DIGITIZING THE ESSENTIALS

UNITED SITE SERVICES, THE NATION'S PREMIER PORTA POTTY RENTAL COMPANY, SHARES INSIGHTS ON WHAT IT TAKES FOR NICHE INDUSTRY PLAYERS TO UNDERTAKE A SUCCESSFUL DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

For years the business media have produced volumes of coverage on digital transformation, and it can seem that every enterprise has made some kind of digital move, despite the existence of a world of service businesses trying to find the value in making technological shifts. Many of these firms deliver solutions in sectors that may not immediately come to mind, like United Site Services (USS).

The Boston-based provider of rental sanitation equipment has roughly 300,000 assets in the continental U.S. that they manage, including portable restrooms, hand hygiene solutions, temporary fence, trailer solutions, and roll off dumpsters for every conceivable outdoor event. They serve gatherings from the most basic to elegant, serving Burning Man and Coachella, construction and other worksites, posh countryside weddings, and everything in between. With over 140 branch locations, USS is the largest sanitation firm of its kind; their closest competitor is 110% smaller.

When Ray Andrews joined the company in 2019 as VP of Digital Transformation, he was initially tasked with replacing their 20-yearold ERP system. Today he’s the CIO and his main focus is “optimizing the customer experience by implementing a modern technology stack and creating real-time visibility into business performance,” according to the firm.

“There are lot of momand-pops in the industry, and most of them still operate their business on paper, or with a program like QuickBooks,” he explained. “Funnily enough, we were almost no different. We were performing almost 15 million services for portable restrooms annually, and we were doing that on paper.”