National Petroleum News (NPN) has been the independent voice of the petroleum industry since 1909 as the opposition to Rockefeller’s Standard Oil. So, motor fuels marketing and retail is not just a sideline for us, it’s our core competency.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/131382
Marketing & Supply By KeithReid Building a solid foundation with technology Fuel Logistics T echnology has revolutionized human existence from its earliest days. Simple tools constructed out of flint and bone made life easier and more efficient. And the first "killer app" – the ability to create fire on demand – ensured the survival of the species. In fuel logistics technology, it's hard to find a be-all, end-all killer app. That is not the fault of the developers, but far more an issue with the fragmented industry they try to serve. Fire had universal applicability and its creation was locked into simple and immovable laws of science; getting a universal electronic bill of lading—not so much. "The number one challenge is still getting the data—how many sources you go to get the data," said Gary Bevers, president of Bevers & Co., a Houston-based fuel management technology solutions consultancy. "It all starts with the pricing then you end up with a bill of lading and you end up 12 May/June 2013 with a delivery ticket and you get an invoice from the suppliers and then freight. That's five pieces of information. "When the industry began, in the main, you had a branded relationship and those prices were posted. They were very stable and they changed maybe once a month and you had just one supplier. One of my client's grandfather was a licensed agent for Chevron and his life was simple. Here was the product, here was the price, and it stayed stable. "That same midsize jobber now has 40 suppliers pulling from four terminals and none of the invoices match. Some of them are faxed; some of them are e-mailed Excel spreadsheets and some of them they get through Schneider Electric (formerly DTN). So the person that's sitting there trying to get bills of ladings and track them to see what they paid for and to determine what to charge the client has a challenging job with a lot of paperwork." Bevers noted that the challenges facing a full automation starts with the diversification of supply (as noted) and the comparable diversification of marketer business models. Further, supply downstream of the refinery bumps up against the lack of fully implemented data standards for processes like BOLs as today's more independent terminal operators typically lack the deep pockets (and overall motivation) associated with the major oil companies that would drive such efforts. Nor is there a "WalMart" among the marketer customers with the power to dictate that the suppliers all get on board and standardize formats. Working through a company that acts as a data aggregator, such as Schneider Electric, can help the logistics data automation process (among other capabilities), but that coverage will be far from universal for most marketers. While back office and fuel logistics technology is not absolute in its capabilities, it can still drive dramatic improvements in efficiency and is essential to profitability in today's high volatility, high prices world. NPN Magazine n www.npnweb.com