HPCL Benefits from Automating its Dealer Transaction System
A case study on The Internet in RetailExecutive Summary
In a fiercely competitive petroleum industry, keeping partners happy is an imperative. But HPCL was slowly facing the heat from its dealers. The problem was its manual process that made human errors a big possibility. All this changed when HPCL implemented an elegantly simple SMS solution that helped the company improve efficiency and save the day.
What was annoying was that the order processing was standard business practice. For dealers, placing an indent - an order which typically holds the amount of oil that a dealer requires - was just another thing that needed to be done every so often. But the process was painful. Sometimes, dealers complained that when an HPCL official finally picked up the phone, he or she got their order wrong or recorded it on their systems incorrectly or misplaced their order.
The epicenter of dealer unrest, however, was a terminal in southern India. With the increasing number of complaints it was getting, HPCL knew that if it neglected the problem, it could prove costly. So, the company conducted an internal study and the result has saved it a world of trouble.
Case Study Highlights
- HPCL is a Rs 103,800-crore refinery major holding 16 percent of retail and marketing share
- Established in 1952, today, HPCL caters to over 460 dealers across India
- The company accounts for over 40 percent of India’s total lube base oil production
- HPCL has 8,329 retail outlets and 2,232 LPG distributors across the country
HPCL's managers figured that if all indents were recorded correctly the first time a dealer interfaced with the company, then all their grievances would cease to exist. This would mean automating the entire recording of indents and minimizing manual interferences. HPCL needed something that could oil its creaking wheels and it turned to technology for help. Considering the remote locations of HPCL's dealers and poor Internet penetration, the company decided to develop an SMS-based system. "I knew that the idea of placing an indent using the Internet would face some aversion from the dealers because not all of them are tech-savvy. But with mobiles being not just tech tools today, we thought that the automation of indents using SMS was an ideal and wise option for all of us," said Nishi Vasudeva, executive director-IS, HPCL.
Banking on the popularity and the userfriendly nature of mobiles, Vasudeva and her team decided to develop an indent management system (IMS) with a mobile interface to place indents. The IMS, which is integrated with an auto indenting software to receive indents, is based on data from retail automation systems (contains data on the location of dealers, retail outlets, etcetera). Once a dealer sends a message requesting for his stock to be replenished, it is checked for authenticity. If the SMS is valid, an indent is created and the acknowledgment with an indent number - similar to the railway's PNR - is sent back to the customer.
The IMS is integrated with HPCL's ERP system to minimize infographics
the scope of errors when the data is transferred to the ERP. The IMS has not only automated the process but has also enabled HPCL to track indents, create sales orders and invoices automatically in the ERP system on execution of indents. The IMS has not only satisfied dealer queries but has made it easier for internal planning officers and other officials to review reports from time-to-time. The system has reduced the huge amount of paperwork HPCL churns out and merged indents electronically with the ERP, which helps in tracking invoices and respective payments.
"It has now become much easier for a planning officer to screen a request for the indents and execute them accordingly. It has definitely smoothened the operational process. More importantly, our service to the dealer has improved a lot." HPCL today boasts of a healthy network of happy and satisfied dealers. "Timely availability of reports to plan further product allocation in today's competitive time definitely gives an edge. Besides saving productive man hours can be translated into quantitative benefits. And above all a sound customer relationship," says Vasudeva.
The Person Behind It
Timely availability of reports to plan further product allocation in today’s competitive times definitely gives an edge.
Today, when the dealer wants to place an indent for ‘x’ amount of fuel, all he needs to do is send an SMS to an HPCL installation.
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