[Metro Engine] Release of implementation example of “Metro Conductor” inventory management system for rental cars –
Reduced work hours by half and expanded sales opportunities, increasing sales by 20% –
*View in browser* *Metro Engine Co., Ltd.*
Press release: December 22, 2023
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Introducing the implementation example of “Metro Conductor”, an inventory management system for rental cars – Realized a halving of work man-hours, expanded sales opportunities, and increased sales by 20% –
*Inventory management work time has been reduced by more than half since its introduction. Additionally, we dramatically increased inflows from sales sites that had few reservations while avoiding opportunity losses. *
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Metro Engine Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo,
Representative Director and CEO: Ryosuke Tanaka, hereinafter referred to as Metro Engine), which develops dynamic pricing systems mainly for lodging operators and supports DX promotion and customer attraction, is Big Business Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Amami City, Kagoshima Prefecture, President and CEO: Junichi Mukai) Announces an example of the introduction of “Metro Conductor”, a system that allows for common and unified management of inventory on each sales reservation site, which was introduced at Amami Lucky Rent-A-Car, operated by Amami City, Kagoshima Prefecture, President and CEO: Junichi Mukai. Did. By introducing this system, we have been able to reduce inventory management man-hours by half and increase inflow by avoiding missed orders. *
* ▼Introduction interview with Amami Lucky Rental Car*
“Reducing the number of man-hours for inventory management by more than half, avoiding opportunity losses and dramatically increasing inflow from OTAs where there were few reservations”
URL: https://info.metroengines.jp/metroconductor/amami_lucky.html Big Business Co., Ltd. operates Amami Rakki Rental Car, a rental car store based on Amami Oshima that rents out multiple cars ideal for sightseeing on the island.
Since Amami Rakki Rental Car sells products through seven reservation sites, a large amount of time is spent every day managing and adjusting inventory at each reservation site, and the burden on employees and pressure on other work is a major issue. It became. In addition, because inventory management was completely manual, in order to prevent overbooking, we were forced to limit the number of vehicles we sold, resulting in a lot of inventory loss as the vehicles we had on hand could not be sold.
“Metro Conductor” shares all inventory from each reservation site, realizing unified inventory management and seamless inventory adjustment. With this introduction, Amami Rakki Rental Car has succeeded in reducing work time by more than 50%. Furthermore, with the automation of inventory adjustment, the upper limit on inventory quantities was removed, which significantly eliminated opportunity losses and increased sales by 20% compared to the previous year. Metro Engine will continue to support the promotion of DX in the rental car industry and develop services that can help rental car operators expand their business operations.
* ☆Introductory interview article*
“Reducing the number of man-hours for inventory management by more than half, avoiding opportunity losses and dramatically increasing inflow from OTAs where there were few reservations”
URL: https://info.metroengines.jp/metroconductor/amami_lucky.html
Amami Lucki Rental Car Comments from the person in charge
■Issues before implementation and introduction history
Having to manage inventory at each reservation site and also at real agents made day-to-day operations extremely difficult. Since it is necessary to go back and forth between sales outlets and open and close inventory one by one, the work itself is extremely
time-consuming, and sometimes only two people have to manage the entire reservation management, which is a considerable burden. , I had a strong desire to somehow resolve the issue.
Additionally, in order to prevent overbooking, we limited the amount of inventory that could be registered for sale on each reservation site, but this resulted in fewer opportunities for each company to sell, resulting in frequent opportunity losses. Sales were also a big issue, and the introduction of the system had been a topic of discussion for a long time.
* ■Effects after introduction*
Up until now, inventory was set using a method such as “initial stock of ◯ units for each reservation site”, but now it is possible to register inventory for the number of units in stock at once through Metro Conductor. This has made administrative work much easier. I think I have been able to reduce the time I spend on inventory management by more than two hours a day.
Since using Metro Conductor, there is no longer a need to determine individual inventory quantities for each reservation site, and all sites can now sell with the same amount of inventory, so reservation sites that had previously set their initial inventory to a low level have The number of reservations has increased, and I feel that we have been able to avoid missing out on reservations.
