The 2009 User Conference is an amazing story.  In fact, all AWE User Conferences are amazing tributes to our customers, never a boring subject, a fantastic lunch, a pleasant environment on the Lake, Dialogue, New Facts and Features, and lastly there is no fee, because we appreciate and cannot exist without our customers.  If you have never attended an AWE User Conference, we gather in the Woodport House for Coffee and Bagels before heading up to the AWE Convention Room for orientation.  I spoke breifly, outlining the morning events and although most customers have all of the AWE products, we also have customers that only have our Wireless Products so we have 2 sessions in progress all day.  This year, Damon Boyer, Mike Sullivan, and Dave Herrmann hosted the Wireless Sessions which included new features and discussions. Rick Anderson from ISG  was avalailable all day to discuss Hardware Maintenance for the Wireless POS equipment.

Budget Customers the 2010 approach was presented by Gary Sullivan and Jason Mirsky

The methods of servicing Budget Accounts has changed as a result of oil prices and the 12 month budget is thought to be the answer because it produces the smallest payment but the downside is the lack of a transition period to end one year and start the next.  AWE agrees but recognized the need to manage the payment amoutn as price and weather influence the payment.   Jason has created a procedure that recomputes the budget on a daily basis and alerts the customer service representative if the payment fluctuates by a predefined threshold.  The customer can be notified either through mail, e-mail or by monthly statement to adjust the monthly payment with the reasons such as change in consumption, weather, or change in pricing and can also project the shortage or overage that can be eliminated and not left to chance in that month number 12.

Credit Card/EFT and PCI Encryption was presented by Debbie Hendershot

taking us through the setup of Credit Cards and EFTs by customer including authorization and automatic posting of the payments.  Once the Credit Card and EFT applications were installed, PCI encryption can be activated.  This activation eliminates the viewing of any credit card numbers with the exception of the last 4 numbers.  The Credit Card/EFT systems is based on authorize.net.

Emailing Statements and Invoices was presented by Jason Mirsky

Enhanced Dashboard was presented by Dave Herrmann

Dave presented the new dashboard with functionality to create user defined queries with graphs and user configuration by drag and drop of available columns allowing for a variety of summaries. 

AXXIS products were presented by Art King

CaptureRite is a fully configurable scheduling facility to capture prices and other electronic transaction data directly from suppliers web/ftp sites. As suppliers move away from the traditional satellite based price distribution model, companies are turning to CaptureRite to automate the transaction collection effort. Invoices, prices, and electronic transaction data can be saved, viewed, and integrated with your company's existing software solutions, including many back office accounting systems.  CaptureRite provides E-System Wireless Delivery with up to date information using the AWE Capture Rite Integration. Price Management is the core module in the AXXIS Petroleum Software suite. The Axxis Price Management module automates the collection, normalization and assembly of all your pricing data in support of your "Best Buy" decision making. Using Price Management, buyers can calculate gross, net, and "laid-in" or delivered prices and compare them directly, ensuring that their daily choice of supplier and pickup location results in the best possible price.  

For more information on AXXIS products, go to www.axxispetro.com

A Luncheon Buffet was presented at the Woodport House by Chef Callahan and was excellent.

A few of the items presented were Sesame Seared Tuna,Roast Beef Chicken and Pasta, Sausage and Peppers, Potato Leek Soup, and Garlic mashed potatoes.

DESTWIN was presented by Gary Sippin following lunch

The DESTWIN Web Application Package is a set of software tools that facilitates integration of office systems with web-based interfaces, providing employees and customers access to information and resources. DESTWIN provides the ability to implement sophisticated business applications that may be accessed through a web interface, allowing your website to become an integrated part of your operations.  Gary discussed on-line purchases and sales and the new age in risk management. Knowing what is being sold on a real time basis empowers managers with the knowledge and data they need to make timely and informed decisions.  Buying and Selling must be done at the same.  For more information on Destwin go to www.destwin.com  Gary Sippin uses E-System from AWE with his Destwin System.

What's New in Wireless was presented by Mike Sullivan

Signature Capture, Propane and Oil Tanks Scanning, Package Sales, Multiple Payments

Web Reporting, Web Portal, and Smartphone were presented by Dave Herrmann and Gary Sullivan

The day wrapped up with a round table discussion:

What would you like to see from us?

