PetrolPlaza Special Cloud-based solutions: Cloud-based Head-Office for unmanned CNG sites network

SUPPLIER: FINNPOS SYSTEMS OY

CUSTOMER: GASUM OY (FINLAND)

BACKGROUND

The energy company Gasum is a Finnish gas sector (natural gas and biogas) expert that is building a bridge to a carbon-neutral society on land and at sea. Gasum contributes to the creation of a sustainable energy economy by increasing the supply of Finnish biogas, developing the Nordic gas ecosystem and ensuring the price competitiveness of gas. Gasum Oy is a fully state-owned company, with 73.5% of the shares held by the state-owned Gasonia Oy and 26.5% by the State of Finland. The company’s revenue for 2015 totaled €915 million.

At the moment there are 18 unmanned gas vehicle filling stations in Finland owned by Gasum. At all Gasum’s filling stations customers can select compressed natural gas (CNG) and Biogas.

THE PROJECT

Gasum Oy had been looking for a solution which would allow managing the entire unmanned network 24/7/365 from the cloud with minimal costs and maximum efficiency. Finnpos Systems Oy, as a supplier, was supposed to provide not only Outdoor Payment Terminal (OPT) for CNG sites, but also Head-Office, based on cloud technology, responsible for all the operations.

THE CHALLENGE

There were several challenges during the project:

unmanned CNG station is quite a rare thing and designing OPT for such a station requires attention to the specific safety requirements
GASUM Oy has its own GasCard system, based on monthly invoicing, which had to be implemented in the OPT functionality
Cloud-based HOS had to be integrated not only with GasCard system, but also with Company’s DataWarehouse system and to several other 3-rd party providers.

TECHNOLOGY

The rule-of-thumb strategy for technology selection was: either Microsoft or open source. With Microsoft there is a good guarantee that the technology will be around for a long time and should the technology change, Microsoft will provide the tools to cross the technology bridge. With open source, on the other hand, the development and maintenance costs can be kept low. The open source community is also very innovative and often develops the most robust solutions for the IT industry. Finnpos Systems Oy also prefers technologies that have a large user base, bringing the advantage that skilled specialists are easier to find.

THE SOLUTION

For Gasum unmanned CNG sites Finnpos Systems Oy provided OPT which operates CNG dispenser and makes it possible to pay with GasCard, Finnish banking- and Visa Electron -cards as well as MasterCard and Visa credit cards. The OPT software is targeted to run both on Linux and Windows operating systems. Filling up a gas vehicle is simple and based on self-service. To fill up, gas hose nozzle should be connected to the receptacle on the car. The nozzles have an automated locking mechanism, and the refueling system design protects against gas being released into the atmosphere.

All of Gasum's unmanned CNG stations are fast-fill stations, which feature a high-power compressor and storage for pressurized gas and allows refueling from a pressurized storage tank, so filling up customer’s car does not take any longer than filling up with liquid fuel. The refueling pressure is 200 bar at 15 °C, temperature compensated. Gas is sold by mass in kilograms, with 1 kg of gas corresponding to 1.56 liters of gasoline and 1.39 liters of diesel fuel.

Cloud-based Head-Office system, called COBA, supplied by Finnpos Systems Oy to Gasum, made it possible to fully manage the whole network of CNG sites, collecting sales data, managing alarms, prices. This solution is scalable, so when it is necessary, it can be extended to several servers to provide more robustness and security.

The Cloud-based Head-Office is supplied with following modules:

User management
Organization management
Settings for financial administration
Monitoring
Archiving
Reporting
Interfaces
Product management
Inventory management
Customer management
OPT management

Picture number 3 illustrates the delivered Cloud–based Head office system (Coba) main functionalities.

THE FUTURE

The next step in the project would be to supply mobile payment features for all CNG sites, which requires integrated solution with OPT and cloud-based Head-Office and which will allow to the customer:

Wallet-feature for payment cards (all in one place)
GPS tracking to the nearest station
Marking stations as ”favorite” station
Electrical receipt archive and receipt sending to user email (green thinking)

The benefits for owner of the network will be the following:

– Supports for different loyalty programs

Loyalty card forwarding to the OPT together with payment
Plain loyalty card forwarding to the OPT’s
Possibility to expand loyalty features (stamp cards and points)

– Remote OPT service menu support (” mobile self-service portal ”)

– Additional sales and advertising tool

Targeted advertising, additional sales and offers

– Tool for station attendant and delivery (truck driver)

Station (OPT) based reports by remote etc.

In the next ten years Gasum Oy plans to build 35 new gas stations. In 2016–2017 Gasum will construct L-CNG filling stations in Turku, Jyväskylä, Vantaa and, Vuosaari, Helsinki for heavy-duty vehicles and cars. As extending the gas stations network Finnpos Systems Oy is committed to provide best in class OPTs and cloud-based head- office systems with comprehensive professional services support to Gasum Oy in their effort in making the CNG and Biogas delivery a true success story.