Arriving at the new address of William F. White, one wonders if it’s the right place, as the fleet of ubiquitous white trucks ­ one of the hallmarks of the company ­ is nowhere in sight at the as yet signless new facility.

The 34-year-old national production equipment rental and sales company recently settled into its new headquarters at 1030 Islington Avenue in western Toronto. The move represents an expansion in real estate as well as in thinking about the ever more challenging equipment supply field.

With a bigger push into the camera end of the business two-and-a-half years ago, White has continued its investment in becoming an all-encompassing equipment source while streamlining its operation, rationalizing every aspect of its service.

The company has also maximized its information technology resources with a killer Website and a proprietary software product for tracking equipment.

Inside the offices, it’s a relative oasis of smart design, a dramatic departure from the rustic charm of the old shop, currently in use to house generators.

The new space is the result of a five-year search for the perfect digs, says president Bill White, and represents an increase in space from 22,500 square feet to 75,000 square feet. Formerly Network Studios, the facility was gutted and $2.5 million worth of leasehold improvements applied to make the place not merely civilized but efficient.

Other moves for the company, an arm of the Comweb Group headed by Paul Bronfman, include the planned opening of a Winnipeg shop in spring 1998 and an expansion into cameras in its Budapest operation with renowned dop Vilmos Sigmund. A move into video assist equipment is also in the works.

At headquarters, the new design incorporates an expanded camera department which affords generous space for test lanes and individual accessories, including an entire room devoted to roughly $1 million worth of filters alone. In all, the facility houses about 78 camera packages, including new Arri 535b and Arri 435 cameras, acquired over the last year.

With some of those camera packages representing a stunning half-million-dollar setback, being a service-oriented, one-stop shop is the way to approach the challenge of staying on top, says White. ‘Our objective is to package as best we can to support all the services under one roof.’

The ‘War Room’

The company has also rationalized its scheduling area, concentrating all ordering activity for camera, lighting, sales and everything else in the ‘War Room,’ what White calls the nerve center of the shop. ‘Previously, scheduling for the different departments was handled in different areas, even different floors,’ says White.

In the nice-touch department, a spacious client lounge will ultimately house a technical library, which will feature a collection of multi-format directors’ and dop’s reels, and the White body of film work will be stored on laser disc for ease of printing color video print stills. All offices will have access to video conferencing and the facility is wired with isdn lines.

The sales department offers on-site shopping as well as a recently upgraded direct-mail catalogue. White hopes to increase the current 10% revenue chunk derived from direct sales with its first mass mailing of the color catalogue to its list of 5,000 prospective customers.

The seen-everywhere William F. White jackets are also for sale, and with the ubiquity of its name and the scope of its operation, Bronfman says the company has, for most intents and purposes, become a brand unto itself.

Toward providing its comprehensive array of services, White has added a new camera movement department with remote heads and cranes, including a joint venture with Bob Lynn’s Megamount camera mount company. White says the company is looking toward further joint ventures in video, scaffolding and rigging, and negotiations are currently underway to that end.

‘We wanted to consolidate a total equipment solution in one place so clients can access anything they need without going elsewhere,’ says Bronfman.

Added attention has been paid to the processing of gear coming in and going out of the building. The shop offers about 14 truck packages, mainly for the commercial production sector, which comprises about 45% of White’s business. The huge shipping and receiving area has the organizational feel of a hardware library, with all trucks remaining outside the building and gear closely checked, tagged and signed upon return by appropriate receiving personnel.

A further substantial gear-tracking effort has been put forth by the company with its Track-It software, a Windows-based proprietary package that was in development at the shop for over a year and a half and represents an investment of roughly $200,000.

The system was developed in-house by four White’s employees, including data services manager Guy Bowie, with practical design and usage input from staff in other areas of the company. It allows the shop to centralize every aspect of data on its equipment and its customers, meaning increased efficiency at White’s Toronto, and ultimately, all other White’s offices.

Now in operation at the Toronto head office, the system was recently shipped to the Halifax operation, which is connected to head office data through an isdn router.

The system provides a complete customer service and administration solution broken down into several categories including customer profile/customer maintenance, general maintenance, which facilitates tracking and execution of equipment repairs and maintenance; contract maintenance, check in/check out, a reporting module; an inquiries module, which allows queries to be run against the database to check on outstanding orders and the like; and notes and invoicing.

‘Our business is complicated yet flexible,’ says information technology consultant Andrew Rock. Rock says the software facilitates the delicate process of dealing with packages and even packages within packages, allowing staff to build quotes online, to keep track of what inventory is where at what time and exactly how long it will be there.

Data is also tracked to evaluate trends; in the case of sub-rentals the software delivers information to minimize the time a sub-rental is out of the building as well as on usage patterns to guide possible future purchases. Information is accessible by a number of variables, including by customer, job or contract. Equipment categories are clearly broken out, and changes made at any stage are immediately reflected throughout the contract.

The system was developed to bring the company’s tracking solution up to par with the newer operating systems, and to exploit technological features therein, says White’s information technology consultant Lorenzo Palermo. ‘It means greater connectivity, sharing of data, plus a more intuitive and user-friendly interface,’ says Palermo. ‘In the long term it allows us to continue to develop greater capabilities in centralizing data and communication of data.’

The company’s other computer initiative ­ its Website ­ also represents a whole-hog approach. The refreshingly useful site contains detailed information on the company and its services, a downloadable rental catalogue, a solid collection of industry links and a build-your-own quote area.

The upgraded operation stands out among rental companies, says Bronfman, who reports that visitors from the largest l.a. facilities praise the quality of the setup.

Bronfman says notwithstanding the sleek new shop, the quality of the place derives largely from its people ­ most of whom are involved in a profit-sharing program ­ and the close-knit working environment cultivated over the life of the company.