    AWE products are so powerful, flexible, and friendly because we listen to you.   Just watch the AWE SharePoint Site for information on new features and enchancements resulting from the User  Conference of 2009

Article taken from Fuel Oil News

Robison Oil Co. uses it for a variety of dispatch, delivery, and service functions

The wireless Data Division of AT&T Wireless Services has a new customer, Robison Oil, a Westchester County, NY heating oil supplier. Robison Oil's fleet of almost 100 delivery and service vehicles is using AT&T's Wireless Packet Data Service, also known as wireless IP or GPRS, for a variety of dispatch, delivery, and service functions.

Robison Oil has adopted a wireless data solution using AT&T's wireless network to create greater efficiency and productivity and to hold down costs and improve quality of service to it's heating oil customers, thereby achieving an economic advantage over competitors. Each of the company's 46 oil delivery trucks are equipped with a dockable, rugged handheld computer that sends important information back to the company's central database in real time. It provides instantaneous dispatch instructions, automatically meters the oil that is delivered, keeps a running inventory, and communicates account specific instructions to the driver. With the help of an onboard printer, billing is calculated instantly, and a receipt and invoice are printed and delivered with an envelope before the driver leaves the customer's residence.

We have been very pleased with out initial trials, said Saul Singer, CEO of Robison Oil. The benefits to the customer will be tremendous. We'll reach  more customers each day, and they will know instantly what their heating oil bill is and how much fuel they used since their last fill-up. We reduce paperwork and save on postage and all the labor that is associated with billing functions.

Software developer AWE working in tandem with AT&T Wireless Services,developed a custom solution that relies on Intermce Mobile Computers, Epson printers and a custom application interfaced to Liquid Control Meter Corp.'s LectroCount. Using AT&T's wireless IP network, or GPRS, throughout the greater New York and New Jersey area. 

Using technology such as this keeps Robison Oil at the forefront of an industry whose service providers have to work harder than some other energy providers to stay competitive, but Robison OIl is no stranger to technology. 

Three years ago, Robison was the first heating oil company to work with another wireless data provider to implement a solution, also developed by AWE, for Robison's 48 service vehicles. Now that AT&T's network is available in Robison's territory, the company will move it's service truck dispatch system over to the AT&T network as well, citing it's coverage and speed as unsurpassed.

In the three years since Robison first deployed a wireless data solution, it has increased the number of service calls each truck makes and redused office staff by two people.

We've always been happy with our use of wireless technology, but now that we can migrate both systems to the AT&T network, we're especially pleased, added Singer. AT&T has always provided us a high level of satisfaction with all of it's products and services. We like the fact that we can handle all our communication needs with one vendor; there are definite economic and service advantages to one stop shopping.

Robison Oil provides service to more than 24,000 homes throughout Westchester and Putnam counties in New York, just outside of New York City.

AT&T Wireless Services, formerly McCaw Cellular Communications, serves more than six million cellular and 980,000 messaging customers, and is involved in air-toground communication services.

Creating the Ultimate Delivery System With Integrated Wireless Delivery & Routing, as seen in Oilheating Magazine May 2006

Sippin Energy Products integrates intelligent routing with wireless delivery and expects to handle more gallons per day with 3 less trucks and an ROI of under 3 years.

(The attachment is large and could take a few minutes to load)

Oilheat052006.pdf (14.30 mb)

Automated Wireless Environments powers fuel oil software platform Airlink 1XRTT CDMA pinpoint modems integrated with GPS support for Petro Canada

Author: Calgary, Alberta
Source: Automated Wireless Environments

FOR RELEASE AT THE GLOBAL PETROLEUM SHOW

Automation of bulk petroleum delivery trucks has been a growing trend for more than a decade. Beginning with ram-card technology and migrating to full wireless transaction management, bulk petroleum delivery has continued to grow and keep pace with this rapidly developing technology.

