SITA UK – a leading recycling and resource management company, has switched its fuel management over to FuelWorks, the Merridale web based solution. SITA is a longstanding user of Merridale fuel management systems and the move follows the decision, taken three years ago, to centralise stock control and procurement under the group’s fleet administration office in Weston-Super-Mare.
Merridale diesel dispensers and the associated Fuel FX reporting system were chosen by SITA UK as the common platform since this equipment was already being used successfully by the majority of established depots potenzmittel im vergleich cialis 20mg. Currently the network is comprised of 35 fuelling points, serving SITA UK facilities across the UK.
“Our main concern then was to reassure depot managers that central management would reflect existing procedures,” explains Fleet Administration Manager, Sharon Gane.
“But technology moves on and the development of web-based services brings a number of advantages over the traditional in-house server infrastructure. The Internet is the universal communications tool and we are all using PCs as part of our daily routine.
“Bringing fuel management under a single administrative function was an important step towards moving the procedure onto an online service. And Merridale obliged with the introduction of FuelWorks – a web based version of the reporting software with which we were already familiar.
“We have switched over within a few weeks of taking the decision to implement the Merridale service. Having set a go-live date, we exported all of the existing data out from the Merridale FuelFX system and this was transferred onto the new system by Merridale. It was a very smooth transition, thanks to the help provided by Jo Harrison, the Merridale service support advisor.”
A number of benefits of the web based service have been realised immediately.
“I love it and wish we could have had this years ago,” says Sharon . She continues: The browser service is very user friendly. It’s very visual, so you can see the stock status at a glance. You can see which depot tanks are getting low and will need to be replenished. It is all on one screen – without having to run a report.
Administrative functions such as ‘failed’ transactions are removed automatically so we do not have to clear these off anymore which saves a lot of time. It is so easy because – like so many other systems today – it’s all online and we can just scroll through reports whereas with Fuel FX we had to export into spreadsheets to get access to any data.
Additional features such as automated reports will be implemented at a later date after more experience has been obtained and the fleet administration have had time to consider who needs the reports, the content and frequency. Another important aspect is the introduction of ‘sudden’ drop alerts – in effect an online theft alarm but this requires upgrades to the depot communications equipment. For the time being however, the existing functionality has already proved to be effective in identifying an abnormal loss of stock.
Currently SITA UK is operating over 1100 heavy goods vehicles as well as a large number smaller of company vans and executive cars. Together these account for diesel consumption across all the depots worth in excess of £10 million a year. So any measures that can be introduced to ensure the effective management of this valuable resource will be crucial.
Sharon Gane concludes by saying: “We are very pleased with the functionality provided by Merridale FuelWorks and we would be happy to recommend this solution to any organisation still using Fuel FX.
