropped from 1.5 weeks to just 48 hours.
- Time to process a sale agreement and initiate shipping has been cut from one hour to just 10 minutes.
Enhanced administrative workload:
- With Odoo automating most of the workflow, Machinery Partner has achieved an 80% reduction in administrative workload.
- Shipping is now managed more efficiently, enabling Machinery Partner to handle larger order volumes with the same team size.
Better communication, more transparency:
- Odoo’s Chatter feature embeds real-time communication directly within project and helpdesk modules.
- Sales and support teams can access complete conversation histories, reducing back-and-forth emails and saving critical response time.
"Selecting an open-source ERP allowed us to have a single source of truth for our data, streamlining information to improve the customer experience."
Empowering the future of heavy equipment sales
The company is focused on expanding its expertise in specialty equipment, gradually adding new industries to its portfolio. Having successfully served nationwide the aggregate and concrete sectors, they are now entering the waste management space. Their long-term goal is to scale their proven business model to additional industrial segments while maintaining the high level of service their clients expect.
Investments in Odoo will continue to play a crucial role, ensuring consistency in operations, enhancing supplier relationships, and ultimately delivering an unparalleled customer experience.
For businesses struggling with inefficient processes and disconnected systems, Machinery Partner’s journey demonstrates the power of an intuitive and scalable ERP solution. By leveraging Odoo, they have not only streamlined operations but also enhanced customer satisfaction and long-term growth.
Is your company facing similar challenges? Explore how Odoo can help you optimize your operations and drive success in your industry.