From the supply arm at the refinery or distribution center to the customers' site tank, bulk fuel oil distribution has been using wireless for more than five years. An array of radio networks obtain delivery ticket information to and from the truck and distributor using Automated Wireless Environment's (AWE) RF delivery, providing an end-to-end application to ensure bulk fuel distribution is accurate, on time and properly reconciled and billed.

AWE's experience with non-IP- based wireless radio, cellular, CDPD and satellite networks provided reliable service for bulk distributors and supply -chain stakeholders. But with satellite and circuit-switched long distance charges, coverage and robustness issues have presented challenges for the integrated system. This has been successfully solved for by the recent migration to CDMA using Airlink 1xrtt modems.

Since 1999, AWE has been powering software platforms that ensure total reconciliation for liquid bulk distribution. AWE also provides wireless systems for service vehicles, including POS and dispatch. This niche software player was the brainchild of Gary Sullivan, CEO and Mike Sullivan, President, who have carved a specialized market in this vertical space.

"AWE has worked with Petro-Canada since we began, providing POS and dispatching systems for the oil delivery trucks," says Sullivan. The office and the trucks communicate throughout the day, sending orders for oil and retrieving completion data.Communication is critical, and installation of wireless modems for cell phones and radio was time consuming as well as a potential failure point. However, CDMA 1x for wireless Internet remedied any concerns and provided a robust, reliable communications system. Deployment time has been reduced radically and support calls dropped. Trucks can now be dispatched and managed from any point in the country regardless of where the truck is located."

"We began our wireless implementations using a combination of RF radio networks and cellular networks, which provided an adequate coverage footprint for the customer's delivery region," notes Phil Lamache, Petro Canada's manager of logistics. "When we started this program in Canada, we faced the challenge of a huge geographic area for which we had to provide a wireless airlink. AWE had to work with these wireless links to ensure delivery ticket and confirmations traversed robustly from the host to the truck."

"Airlink and AWE have had a long relationship in the CDPD space and we are very pleased to see our IXRTT modem running in Canada on Bell Mobility networks," says Nick Zemlachenko, director of carrier relations for Airlink. "Their experience with our product combined with their industry knowledge adds value for the downstream marketers."

It also provided value-added benefits to the other companies involved in the project. "Over the past two years we have learned a great deal from our partners at AWE," adds Guy Annable, director of business development, Baka Trak-IT™. "Because they are able to work with many wireless networks, we gained a good knowledge base on how their RF server host communicates with the trucks as well as the various interoperability issues. At the end of the day, all the networks that AWE has integrated must work together. And they do, from the satellite in the north to radio in the rural areas, all the installations perform well with their platform.

"Working with the Airlink CDPD products, which are the only modems in the Canadian market with a TCPIP stack, allowed AWE to create an easy migration path to 1xrtt with Bell Mobility's static network IP offering."

About Automated Wireless Environments
Automated Wireless Environments, Inc. (AWE) has been a provider of handheld technology since 1985 and wireless technology for the mobile worker since 1991. AWE is dedicated to providing electronic solutions for the petroleum distribution and fleet service industries with complete solutions for the petroleum distributor, from office to delivery, POS and HVAC. www.automatedwireless.com.

About AirLink
Founded in 1993, AirLink Communications, Inc. develops solutions that enable enterprises to control and collect data wirelessly from remote assets. AirLink's core products are the AirLink Embedded Operating System (ALEOS), end-user software for data acquisition and asset management and a family of intelligent wireless communications platforms. www.airlink.com.

About Baka Trak-IT™
One of Canada's leading providers of solutions for wireless data integration for mobile workforces, Baka Trak-IT develops, implements and deploys a wide range of devices and software solutions to empower the mobile worker. Baka Trak-IT is a division of Baka Communications Inc., headquartered in Etobicoke, ONT. www.bakatrakit.com.
| ©2004 Baka Communications Inc.

Fuel Oil News Cover Story June 2002
 
SOS FUELS EMBRACES NEW TECHNOLOGIES TO IMPROVE ITS BOTTOM LINE,  BY GEORGE SCHULTZ
Richard Spiegel has been in the petroleum-marketing industry for more than 45 years, but he's no old dog who can't learn new tricks. His company, SOS Fuels of Tuxedo Park, N.Y., is among the first in the oil heating industry to use the latest in wireless technology to improve delivery performance and reduce back-office paperwork. This technology employs rugged new hardware that is integrated with software systems from suppliers that have many years of experience serving the oil heat industry. The result is a seamless network from delivery truck to office that allows greater control and flexibility, improved performance, and a significant reduction in clerical labor.

