The DFS journey to become an end-to-end supplier

Kurt Dillen, Vice President of Global Business Development at Dover Fueling Solutions, speaks to PetrolPlaza about the company’s journey to become an end-to-end supplier. A key part of that mission has been the acquisition and effective integration of big brands under one umbrella. We discuss the challenges and benefits around those operations.

Brands within Dover Fueling Solutions (DFS) used to be separate businesses with long histories in the fueling space – how did DFS emerge?

We have three brands that have existed for over 100 years. During that time, the businesses have changed — but what these brands have always done is adapt to the needs of customers and the technological changes. If you look at the last 40 years, we invested heavily in electronics and optimization, but it never stops. In certain times in history, you need to make a jump — to look at where the market is and try to stay ahead of the curve. OPW has been a part of Dover Corporation, which is DFS’ parent company, for over 50 years. Five years ago, Dover acquired Tokheim, Wayne and several other brands to create a leading global retail fueling platform under the Dover Fueling Solutions (DFS) brand. We have gone through initial integration and established ourselves as an innovative, global enterprise offering leading technologies to the convenience retail industry. Alternative fuels and digitalization are the next growth horizon for DFS. In reality, we are in a business of enabling mobility, as well as safe and convenient shopping for end-consumers, and efficient business models for convenience retailers. We will continue supplying our retail customers with a variety of hardware and software solutions to grow and optimize their business in the future. With Dover’s backing and our global scale, we intend to remain a partner of choice to our existing and new customers.

It’s been 5 years since the launch of DFS. What are the challenges of bringing together different brands under one umbrella?

All major DFS brands have existed for a long time — and we still use these brand names around the world because they have built up tremendous brand equity and value. It was paramount for us to preserve and further grow that brand value by remaining committed to our customers and other stakeholders, while delivering on the business integration and performance objectives. That is always a challenge with acquiring well-established businesses. Dover is a serial acquirer that has completed hundreds of acquisitions over its history. They brought strong and proven integration tools and approaches to the task of creating DFS. Of course, one can never foresee everything that may happen during these complex integrations, and that’s why we paid particular attention to the reaction and feedback from the market and our customers. New technologies allow to you to execute these complex projects in an agile way.

The most difficult thing when dealing with multiple companies that have existed separately for a long time is the unique culture embedded in each organization. We confirmed early on that all organizations coming together share common fundamental values and cultural attributes, like entrepreneurial spirit, unwavering integrity, commitment to our customers in times good and bad, etc. We then asked, “What do we want the DFS culture to be, and how do we bridge existing cultures to that end-state?” Building and transforming business cultures is part art and part science. We invested a lot of effort in developing our new culture of a single global enterprise that is DFS. Now we can say “we are all DFS,” and we know exactly what it means to be in line with the DFS culture. Overall, we believe that DFS integration went very well — there were challenges and our teams took them head-on, but in the end, we have a well-performing global enterprise that has delivered on its commitments to all stakeholders and is well-positioned to support the convenience retail industry of the future.

How what you describe what DFS is today?

First of all, despite being a global leader and housing brands that have existed for a century, we are still a young company. We have one culture and operate as one business family. And we have a clear mission for ourselves — to remain the technology leader in fueling and convenience retail of the future. We are determined to deliver the latest technology, superior products and best-in-class service because improving the customer experience is at the heart of everything we do.

What are some recent examples of DFS innovation?

Recently, we launched in the U.S. the DFS Anthem UX user experience platform with a 27” smart screen (the industry’s largest) on the dispenser, which brings more selling power to a business. There, you can do various things while fueling or paying. In Europe, we invested a lot around automation and the point of sale (POS). We released the self-checkout counter. More and more people are looking to do something quickly in their own space. We adapt technology to the requirements of the market. One of the biggest investments in recent times has been the DFS DX connected solutions platform — an open, cloud-based solution where we release several applications, but it is also open to third-party applications. This way we offer one platform sitting on Microsoft Azure. DFS is also investing to continue being a market leader in alternative fuels. All the automation used at the sites in Europe is adapted to handle new forms of fuel.

Through acquisitions and development, DFS now offers a wide portfolio of solutions ranging from wetstock management to retail POS. How do retailers benefit from this broad offering?

The end goal is to offer end-to-end solutions that operate seamlessly together to deliver total productivity for each convenience site and for chain operators. That doesn’t mean a customer has to buy end-to-end, as it’s modular and scalable. You can pick and choose. End-to-end could include the whole journey of a customer. That journey starts when you pick up your phone in the morning because you have an alarm telling you the tank or battery is empty. Our business starts when a person picks up some form of technology, then we start communicating, and we hope to guide you to one of our customer’s sites. The manager of a site or a network needs to have all the data. We also collect and send all that information through the cloud. Analysts from around the world analyze the fuel data. We help businesses be profitable.

How do you ensure you continue being that ideal partner for your customers in the future?

We would like to provide technology to stations that lowers the total cost of ownership and maximizes revenue and profit potential for operators, while making commerce efficient, enjoyable and safe for end-consumers. Investing in the right platform now, something that is scalable, is the right way forward. As I was saying before, technology, customer demand and marketing elements are all moving fast. To make sure the technology you buy today will still be beneficial for your business in 10 years from now, you have to make the right investment. That’s where we are educating, and why we release platforms in the dispenser, in the shop and in the cloud. Every device right now in a store is connected — coffee machine, refrigerator, car wash… so connecting all of that under one roof is a smart long-term strategy.

As you continue to move forward and offer end-to-end solutions, what is the role of partnerships with smaller technological companies?

Our strategy is flexible. We already offer our customers many industry-leading technologies and solutions. We invest in innovation organically, but we are also open to acquiring new products or partnering with innovative companies in the space. For example, we have signed strategic partnerships with Techniche, which does asset and compliance management, and also with EdgePetrol for price management. We also recently acquired AvaLAN, which offers unique smart and wireless communication solutions tailored for convenience retail applications. We will continue executing on this strategy. We see multiple other opportunities to enhance our portfolio through strategic partnerships or acquisitions and will continue investing in organic innovation and product development We are very excited about the journey we are on and look forward to another century of leading the convenience retail industry into the future.