How has digitalisation impacted the fuel industry?

13 July 2022
How has digitalisation impacted the fuel industry?
National and
international businesses are continuously innovating, reviewing, and improving
operations through harnessing the capabilities of digital technology.
Whether this
is to enhance operations, streamline processes or introduce business efficiencies,
digital practices have, and continue to have a significant impact across all
sectors, with the fuel industry at the forefront of digitalisation.
Here, we
look at the fuel sector and its leading role as a digitalisation front-runner.
A leading digitalisation front runner
The fuel
sector is undisputedly at the forefront of digitalisation.
Described as
an “early adopter of digital technologies”, the energy sector is no stranger
to using technology for business gain and has done so for decades.
Digitalisation
has significantly enabled the fuel sector to explore and implement key changes,
with oil and gas companies long using digital technologies to improve decision making for exploration and production assets.”
It is evident
that the pace of the adoption of digital technologies within the energy sector
is increasing, with projections suggesting that this trend is set to continue over the next decade. This
ever-growing trend of digital technology investment demonstrates that fuel
sector companies are acknowledging how pivotal its insight is for business
operations.
From
customer relationship (CRM), resource planning, the Internet-of-Things (IoT)
and energy trade and risk management (ETRM), the use of digital resources
continues to grow and, for many, has started to include artificial intelligence
(AI) as a way of processing data.
The impact
of digitalisation in the fuel sector is evident, and its role in downstream
operations is unquestioned, which we explore in more detail below.
Digitalisation in downstream operations
Digital
technology is significantly improving the efficiency of oil and gas downstream
operations. The implementation of oil tank telemetry systems is a key example
of digitalisation starting to impact on downstream fuel operations. A
sophisticated wireless oil tank monitoring system, tank telemetry enables
complete visibility of stored fuels across an entire organisation. This technology
allows businesses to:
- Monitor stored fuels to keep costs low.
- Avoid
any site/operational downtime.
- Control
liquid container data in unstaffed areas.
- Gain
content data, such as volume or temperature.
- Access
a data backend that collects and displays findings.
- Keep
informed of their tanks 24 hours a day.
The solution
offers machine-to-machine cellular connectivity linking sensors
installed in industrial vessels to measure content properties – once installed, this technology
can start operating in a matter of minutes, allowing organisations access to
otherwise unattainable data.
Oil tank
telemetry systems and their capabilities for downstream are just one of many
examples of digitalisation at play in the fuel sector, and it is only set to
grow as further digital milestones are achieved.
Touchstar Digitalisation at work
At FuelStar,
we are aware of the challenges faced by businesses in the sector, whether that is
maintaining reserves, or staying competitive while facing rises in renewable
energy sources, all while delivering operational efficiency and guaranteed
pricing.
With the
industry turning towards new technologies to mainly supply and retain their
customer bases, we assist customers to digitise and reap technology’s many
rewards. Among these customers is Flogas, which embraced the benefits of FuelStar's digital technology in order to break down operational
silos and promote collaboration across its supply chain.
The market-leading LPG supplier wanted to digitise as much
as possible, including how orders are captured and created, and how those are
fulfilled, tracked and delivered. The integration of FuelStar technology was instrumental in achieving Flo Gas’
journey to digitisation:
·
Obtaining
vital information in real-time to centralise orders and draw volume at quieter
times and outside of peak periods.
·
Computer
scheduling system: The business adopted seven-day rolling scheduling periods
and can identify potential gaps.
·
On-truck
computing system ties all front and back-end business operations together.
·
Ends
a reactive approach, with a move to proactive operations.
·
Fulfilling
requests through the use of demand sensing across its forecasting operations.
·
Ability
to extrapolate three months of rolling forecast data to aid planning and set
resource levels.
Find out
more about Flogas’ journey to digitalisation here.
The future of digitalisation
As we have
explored, the trend of adopting digitalisation within the fuel sector is on the
rise and only set to continue, with organisations harnessing its countless
capabilities to gain huge operational rewards.
Like other
industries, the fuel sector will continue to develop and welcome more
digitalisation and technologies with open arms. Whether that’s using the
Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) to manage remote workforces and monitor
equipment or adopting AI technology to analyse geological data for site
exploration, there will be continued support for digitalisation within the
sector and all the benefits it brings. Watch this space!
Find out more
Here at
TouchStar, we recognise that digitalisation is very important for the fuel industry, throughout
the supply chain including logistics. We pride ourselves on staying up to date
with the latest industry developments and how these can be used to optimise
operations. So why not get in touch to talk to our expert team to find
out how our FuelStar system and technology can help your business to develop
and progress in the future.