Interestingly, Spiegel began his career as a gasoline distributor on Long Island. He built, opened and operated gasoline stations, and also drove fuel oil trucks and delivered fuel oil to residential and commercial accounts. Eventually, he hired others to do the deliveries while he concentrated on managing his growing operation. Today, his two sons, Robert and Jeffrey, are an integral part of the organization officially known as M. Spiegel & Sons Oil Corp. (dba SOS Fuels, which is a subsidiary of M. Spiegel & Sons). Robert handles the oil-delivery side of the business; Jeff is in charge of heating equipment service and installations.

SOS Fuels distributes fuel oil and gasoline throughout the Hudson Valley and northern New Jersey in a territory that encompasses nearly a 50-mile radius. This has come about in part because the company does a lot of bid business with municipalities and commercial facilities, which has opened up areas of coverage for residential accounts. SOS Fuels supplies some 5,500 fuel oil accounts, both residential and commercial.

This large territory contributed to the company's decision to install the wireless computer system on its 10 fuel oil trucks last summer. With one heating season completed using the new system (albeit one of the mildest on record), company officials are extremely pleased with the results.

"The most striking improvement we have achieved has been a 75-percent reduction in our back-office clerical requirements," said Robert Spiegel. "The wireless system virtually eliminates data input by our office staff and turns it into a data review activity instead."

Switching to the wireless system did not require the office staff to learn a new back-office computer system, which also influenced management's decision. SOS uses the OilPro computer system from Micro-Analyst Associates for its back-office operations. The delivery data from OilPro interfaces with the RF Metered Delivery wireless software from Automated Wireless Environments, which captures data transmitted by OilPro and makes it available on the delivery truck, then transmits delivery information back to OilPro from the truck once the tank has been filled.

Another key component of the system is the hardware used on the trucks. An ordinary laptop computer would never hold up in such conditions, so SOS Fuels' trucks are equipped with Sidearm All-Terrain Handheld PCs, a product made by Melard Technologies. The Sidearm is a Microsoft Windows, CE-based computer built to withstand 40-mph driving wind and rain. It can easily handle being knocked around in the cab of an oil truck (it's been tested to handle 26 consecutive drops to concrete on all sides and has an environmentally sealed case, shock mounting and integrated bumpers).

The Sidearm is also equipped with integrated wireless communications, an advanced battery system that provides a full day's charge (although at SOS Fuels the computers are wired to the truck batteries, too), a high-powered integrated radio with dipole antenna, easy-to-use keyboard and touchscreen, a 32-Mb processor (expandable to 96 Mb), optional scanner, and USB and serial ports.

Drivers can print invoices on the truck using a ticket printer that's connected to the Sidearm. They don't have to look up prices or other information since the OilPro/RF Metered Delivery software/Sidearm computer handles it all. The driver doesn't even have to enter the amount of fuel delivered since the meter is connected to the Sidearm, as well. He simply has to tell the computer to print an invoice, which involves a few keystrokes on the touchscreen.

The RF Metered Delivery application allows dispatchers to monitor and control delivery fleet inventory. A variety of data is available that is fed into the OilPro back-office system, such as the cumulative gallons delivered by truck. On board the vehicle, drivers have customer profile information available on the Melard Sidearm, such as name, address, directions, account profile, credit history, tank size and custom messaging from dispatch or customer service, etc. The RF Server controls the transmission of information between the host OilPro software system to the mobile-data terminal (Sidearm). Automated Wireless' software also includes RF GPS/Automatic Vehicle Locator that lets dispatchers know at any given time the exact location of every delivery truck (or service van). This is extremely useful to SOS Fuels because of the large area it serves.

