Cars on Demand
Designing and engineering a Secure, Unified Vehicle Leasing & Management Platform
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Background
Cars On Demand provides flexible vehicle contract hire and leasing solutions in the UK, offering short-term, mid-term and long-term leases, subscription services, nationwide delivery, and maintenance-inclusive options. As customer needs evolved, so did the complexity of managing vehicles, prospects, customers, quotes, invoices, supplier relationships, scheduling, and stock groups (vehicles grouped by category or type). Cars On Demand needed technology that could scale, maintain security, integrate multiple operational workflows, and give both internal teams and customers a smooth, consistent experience.
Legacy processes were fragmented: inventory of vehicles, customer enquiries, quotes, invoicing, supplier management and payments were handled via separate tools or manual spreadsheets. Communications were often ad hoc, scheduling of deliveries and collections required manual coordination, and reporting on performance, stock utilisation, financials or supplier costs was slow and error-prone. The absence of a unified system made it difficult to scale operations, maintain accurate financial control, track status of quotes and orders, or respond quickly to customer enquiries.
The Need
To stay competitive in a fast-moving mobility market, Cars On Demand needed a secure, centralised platform to unify its core business functions. The company wanted to reduce reliance on spreadsheets and disconnected tools, streamline quote-to-invoice workflows, and gain better visibility into stock utilisation and financial performance. It was also clear that customer expectations were shifting — they required a modern portal experience to view quotes, manage bookings, pay invoices, and communicate directly with the company.
Internally, teams needed better scheduling capabilities to coordinate vehicle deliveries, collections, and maintenance, as well as robust reporting to support decision-making and forecasting. Supplier management was another critical requirement, as the company needed clearer visibility of costs, payments, and contracts. Above all, the new system had to be secure, scalable, and adaptable to Cars On Demand’s continued growth.
The Solution
6B worked with Cars On Demand to design and build a comprehensive, secure software and web portal system in PHP that brings together all key business functions into a single platform. The solution includes internal portals for staff and admin, plus a customer-facing portal, each with role-based access ensuring users only see what they need.
Vehicle stock management is central: vehicles and vehicle groups can be created, categorised, tracked for availability, maintenance status, and grouped by type or features. Prospects and customers are managed via CRM-style modules: adding enquiries, converting to customers, tracking communications, issuing quotes, and following up. Quotes can be generated for vehicles or groups, including configuration of lease-terms, mileage etc.; once accepted they feed smoothly into invoice generation. Invoices and payments are handled within the system, with suppliers tied into payment workflows for costs such as maintenance, parts or services.
Scheduling and task management features allow delivery and collection appointments, maintenance tasks, and vehicle preparation to be assigned, tracked and notifications issued. The system includes detailed reporting: stock utilisation, quote acceptance rates, outstanding invoices, supplier costs, customer conversion and revenue trends. Communication tools (email / in-portal messages) and automated reminders help reduce manual follow-ups. High standards of security were embedded: encrypted data transit & at rest, audit trails for key actions, strict access control. Development was delivered through an iterative process with frequent feedback from Cars On Demand’s operations, sales, customer-service, and logistics teams to ensure the system matched real-world needs.
The Impact
Since launching the new platform, Cars On Demand has seen a transformation in how it operates across the board. Vehicle stock utilisation is clearer and managed more efficiently: administration time spent looking for availability, reconciling maintenance schedules or status updates has dropped sharply. The quote-to-invoice pipeline is now much faster, with fewer errors and delays, improving cash flow and customer satisfaction. Prospects progress more smoothly through the system, with improved communication and fewer lost leads.
Scheduling of vehicle deliveries, collections and maintenance is more reliable and predictable, reducing downtime and improving fleet readiness. Suppliers are managed more transparently: costs are tracked, payments made on time, and invoices reconciled more reliably. Internal reporting is now timely and accurate: team leads and management have dashboards showing key performance metrics like outstanding quotes, revenue, vehicle utilisation, and outstanding payments, which helps decision-making and strategic planning.
Customers benefit from a better digital experience through the portal: they can see their quotes, make bookings or reservations, view invoices, manage payments, and communicate with the company more directly, reducing support requests and increasing transparency. Secure-by-design foundations (audit logs, encrypted data, role-based access) have improved trust — both internally and with customers. The unified platform has lowered operational overheads, reduced duplication of effort, and provided a scalable base as Cars On Demand continues to grow.