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How Fuelsuite revolutionised fuel management for Viva Energy



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Fuelsuite; complete visibility of your tanks wherever you are.
Fuelsuite; complete visibility of your tanks wherever you are.

The management of fuel stocking, storing, monitoring, and reporting can be complicated and time consuming work, irrespective of whether you are a small site owner or have hundreds of sites across the country.

Viva Energy, one of the largest fuel wholesalers in Australia, was no exception when it came to these issues around fuel management.

As an exclusive fuel supply licensee for the global energy group, Shell, Viva Energy has more than twenty fuel import and storage terminals and 870 Shell branded service stations. For an operation of this size, you can easily understand how overwhelming a task like wet stock management can be for the enterprise.


The importance of visibility in fuel management

Efficient and correct fuel management is necessary for all fuel suppliers, regardless of size. Poor fuel management can cause a multitude of problems for a company, the community, and the environment.

One of the largest areas of concern for any operation is the fear of a leaking tank. Fuel Tank owners have good reason to be concerned; the average petrol station can hold 150,000L of petrol and it only takes a few hundred litres of fuel to contaminate up to one million litres of water. Adding to the consequences, even a small fuel leak can result in legal and clean-up costs and potential fines by the EPA.

Whilst Viva Energy’s existing fuel management process had prevented these hazards to date, they recognised significant inefficiencies in their current processes and required a more transparent fuel management system. Wanting to proactively advance their business performance, Viva sought help from our team at EMS.

Specifically, Viva Energy needed complete visibility of what was going on in their tanks at all times. They wanted to ensure they had access to accurate site data, quickly, efficiently, and at a low cost.
 

Fuelsuite: the future of fuel management

Upon deploying EMS’ Fuelsuite system, Viva Energy gained access to reliable, secure, and real-time data from their tanks around the country – anytime, and anywhere.

"The direct connectivity of Fuelsuite has allowed us to identify issues and map a history of events on each site." "In one instance, there had been high water alarms oscillating on a tank. When mapped against the deliveries to the site, it was noted that the high water level was occurring at the same time of the deliveries. This ended up being due to the physical configuration of the fill tube deflector, but allowed us to confirm that no water was present, and therefore no product quality issues." Anthony Cornish - Facilities Maintenance Contract Lead, Viva Energy

Not only does Fuelsuite reduce the likelihood of tank errors, it also removes the complexity of fuel management by ensuring Viva’s site data is accessible at all times via a contemporary cloud-based platform.

"Fuelsuite enables petroleum retailers to remotely manage key assets, such as Automatic Tank Gauges, Price Sign, Pump Communications, Fridges, Compressors, CO2 sensors, Forecourt Containment and a range of other functions. With 30 second updates, clients transition from the transactional reactive to a transformative predictive business model, where they can see issues on the horizon before they become problems that impact business operations." Russell Dupuy - Managing Director, EMS

The benefits of Fuelsuite for your organisation

The ongoing benefits of using Fuelsuite to manage your wetstock are plentiful. However, there are two core benefits of the solution which can immediately improve your sites safety and performance.

  • Fuelsuite maximises the return of your fuel logistics

Fuelsuite seamlessly integrates Automatic Tank Gauge (ATG) data from any petrol station, which can be accessed remotely in real-time. This greatly improves the day-to-day management for petrol station managers, as they can see exactly how much fuel is being regularly dispensed. The ready access to accurate data also means business decisions can be made quicker and with more confidence.

  • Fuelsuite reduces environmental impact

An unnoticed fuel leak is one of the worst-case scenarios a petrol station can encounter. Even with low contamination, leaking fuel can be disastrous to the environment and the organisation’s reputation. Unfortunately, there is always a chance your fuel system could leak, even if you follow industry compliance. Because of this, Fuelsuite has access to ATG and Pump data, so if an incident occurs, you know exactly which tank is leaking. The real-time data allows you to act immediately, minimising the damage a leak can cause.

"Fuelsuite has enabled live fuel data, which has lowered Viva's environmental impact whilst significantly improving OH&S and fuel distribution." Ashely Harris - Retail Operations Manager, Viva Energy

What should I do next?

If you’re concerned about your lack of visibility in your fuel management process, now is your chance to take control.

Without immediate access to accurate and reliable data, every business decision you make is a risk. Many fuel suppliers have suffered significant loss of profit because they did not realise they were over dispensing their fuel and continued to resupply their wetstock before the problem was noticed.

Looking beyond the financial concerns, inefficient fuel management processes like the Dip Stick and manual fuel reconciliation can be hazardous to staff and are a major environmental concern.

Fortunately the future of fuel is here, and the inefficiencies of fuel management can finally be resolved.

To discover how you can maximise your return from your fueling environment, contact EMS today.

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