The integrated system allows data to be sent to each truck's Sidearm computer that receives, verifies and stores the data in its memory. The Sidearm has the capability to send commands to the meter on the oil truck and receive data back from it, to do calculations and print delivery tickets. It can also store the data and send it back to the office. The benefit of sending the data back to the office instead of returning with a capture disk at the end of the day is that inventories are kept in real time and back-office operations can be performed on a normal cycle.

The system also has "chat" capabilities so drivers can communicate directly with headquarters. However, SOS Fuels trucks are also equipped with two-way radios, so they're used for communications most often.  The loading rack at SOS Fuels Co. The company has about 300,000 gal. storage capacity on-site and draws from various suppliers as far away as the Bayway Refinery in Linden, N.J.

The OilPro system issues delivery orders to the various trucks daily, whether as a result of an automatic delivery schedule or as a will-call (or manually scheduled delivery that may be the case in a bid account). Although the system is capable of dispatching drivers to each delivery based on efficient routing, SOS officials don't employ this capability. Instead, they let each driver set his own delivery routing since they feel that drivers know their territories best. It also gives drivers more freedom to make decisions and overcomes any "big brother" fears they might have as a result of having a computer/GPS system on their trucks.

According to Robert Spiegel, the drivers have adapted well to the introduction of the new equipment. Some had initial hesitation about using the on-board computers, but after becoming familiar with them, they now enjoy using them and don't want to go back to the old way of doing things.

This summer, SOS Fuels' service vans will be equipped with the wireless system. It will enable service technicians to access complete service histories of every account and provide the same real-time inventory and billing capabilities that the delivery department now enjoys. Jeff Spiegel is looking forward to achieving the same efficiency improvements in the service department that brother Robert has realized in deliveries.

The success of the wireless system at SOS Fuels is possible because of the flexibility of the various components, including the OilPro back-office system. It has been in use by fuel oil dealers for many years and offers a wide array of features, including delivery scheduling and ticket printing, driver routing, oil dispatching, delivery posting, k-factor calculations, tank location records, budget controls, service dispatching, inventory and invoicing, service contract management, tank protection plans, inventory control, purchasing, tax reporting, a report generator, and many others. It interfaces with a number of systems, including Mid:Com home delivery and truck fleets, Liquid Controls, gasoline key-card systems, Commercial Fueling Network, Palm Pilots, electronic fuel transfer, credit cards, Vertrax SmartDrops software, flat-rate pricing for service departments, various accounting packages, MS Word and Excel, and others.

Like most home heating oil dealers, SOS Fuels relies on customer satisfaction as its most effective marketing tool. The wireless system is one way the company improves its efficiency and thereby enhances customer satisfaction. It also offers service 24/7 (and operates a profitable service department), equipment sales and installations, tank cleaning (using the Claris tank-cleaning machine), and a number of other products and services, such as water filtration, and air conditioning sales/service.

As noted, the company's service department operates at a profit, and employs five full-time techs. SOS Fuels sells mainly Peerless boilers and Riello burners, and is a Carrier air-conditioning and furnace dealer. Some 40 percent of its customers have service contracts (80 percent of its automatic delivery customers). Each system is cleaned and inspected before a service contract is offered. That helps keep service costs down.

Richard Spiegel has been an active industry leader in both fuel oil and gasoline marketing. He has been a jobber council chairman for Shell, Gulf and Citgo and is currently chairman of the Empire State Petroleum Assn. Motor Fuels and Convenience Store Committee (and a member of the ESPA board of directors). He is also a member of the Petroleum Marketers Assn. of America Motor Fuels Committee and a member of the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America. On the fuel oil side, Spiegel is a member of the Hudson Valley Oil Heat Council board of directors. He has several other organizational affiliations as well, which demonstrates his dedication to the future of the petroleum-marketing industry.

"Our stated goals are to insure every customer's satisfaction and to maintain close and personal relationships with every customer," said Richard Spiegel. "We believe in providing quality products, competitive pricing, excellent service and guaranteed supply. There's no secret formula here ... just time-tested and proven methods for success."  Although SOS Fuels' mantra for success isn't new, the technology being used to achieve the goals is. It is helping to create a two-fold benefit: improved efficiency and better customer satisfaction.

