Information Management
What can’t technology do?
Change your behavior... /company/angus-energy
It seems that technological changes are coming at
us at the speed of, well, technology—from an app
to deliver food to your door within minutes of your
order, to the latest innovation that keeps your car in
its lane while also keeping it a safe distance from the
car in front of you. In ICM’s world, technology includes
onboard computers, remote tank monitors and parts
inventory management systems. In all cases, the
technology was way out in front of the behavior, but
eventually those who would benefit from the technology
adapted to it and reaped the benefits.
We sometimes like to be nostalgic and think about
the “simpler times” in our industry, when a handshake
was a contract, attrition only happened when a
home was sold and you didn’t have to compete against
an online discount marketer. The truth is that, for
the past 50 years, the most successful companies took
advantage of an innovative technology very soon after
it became available.
Many of us are starting to see around the bend
as to the power of technology, and we—willingly or
begrudgingly—are starting to accept that things are
going to be different in three, five and 10 years from
now. However, most of what will be “usual and customary”
in five years is actually available now—if only
we could change the way we act. Changes to behavior
are hard to accept—and even harder to force others to
implement.
Stocking the shelves
Due to the resistance to change, many in the technology
world surpass the roadblocks to simply go out
and get the job done. The largest retailers used to
have inventory sheets on clipboards to track when
replacement inventory needed to be ordered. Then
there was an automated system that tracked sales
at the checkout register and presented a report to
the purchasing manager. That was better, but took
time to adopt. Now, the purchasing manager—to his
or her benefit—is totally skipped over, as automated
inventory systems also act as automated inventory
replenishment systems linked directly to suppliers.
That is how Wal-Mart, Target and Starbucks keep
supplied.
Fuel distributors, a.k.a oil dealers, are starting to
look at their delivery businesses as inventory management
systems. In this case, inventory is the oil
in your customers’ tanks, and effective management
is ensuring those tanks don’t run out. That
is the way we have operated for decades. However,
thanks to technology, we can start to bypass some of
Philip J. Baratz
Angus Energy
pbaratz@angusenergy.com
/AngusEnergy
@AngusEnergy
the human systems (changes in behavior) and realize
tremendous savings from operating more efficiently.
The back-office accounting systems (BOS) that are
used in our industry are excellent at what they do with
regards to setting up deliveries according to the needs
of the individual customer. The relationship between
the BOS and the experienced dispatcher create the
unique DNA that makes our ecosystem work. With the
advent and adoption of remote monitoring and routing
software, dispatchers are starting to look better—and
be better.
Fuel oil managers are starting to look at supply and
demand as an inventory system.
However, the industry will continue to face these
challenges:
• Inventory: knowing when to fill a tank and how
to best utilize your fleet;
• Staffing: finding drivers and, even harder, finding
dispatchers and;
• Cost: the expenses of maintaining and insuring a
fleet increase each year.
We see a time in the very near future when these
challenges will be met by an optimized system that
works seamlessly with the BOS and dispatchers, in
the same way that Wal-Mart gets the next shipment
of X-Men pajamas (spoken like the grandfather of a
4-year-old) shipped to the right location at the right
time, fully automatically.
“Actionable Behavior” is all-too-often not acted
upon. That is not a flaw in human nature, it is human
nature. That is why true optimization and automation
take that factor into account and allow you to run your
business without getting in your own way. ICM
34 I CM/September/October 2019