Administration Technology: Today telematics can offer solutions for the improvement of inventory administration, for inventory which is disbursed geographically – Application to Petrogaz customers.

Article by Dr. George Papapanagiotakis

Technical Director of Emphasis Telematics

Modern businesses are forced on a daily basis to search for service providing solutions which are characterized by a high level of customer service and effective resource administration.  At the same time, growing competition is constantly diminishing profit margins and put pressure towards operational cost reduction.

The development of telematics has allowed for the immediate measurement, recording and processing of information created in remote locations.  It allows companies with transport activities to create strategic advantages with solutions based on the administration of remote and geographically disbursed locations.

The introduction of telematics in fleet management has been internationally recognized as a support tool to the delivery procedures and has been incorporated in the operations of many companies.  Fleet management was the first step for telematics in the Greek business reality with extraordinary results in organization and productivity.

Emphasis Telematics, one of the leading companies in the fleet management market, has alreasy implemented its solution, e-TRACK, in more than 450 companies in Greece.  Taking the next step, Emphasis Telematics develops today telematic solutions for the administration of inventory.

Following extensive recording of Petrogaz’s business and strategic needs, an effort undertaken through close cooperation of both companies’ management, Emphasis Telematics outlined, designed and implemented a telematic solution for the reliable, timely and automated measurement of available liquid gas inventory within tanks placed at Petrogaz’s customers.

Goals

Since December 2000 Petrogaz has installed e-TRACK, and takes advantage of the benefits of fleet management throughout the country.  Wishing to improve the quality of provided services and at the same time reduce its operational costs, Petrogaz began outlining a telemetric system to measure available liquid gas inventory in the tanks at their customers’ sites.

This solution aligns itself with the company’s business and strategic goals in the areas of installation safety, levels of customer service, and shrinking of operational cost.

Specifically, Petrogaz’s inventory administration system aims at:

•       Enhancement of their customers’ safety level through the supervision of their tanks’ percentage levels so that they do not exceed the safety limits placed by the company.

•       Improvement of customer service through the ability to automatically and electronically place orders for liquid gas, as well as with the reduction of order service times.

•       Reduction of operational costs through the improvement of fleet routing based on reliable and timely anticipation of their customers’ needs for liquid gas.

•       Absolute control over the tracking and the re-fueling of the tanks at customers’ sites.

These goals were discussed with Emphasis Telematics who outlined the telematic solution, e-METER, utilizing the capabilities of modern telecommunications infrastructure as well as the company’s know-how in the development of reliable electronic systems and the development of data administration software and decision support systems.

Solution Architecture

e-METER is based on field electronic units which are place on the tanks, the GPRS telecommunications network, and the Inventory Administration Station software residing at Petrogaz’s offices.

Specifically, e-METER is connected with a liquid gas measurement sensor (hall effect technology) which has the ability to also show readings locally. This connection meets all safety regulations (intrinsically safe) and is able to auto-control the sensor.  The e-METER unit can be connected with and measure simultaneously 8 tanks in the same area.

The e-METER unit is secured against extreme environmental conditions which may exist or appear in the area surrounding the tank(s) (temperatures, moisture, dust, sunlight) and is fully electromagnetically shielded. It uses GPRS technology to send data.

Data is received by the Inventory Administration Station through the internet by an ADSL line.  The software informs the user on the tank levels in real time and automatically predicts the adequacy time of the liquid gas quantity, thus providing the ability to effectively control orders (automatic ordering).

It measures the quantities delivered to the customer and indicates any excesses over the allowed limit of the tank in order to avoid dangerous over-fillings.

It interfaces with the e-TRACK Base Station for the administration of the fleet vehicles, providing a complete solution for the transport of Petrogaz’s products.  With this information, vehicle routing can be achieved and last-minute ordering issues can be dealt with.

Application - Conclusions

The e-METER system has been installed in 30 of Petrogaz’s customers.  Which customers to select was based on commercial criteria related to the provided service level, as well as on their geographic dispersion so as to minimize transport costs. This application was also funded by the General Secretariat for Research and Technology as part of the ARTTS project, in which the Economic University of Athens and Vodafone also participate.

The development of this technologically and commercially pioneering application has a strategic character for Petrogaz, and was developed to increase the company’s productivity in a competitive market. All goals related to effective administration of available inventory, safe installation, improvement of the quality of provided logistics services, and measurement of the quality of the provided services, were achieved.

Today the company, as a next step, is studying the introduction of telematics in the automated electronic measurement of the product and the invoicing of its customers.