Automated field service helps a $180 million fuel provider map a diet-conscious order processing model.  Article copied from Integrated Solutions, June 2002, Written by Tom von Gunden 
 

Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it. If your company is in acquisition mode, that reminder may resound with a foreboding ring of truth. On one hand, you hope to become so profitable that you can eye your competitors with more than the usual hunger for growth. On the other hand, you realize that eating too fast can induce management nausea.

Recently, Carroll Independent Fuel Company, Inc. (Baltimore), a provider of heating oil and other fuels, discovered some of the pain of getting what it wished for. Until 1998, Carroll Fuel had serviced all residential and commercial customers from its Baltimore headquarters. To expand its coverage area, the fuel provider began acquiring smaller companies in the region. With two branch locations, Carroll Fuel discovered that the increased revenue didn't defray the cost of office salaries in all three locations.

Even before the expansion, Carroll Fuel had been experiencing gnawing sensations. Paper-based order processing had long been causing inefficiencies. So, in anticipation of additional growth, Carroll Fuel looked to automate its field service processes.

An Appetite For Automation
Under the previous system, drivers of metered fuel trucks departed each morning with preprinted delivery tickets. At the conclusion of a delivery, each driver manually cranked the fuel meter to stamp the ticket with the number of gallons delivered. One copy was left on-site as a customer receipt. Another was returned to the office for manual entry into the accounting system.

The problems were manifold. Drivers lost delivery tickets and missed deliveries. Office staff made manual data entry errors. Moreover, Carroll Fuel couldn't efficiently respond to calls for service. "Unless we continuously prompted our drivers on the radio, we had little idea where our trucks were or how much fuel was available," says Mike Connelly, operations manager.

Wireless Feeds Order Processing
To drive its automated field service solution, Carroll Fuel chose Automated Wireless Environment's (AWE) (www.automatedwireless.com) RF Metered Delivery System, a set of software tools designed for fuel delivery. Now, Carroll Fuel's back end accounting system transfers orders to the AWE system, which sends the orders wirelessly, via a Verizon CDPD (cellular digital packet data) network, out to the trucks. For the mobile data computers mounted in the trucks, AWE recommended SIDEARM units from Melard Technologies (Armonk, NY). The AWE system integrates the SIDEARM devices with the trucks' electronic meter registers.

In the morning, when drivers log on to their SIDEARMs, delivery tickets are downloaded to the mobile computers. At each delivery site, drivers now select "start" on a touch-screen-based SIDEARM, which triggers the fuel meter to begin pumping. When deliveries are completed, drivers push a "print" button. That action sends a command for a customer invoice to be printed and for completed delivery information to be transmitted back to the central office.

GPS Drives Service And Productivity
With the new system in place, Carroll Fuels has enhanced its customer service. Now that paper tickets have been eliminated, so has the chance of losing tickets and missing deliveries. Gone, too, are the posting errors in the accounting system. "In the winter, it's not uncommon for us to do 1,300 deliveries per day," Connelly says. "With that many deliveries, we've seen savings in the range of $70,000 per year just from eliminating errors."

The system's built-in GPS (global positioning system) functionality and inventory monitoring also contribute to enhanced customer service. "When we have a customer who is out of fuel, we'll go to the mapping screen, and view the trucks in the area. Then we'll determine which truck has enough available fuel to handle the stop," Connelly says.

By verifying truck locations throughout the day, the GPS functionality has also contributed to increased productivity. "Driver efficiency is up because unauthorized downtime has been eliminated," Connelly says. "We've actually increased our gallons delivered per hour by 5%."

Carroll Fuel's next step in the deployment will be to integrate truck-routing tools from GEOCOMtms (www.geocomtms.com). By automatically informing drivers which stop to make next, that software should enable Carroll Fuel to eliminate the cost of RF (radio frequency) communications.

Finally, Carroll Fuel can plan for future expansion that won't break the bank when it comes to office staffing. Says Connelly, "Because we can send orders and route instructions wirelessly from our central office, we have adopted a growth model that permanently eliminates the need for branch managers and dispatchers."
 

