Digital transformation of the growing LPG market is a must for organisations that wish to thrive within the energy sector’s evolution.
Predicted growth for this industry is massive, and with that comes equivalent competition. For organisations to exploit and participate in this growth, Gartner believes that the transition from linear energy flows to a more networked distribution will continue along those lines. This will require greater responsiveness and adaptability across the value chain and it will be technology that guides an essential part of future strategic planning.
Historically, oil and gas companies have been late adopters of platforms that would enhance agility in their operating models. Gartner says that this is a result of “the fragmented designs of traditional oil and gas assets [that] are inhibiting progress.”
On the other hand, technology vendors that are focused on developing solutions and platforms that span silos and enable flexible workflows to resolve bottlenecks in the system, are making rapid progress, says Gartner. This is exactly where Dreamtec enters the picture. For the last 15 years, we have been evolving our solutions along with the market’s evolution, enabling our clients to grow quickly and without restraint. This is not an unsophisticated add-on, cobbled to an ERP platform – our core focus has been in developing a fully integrated system that addresses the needs of distribution-based businesses. This is all that we do, which means our dedication to our customers’ needs is 100%.
Gartner also stipulates that vendor-sourced platforms will become the preferred option over internally developed platforms by 60% of oil and gas companies by 2027.
Stock management and efficiency
For fuel distribution businesses, their stock is their biggest asset. This commodity needs to be managed down to the last drop.
Operationally, DreamTec’s fuel meter tracker is linked to proprietary software in the background, designed specifically for the energy and fuel sector. It links seamlessly to your ERP system, allowing data to flow from the driver’s handheld computer, back to the office fluidly. The admin team can then easily monitor delivery activity in real-time. This overview of data allows resources to be redeployed, or if any issues occur en route, they can be proactively picked up and resolved.
As growth management became crucial for Northern Energy, this client sought a solution that would not only maintain levels of performance and customer service, but improve them as it grew the business. It understood that real-time fleet tracking is key, but that stock management and monitoring is at least equally important.
DreamTec’s solution “drives decision-making . . . so we’re able to improve driver performance and improve efficiency, which in effect improves the bottom line,” says Northern Energy’s Operations Manager, Stuart Illingworth.
“At the start, the return was less headcount on the admin side; it offset the cost of the investment. But actually, what we found is that we have improved efficiency in our routing, the customer service aspect,” he continues.
Differentiated customer satisfaction
For family-owned energy and fuel supplier, Barton Petroleum, customer relationships are at the heart of its operation. Efficiency and reliability are core to delivering excellent service to its clients.
Again, it was growth that prompted the company to proactively explore strategies to maintain headcount, while increasing volumes. Preserving high levels of customer care while enhancing performance and achieving growth was a hard ask.
“DreamTec Systems has sped up almost every process we do, but maintained the complexity and quantity of information captured,” says Howard Marriott, Group Transport Manager at Barton Petroleum.
Johnston Fuels’s Geoff Russell, Finance Director agrees: “Customer retention is number one. DreamTec Systems allows us to differentiate ourselves from others with improved customer service.”
“We have made a quantum leap in terms of customer service as we can now tell a customer the sequence of orders, when a delivery is coming, if they are next on the driver’s list and if the driver is on his way. We can do it quickly and without having to ring the driver. Now we have PDF copies of signed dockets, so we can respond to invoice queries easily. Our after-care for our customers has improved so much.”
Staff efficiency and user satisfaction
“In the previous manual system, with 1 depot having 10 vehicles with 10 drivers – we could have in excess of 2,000 or 3,000 tickets each day to manually enter into the system and process. Whereas now it’s just done electronically. DreamTec has cut our admin time down from 4-5 hours to 1 hour on stock reconciliation. Which gives our office staff time to catch up on other tasks, including making sales calls,” says Barton Petroleum’s Marriott.
Johnston’s Russell says the company has also benefited from improved driver productivity. As management can monitor individual driver performance and take appropriate action, the overall delivery rate per driver has increased.
Compliance
Perhaps an area that tends to be overlooked by some vendors is compliance. LPG distributors are heavily regulated, which can be a headache in this industry. DCC Oil Ireland’s Brian Hynes, Distribution Manager was familiar with this headache: “Previously, compliance was performed via a paper-based system, resulting in shelves of lever arch files for each truck. From an admin point of view, DreamTec helped us ten-fold.”
“I can easily perform monthly reports for senior management. I can break down our productively exactly across the Emo or Campus fleet on a daily basis,” he says.
Innovative technology
Johnston Fuels aligns with Gartner’s prediction for growth in this industry correlating with technology innovation: “The two very complementary parts of the system are a great strength – a good business model to have that is ideal for oil companies who are looking to use technology to innovate. It means DreamTec Systems can offer a complete package and help customers to realise the benefits,” says Russell.
“The supplier brief was to provide us with a solution that would be tailored for us, yet cost-effective and capable of integration. We had a series of demonstrations, but when we saw DreamTec Systems it was clear that it was the one we would go for as it was specially designed for oil distributors,” he says.
But DreamTec’s approach to client-focused technology stands out: “I would say DreamTec Systems’ biggest strength is its attitude towards innovation, the willingness to develop the product and not just give you an out-of-the-box solution. They’ll listen to any ideas, they’ll really push forward themselves and they’ll be very proactive in the development of it.” says Northern Energy’s Illingworth.
Contact us for more information. Our team would be delighted to chat with you on how to future-proof your fleet fuel management system.
