Marketplace tech democratising used equipment sales

Marketplace tech democratising used equipment sales
With major OEM brands embracing Krank’s online marketplace platform to remarket equipment themselves, the task of keeping ahead of the tech curve is no easy matter.

When building a business, starting small is usually the way to go. But, as befits a market entrant that likes to rewrite the rules of how things get done, events are taking a rather different turn at Krank. In fact, it didn’t take long for industry giants like Liebherr, Sunstate Equipment and Maxim Crane to recognize the benefits of Krank’s innovative online marketplace, which allows companies to dispose of used equipment fleets using their own branded online marketplaces. So, Krank is starting Big – and intends to stay that way.

“Most SaaS [software as a service] platforms initially target smaller firms and build up from there – but we’re doing it the other way round,” says Krank’s Chief Technology Officer, Khurram Mumtaz. “We’ve scaled the platform from the start to meet the needs of major players, which in turn reassures smaller companies to adopt it too. So, there is a ‘gravitational pull’ effect that is helping us penetrate the wider market, now and in the coming years.”

Taking control of the sale process

Krank has developed an innovative solution for building networks and connections among industry peers, via which new and used equipment can be remarketed. Through smart auctions and data reporting it enables customers to prime their sales funnels via hot lead generation information.

As with early adopters like Liebherr, Krank offers a customizable high-tech platform that allows users to take control of the sales process and independently trade equipment under their own brands digitally. This has a number of economic and sustainability advantages beyond the usual routes, which include traditional third-party auctions.

Staying on top of the tech

Mumtaz, with more than 20 years’ experience delivering innovation and digital transformation projects for the likes of brands such as Toshiba and L’Oréal, now oversees a team of 15 engineers. His CTO duties are constantly evolving in order to respond to new technical challenges and the needs of the Krank solution. “We’ve been extremely proud to work with the likes of Liebherr and their experience in the industry has been brilliant in terms of informing how we approach our overall product development. But we are aware of the challenges that lie ahead if we are to optimize it for all our clients,” says Mumtaz.

“However, we are prepared to meet those challenges – and as a customer focused platform, myself and everyone on the development team at Krank are constantly looking for ways to stay ahead of the game, while remaining focused on security, scalability and stability. Whether that means working on the latest architecture practices, such as micro services and containerization – or predictive analytics, so clients can identify their next sales opportunity.”

Tech stack stacks up

This forward planning is set to pay off in terms of harnessing the platform’s potential for adoption by other industries. As Mumtaz points out, marketplaces are essentially similar the world over – people gather to buy and sell – and Krank’s platform can facilitate those interactions and trades. “For example, take the assets’ price tag out of the equation, and the heavy equipment and automotive industries are very similar; sharing the same sort of dealer and customer structure.

“But right now, We’re focusing on the heavy equipment industry – there’s so much to scale up here. Where else can you find an industry where the legacy technology has so far to catch up with other sectors? This offers us the opportunity to be pioneers in this space. That said, as advanced as our tech is, there is plenty of scope for us to improve too – embracing AI for instance. We know where we are going and have a fat arrow pathway to the future. We’ve made a strong start, but there is a lot of work to do, and it’s my job to make sure the tech stack stacks up.”