CARROLL INDEPENDENT FUEL COMPANY, INC. EQUIPS FULL FLEET OF METERED DELIVERY TRUCKS WITH MELARD'S WIRELESS SIDEARM
Rugged, Wireless Unit to Improve Operating Efficiencies and Customer Satisfaction by Streamlining Field Communications
Armonk, N.Y.--May 14, 2002

Melard Technologies, Inc., leading provider of ruggedized hardware, application software and related computer peripherals for use by the mobile workforce, today announced that Carroll Independent Fuel Company, Inc. will arm its fleet of 70 metered delivery trucks with the wireless SIDEARM(TM) All-Terrain Handheld Computer. The wireless and GPS technologies provided by the rugged unit will enable Carroll Fuel to further improve customer-response time by streamlining the company order-to-delivery business process.
 
"The SIDEARM provides our delivery personnel with an all around user-friendly system to more efficiently track deliveries, send and receive updates and maintain real-time inventory levels throughout the day. The wireless system almost entirely eliminates the paper trail left by delivery orders and paper receipts, which were frequently lost, damaged or difficult to read," said Mike Connelly, operations manager at Carroll Independent Fuel Company, Inc. "Now, by wirelessly sending data in real-time between the home office and our field operators, we've eliminated all posting errors and we've increased deliveries each week by roughly 1,000 extra gallons delivered per truck." 
 
The SIDEARM's touch-screen based system is linked to an in-vehicle printer which ensures that accurate, legible in-depth customer receipts are available at the point-of-sale. In the case of emergency deliveries, the SIDEARM's GPS functionally enables the home office to immediately determine which truck is in the closest proximity to the delivery location and can send the job assignment to that specific driver, tracking the progress and completion of the delivery from start to finish. "In the highly-competitive fuel delivery industry, business success depends on customer satisfaction through speedy, efficient deliveries. The wireless system Carroll Fuel relies on ensures prompt attention is paid to emergency calls and that accurate reporting for customer records occurs instantly at delivery sites," said Russell Schmidt, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Melard Technologies. "The rapid deployment and acceptance of the SIDEARM by Carroll Fuel's drivers illustrates the versatility and effectiveness of the unit, regardless of industry. 
 
We're pleased to expand our offerings to the fuel servicing arena." By fall 2002, each metered vehicle will contain a unit mounted on the passenger side, enabling delivery personnel to maintain their daily schedules, delivery orders and fuel inventories without having to deal with cumbersome amounts of paper. Carroll Fuel plans on furthering their reliance on the SIDEARM by eliminating the costly radio system currently installed in each truck linking field operators to dispatch. Instead, all delivery orders and status reports will be sent using the wireless connection. Also, in the near future, Carroll Fuel will use the GPS technology loaded onto the SIDEARM to offer a tracking system on their Web site, to provide customers with an accurate, up-to-the-minute estimate of the time of delivery.

About Carroll Independent Fuel Company, Inc. 
Founded in 1907 and headquartered in Baltimore, Md., Carroll Independent Fuel Company, Inc. is a fourth-generation family-run full-service fuel operation for residential and commercial customers. Carroll specializes in delivering high quality HVAC service, fuel delivery and equipment to customers from Southern Pennsylvania to Northern Virginia. More information on the company is available at www.carrollfuel.com.

About Melard Technologies, Inc.
Melard Technologies, Inc. designs, develops and deploys rugged hardware platforms, application software and related computer peripherals to deliver a complete, real-time wireless data solution to remote field workers and mobile professionals. Melard has successfully deployed thousands of mobile wireless data systems to the Field Service, Telecommunications, Cable and Utility industries. The Company's robust integration of wireless communications capabilities delivers a measurable gain in network coverage that enables the optimized productivity, responsiveness and performance of mobile professionals and gives organizations the competitive edge they need to succeed. Melard Technologies, Inc. is based in Armonk, New York. Additional information is available on the Company's Web site at www.melard.com.

All trademarks are property of Melard Technologies, Inc. All other company and product names are property of their respective owners. Contact: Nikki Shimshock or Shoba Vaitheeswaran Schwartz Communications, Inc. 781-684-0770 melard@schwartz-pr.com Melissa Student Melard Technologies, Inc. 914-273-4488 mstudent@melard.com

FuelOilNews081966.pdf (860.09 kb)