You can transform your fuel delivery operations with ‘FuelStar’ software …. here’s the proof

FuelStar was developed to help increase the efficiency of your fuel delivery operation. It stemmed from the unique understanding of the Oil and Gas sector that TouchStar has gained over the last 30 years and is a planning, optimising, and delivering solution that provides operational, technological and financial benefits for fuel delivery businesses such as yours.  

As the industry has evolved, so too has the FuelStar solution. Working in conjunction with some of the fuel industry’s giants, FuelStar has developed to support you end-to-end through the delivery process. From secure driver login and prompts for vehicle checks through to the loading, delivery and invoicing, FuelStar enables you to make better operational decisions and reduces your administrative burden.  

Our philosophy is to maximise the amount of real-time, user-friendly information that is available to you within a single screen. This approach ensures our leading-edge solution can match your business ambitions.  

The system addresses the needs of all the key stakeholders in your business, from the planner, through to the service engineer, the health and safety manager, the reconciliation team, the transport manager, the 3rd party fleet operator, and most importantly of all, through to the customer.  

The web-based portal provides real business advantages by making key operational data available to those that need it, in a format and timeframe that they want it. But what does that look like for businesses in the Oil and Gas sector?  

Here are some examples of the tangible business advantages enjoyed by real businesses using FuelStar.  

Operational Benefits  

The FuelStar solution is paperless and provides automated updates to all stakeholders. One of the key benefits of this is better communication with drivers.  

“TouchStar’s Android solution provides DCC Energi with a highly flexible, streamlined and cost-effective operation, eliminating mistakes which arise from a paper-based system and ensuring staff spend their time providing excellent customer service.” DCC Energi, Distribution Manager  

“The benefit [is] that it allows us to provide a single and enhanced means of communication between ourselves and the driver. Now, not only do we have an efficient way of communicating to the driver, but we have the ability to receive communication back in real time which was not possible with a manual paper-based system”. Ribble Fuel Oils, Fuel Director   

For many businesses paperwork can slow down the operation – waiting for the right paperwork to arrive before being able to progress the job, or even send out an invoice. And that’s if the paperwork arrives and doesn’t get lost.  

“Rather than being a mere inconvenience, it ended up being a real business problem. We felt that the TouchStar solution could make things slicker” Ford Fuels, Director  

The Oil and Gas sector is becoming more and more digital, and the benefits are being seen across the sector, from increased customer satisfaction, through to optimised compliance – with all vehicle check documents provided within the system.  

“We are trying to digitalise as much as we can - how we capture or create orders and how we move those through to being fulfilled and delivered… Scheduled routes go out to the driver, and when we complete a job an invoice then goes out in real-time… We’re really getting to a point of the system managing everything end-to-end.” Flogas, Head of Logistics & Supply Chain  

Another area that nearly all businesses within this sector are working to improve is the carbon footprint of the business. For the downstream businesses that means improving the efficiency of the deliveries. This is another area that FuelStar can help with.  

“It integrates with the back office, and we can change the drivers’ routes throughout the day rather than the driver leaving in the morning with a block of tickets. It’s made us far more efficient.” ATF Fuels, Operations Manager    

“Another significant benefit is the GPS technology which supports truck routing and scheduling teams, as well as receiving data directly from the devices in real-time. All of this provides a consistent and high level of customer service and reduces unnecessary mileage for our drivers.” WCF Fuels North West, General Manager  

Technological Benefits  

The FuelStar system was created to provide both a technological enhancement to businesses and also be as easy and simple to adopt and work together with existing systems as possible.  

FuelStar uses Microsoft Azure, which makes it an inherently flexible platform. It means that the infrastructure can be delivered at the click of a switch as a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution. You access FuelStar via the internet and don’t need to maintain expensive software or hardware yourself.  

“The solution needed to be a modern replacement from a supplier which could provide the flexibility and integration for DCC Energi’s exact needs and their diverse fleet operation.” DCC Energi, Distribution Manager  

The flexible nature of FuelStar means that you can customise the platform to your requirements, to fit your business processes and keep those customisations unique to your business only. The cloud-based system only transfers updated files, which means that reliable transmission of data can be achieved even when connectivity is intermittent or unreliable. FuelStar offers a comprehensive API integration capability with a full guide and personal support from an in-house engineer to get you up and running in the shortest possible time.  

“We were seeking an overall system solution that fitted perfectly with our business model and which required minimal development time. We needed a system that would be intuitive and user-friendly for the drivers, and this is one of the biggest areas of success.” Total-Gaz, Logistics Manager for LPG  

“We had a requirement for a back-office system and hardware and were concerned that the communication infrastructure between the two would be cost prohibitive. The communication between the FuelSoft back-office and TouchStar hardware was already proven so it made sense to move forward with this solution.” Ribble Fuels, Finance Director  

Financial Benefits  

The key financial benefits of the FuelStar system come from the digitisation of the proof of delivery (POD). You can customise the descriptions within the system and then create automatic emails to be sent to whomever needs to see them. The system can then create immediate invoices and track payments.  

One of the most immediate benefits for businesses using FuelStar is improved cashflow. Getting invoices out quicker means they also get paid quicker. While jobs can also be rescheduled and invoiced immediately on the new delivery day.  

“Scheduled routes go out to the driver, and when we complete a job, an invoice then goes out in real-time. If we don’t deliver on that day, it goes back to the order pot for rescheduling immediately.” Flogas, Head of Logistics & Supply Chain  

Cashflow is improved not only by the speed on invoicing, but also by the reduction of friction in the process and the reduction in the number of disputes. The digitisation of the process means that fewer mistakes arise from poor driver handwriting and if there are any disputes, they can be actioned immediately.  

The reduced admin burden on the organisation is another advantage that many FuelStar customers take advantage of. The immediacy of instant PODs emailed means that there is no waiting and no manual paperwork to handle. While more accurate records and fewer disputes mean a reduction in the volume of credit notes and the associated admin cost of dealing with them.  

“The TouchStar solution has not only achieved its goal of reducing admin – with our invoice period now reduced from three or four days post-delivery to one day post-delivery – but also helped to make our whole operation more efficient.” WP Group, Operations Manager  

However, it is the FuelStar solution as a whole that delivers the best financial returns for Oil and Gas delivery businesses. Overall workforce productivity is improved by using the solution but for more detail, these improvements can be viewed by individual resource or vehicle. While the system is designed to optimise your delivery runs and create an optimal drop sequence for you. This means you can save fuel, complete more jobs, invoice quicker and have happier customers.  

“The goal was to ensure that trucks are always utilised at full capacity and deliveries are ‘just in time’. If an order is dispatched too late, customers are dissatisfied and if orders are delivered too early, the distribution costs will increase. With the ability to create demand forecasts based on actual data, such as temperature, Liquigas benefited from improvements in the entire dispatching process.” Liquigas Sales, Marketing and Operations Director