Challenge
Serving the emergency community for over 30 years, DPC Emergency Equipment sees roughly 12 fire truck deals a year with sales cycles lasting close to 3 years. New trucks are mostly custom builds which means their full service ranges from the build, to the service, and the warranty and maintenance later on. Trucks that come in for service have different parts and manufacturers and may end up with 5-6 jobs from an initial visit. Prior to Motility, DPC struggled with keeping track of all the warranty and repair work. “Our old system didn’t allow for a single work order with multiple splits of an invoice,” said Rick Strauss, President of DPC Emergency Equipment.

Part of the challenge they faced was finding a solution that worked for all departments involved. They needed to find a scalable way to keep track of the work on one work order and reconcile that information with accounting. When it came to their payables, transactions would have been printed, stuffed in envelopes, and mailed out and would take on average 1-2 days per week. “We needed to find a solution that would help us manage our payables,” Strauss said. “It was a quick setup and it’s really helped transform our Accounts Payable process.”

Solution
With Infinity, DPC has seen a great deal of success using the parts and service, unit inventory, deal desking, and accounting modules.

“We’re not an everyday shop — the configuration and flexibility is a perfect fit for a dealership like us. 30 years in business and several DMS systems later, we finally found a solution that works for us. For the first time since we’ve been in business I knew what we had in stock and where to get it. Within 18 months of using this product, I had complete oversight into the business and was able to tell where we were and where we were projected to be.”

Rick Strauss | President, DPC Emergency Equipment

Nowadays, when a truck comes in for service the process is much more streamlined. One work order is generated and they can have multiple splits of the invoice — plus tie it all back to accounting. With fabrication being crucial to their business, they are able to keep track of all of the unit information and the bill of materials added to each truck. Unit Inventory and Deal Desking work together seamlessly to streamline their warranty process, inventory management, tickets, and internal processes.

A valuable feature, too, is MotilityPay for handling payables. DPC has been able to leave check writing and postage in the past, with a few simple clicks. According to Strauss, “MotilityPay has taken the administrative burden out of our payment process.”

Results
DPC now has the tools they need to grow their business. They can do multiple splits of an invoice, handle more than one warranty claim, order parts easily, and have it all tie back into accounting.

“Instead of banging your head against the wall, Infinity just helps you get stuff done. It has tremendously helped our ability to file warranty claims, drastically helped our cash flow, eliminated manual paperwork, and gave us an easier way to order parts. Plus the vehicle transactions are right there for everyone to see. The visibility the system provides is a big win for us.”

Rick Strauss | President, DPC Emergency Equipment

To wash-out a truck, it used to be a multi-day process with different departments communicating independently, and having to run the work order information to each other. Now, it’s much more efficient and takes roughly 10 mins due to the transparency and integration between departments.

DPC processes roughly $1.3 million in payables in MotilityPay and $350K of that has been through Virtual Cards (V-Cards). Instead of spending 1-2 days per week they are only spending half a day and are able to focus on higher priority tasks — that’s a 75% time savings. DPC has also been able to save money on postage and envelopes, save time cutting checks, and effectively turned their AP process into a revenue generator with a $739 rebate last quarter.

“If your AP process is difficult, you’re doing something wrong. Take a step back and simplify it. MotilityPay has drastically saved us time and eliminates redundant paperwork. Plus, the rebate is a bonus. For the first time since we’ve been in business I knew what we had in stock and where to get it. Within 18 months of using this product, I had complete oversight into the business and was able to tell where we were and where we were projected to be.”

Rick Strauss, President
DPC Emergency Equipment