CASE STUDY

Oil terminal management made seamless

Faced with the complex challenges of today’s oil landscape, our customer, a leading European oil company, wanted to achieve the highest levels of operational efficiency. Nortal put them at the leading edge of automated processes with a next-generation Terminal and Delivery Management System (TDMS).

#c_text_photo_2new

CUSTOMER CHALLENGE

Progress hits a software roadblock

Our customer, like most players in the oil and gas sector, had found itself caught between two supertrends: On the one hand, the unstable price environment meant the company needed to boost the efficiency of its terminals and delivery operations to stay competitive. On the other hand, the process requirements of the business had suddenly become more complex than ever. Customers were demanding quality reports, regulators needed to be able to audit supply chains, and assets had to be monitored in real-time.

ADDITIONAL CHALLENGE - TRACEABILITY

Biofuel in the mix

Additionally, as one of the world’s largest producer of renewable diesel, our customer has to cope with enormous variations in composition and quality associated with using a diverse range of biofuel sources. At the same time, they must meet strict EU regulations regarding traceability and sustainable sourcing.

#c_text_3new

A new level of automation was clearly the answer. Intelligent, integrated software that could eliminate manual entry, streamline operations and harness the power of IoT would be a true game changer. Nortal put them at the leading edge of automated processes with a next-generation Terminal and Delivery Management System (TDMS)

#c_text_photo_4new

Solution

An end-to-end solution

The main benefit of custom-built TDMS is the near-total level of automation it provides, streamlining the dozens of processes that take place from the moment oil products arrive at the terminal to the point of delivery to retailers.

By digitalizing steps that had been previously handled on paper, our customer can save considerable time and effort while avoiding the human errors associated with manual entry.

Adopting the TDMS also provided our customer with valuable new functionalities that hadn’t been possible before. Real-time monitoring of batch conditions and quality, both at the terminal and on delivery trucks; automated integration of test results from external labs; route planning and guidance for multiple deliveries; and instantaneous billing are some examples of value added. Having information in an accessible, digital format also paved the way for macro-level business analytics and oversight by management.

#c_text_5new

The TDMS not only provides full supply-chain transparency, it can also predict the precise outcome of each mix of biofuel. It even blocks any loading that would ruin a batch.

#c_text_photo_6new

Nortal's view

ERP strategy for a new age

As advancing technology opens up new opportunities for industry, more companies are finding that their all-in-one ERP systems aren’t flexible enough to keep pace. This phenomenon has sparked an interest in what Gartner has termed “postmodern ERP”. A setup whereby ERP systems are scaled back to the core business functions they handle best, leaving operations to be performed by more agile, bespoke systems that are easy to upgrade. This was the strategy Nortal used when creating state-of-the-art TDMS for our customer, new software that is seamlessly integrated with the company’s existing ERP.

#c_number_columns_7new

IMPACT

Ready for the future

The implementation of state-of-the-art TDMS brought in new functionalities and a higher level of flexibility, making our customer ready to adapt its capabilities to whatever new challenges the market might bring. Building on solid IT knowhow and two decades of experience in the oil and gas sector, Nortal delivered a far-reaching, robust solution to one of the industry’s most significant players. We’re now ready to help other terminal operators achieve the same success, designing systems that leverage the latest available technologies, be it IoT, machine learning or blockchain.

15%

Increased operating and forecasting accuracy

30%

INCREASE IN INFORMATION ACCURACY IN LOGISTICS

93%

Time decreaseD foR SERVICE ACTION (From 100 to 7 min.)

100%

traceability

95%

END-user SATISFACTION

#c_people_list_8in-progress

Learn more about this

Erno Runola

Business Area Director, ELI (Energy, Logistics & Industry)

+358 40 771 9500 erno.runola@nortal.com

+358 40 771 9500

erno.runola@nortal.com

Pasi Anttila

Partner, Lead Business Consultant

Pasi Anttila's, chief architect at Nortal, biggest passion is to make industries work better. With 20 years of experience in business process consulting, software architecture design, method development, software specification, analysis, design, implementation and testing. Pasi Anttila is the go-to guy for those who need...

pasi.anttila@nortal.com

#c_buttons_9new