“Metro Conductor” allows for inventory control and competitive research for multiple OTAs (*)
URL: https://info.metroengines.jp/metroconductor/
“Metro Conductor” is a system for rental car companies that supports the efficiency of business operations and maximization of sales, such as central inventory management of multiple OTA sites and competitive sales price research.
The inventory management function makes it possible to automatically adjust inventory by standardizing the inventory of each OTA, which was previously managed manually for each OTA site. This not only greatly reduces employee burden and work hours, but also maximizes sales opportunities while minimizing overbooking risks.
The competitive price research function allows you to list the selling prices of competing stores for each OTA, allowing you to efficiently conduct research to determine your own prices.
■Background of service provision
Much of the work in the rental car industry relies on human resources, and it is said that a huge amount of time is spent managing sales inventory on OTA sites. Although we wanted to sell through many sales channels, we had to set sales inventory for each OTA, and on top of that, the management screen specifications were different for each site, making management complicated, which was an operational issue. . In the rental car industry, there are almost no systems that can centrally manage OTA inventory, and daily inventory adjustment requires moving between sites and handling each site one by one.To prevent overbooking, each OTA has an upper limit on inventory. The mainstream practice was to set up a number of vehicles, which resulted in many lost opportunities due to excess vehicles that could have been sold.
Competitive research, which is necessary for formulating sales strategies, requires a lot of manual work, such as visiting
reservation sites, manually inputting data from various materials, and importing accumulated data into Excel, which is a burden on employees. It was. Manual market research had physical limitations, as the information being collected always needed to be updated.
Therefore, Metro Engine leverages its system development knowledge and technical capabilities cultivated in the hotel industry to develop and provide “Metro Conductor,” an inventory management and competitive research system for rental car companies, to improve operational efficiency and sales opportunities in the rental car industry. We are contributing to the expansion of the company and the improvement of sales.
* ■Inventory management*
You can centrally manage the inventory status of multiple OTA sites. By collaborating with OTAs, the inventory of each OTA is shared and maintained, so there is no need to check the balance with other sites and set the initial inventory for each reservation site.
When a reservation is made on a specific site, the inventory on other sites is automatically adjusted, so there is no need to make adjustments between sites, and seamless inventory management is achieved. It is possible to prevent loss of sales opportunities due to out of stock.
■Competitive price survey
By selecting a competing store based on the distance from the store and specifying the OTA, store, vehicle class, and departure date, you can sell on the same day, 1 night and 2 days, 2 nights and 3 days, and 3 nights and 4 days at a competing store. You can list prices. In the future, we will continue to develop a dynamic pricing system for rental car companies based on inventory information and
competitive price information obtained through the above functions, and strive to establish dynamic pricing in the rental car industry. (*)OTA is Online Travel.
Agent (online travel agent) refers to travel agencies and reservation sites that sell online.
* [Overview of Big Business Co., Ltd.] *
Big Business Co., Ltd. operates a rental vacation rental, weekly condominium, and rental car businesses mainly on Amami Oshima. Our group companies, also based on Amami Oshima, provide a wide range of services to enrich your life and stay experience, including hotel business, real estate business, and sports gyms.
Company name: Big Business Co., Ltd. (http://amami-lucky-rentacar.com/) Representative: Junichi Mukai, Representative Director and President Address: 27-1 Naze Nagahamacho, Amami City, Kagoshima Prefecture * [Overview of Metro Engine Co., Ltd.] *
Metro Engine provides hotels and other lodging operators with the revenue management tool Metro Engine, which uses artificial
intelligence and machine learning from big data to set room prices, and is currently one of the leading hotel chain companies in Japan. We have a contract with the above companies and use our services. Recently, the usefulness of dynamic pricing that matches supply and demand in various fields has begun to be evaluated, but Metro Engine is also developing businesses that target the rental car industry, express bus industry, etc. in addition to the hotel industry. I’m here.
Company name: Metro Engines Co., Ltd. (https://info.metroengines.jp/) Representative: Ryosuke Tanaka, Representative Director and CEO Location: 9th floor, Nishigotanda 7-chome Building, 25-5 Nishigotanda 7-chome, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo
Established: October 2016
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