Utilising data amidst transformation
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Implementing technology in the energy sector WRITTEN BY
SEAN GALEA-PACE PRODUCED BY
CHARLOTTE CLARKE
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FLOGAS
Tim Eaton, Head of Logistics and Supply Chain, discusses the importance of procurement and the influence technology has had on operations
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s a leading energy provider in the UK, Flogas boasts an extensive and diverse range of products and services such as
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supply for homes, businesses and vehicles as well as liquefied natural gas (LNG). Considered a market leader in propane enrichment for biomethane, Flogas provides its 04
customers with solutions for an array of situations from heating and cooking to fueling manufacturing processes. For Tim Eaton, Head of Logistics and Supply Chain, what really differentiates Flogas from rivals is its ability to consistently add value to the services it offers. “We pride ourselves on not compromising when it comes to our service across the company,” says Eaton. “It’s important that you add value to our services; whether that be by how we interact with customers, how swiftly we respond to customer demand or how resilient that service level is. Everything that we focus on is making sure that our service level is reliable, resilient, and constantly responding to our customer base.” Since initially speaking to us a year ago, Flogas has begun to fully embrace digitisation in the LPG market. Eaton discusses the hurdles his firm has
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FLOGAS
“ I think it’s always important to be aware of what could potentially come around the corner” — Tim Eaton, Head of Logistics and Supply Chain, Flogas
overcome during the past 12 months. “A year ago, we were looking at a new end-to-end system that was going to replace a number of legacy systems to enable the business to offer a more retail service,” explains Eaton. “We’ve gone down a different route of trying to get the most out of every existing performance area that we can. We’ve begun to tighten up processes, retrain people and reposition them within different focus areas. We’ve looked at the individual systems, taken our own computing systems and looked at
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everything that it can do for us. Our priority is doing more with the data we have and we’ve redesigned the backend database around what data comes into the business.” With technology having an ever-increasing impact on all companies’ digital transformation journeys, Eaton points to the importance of leveraging Flogas’ extensive data correctly. “We have a lot of data and possess vast amounts of information about our exact demand portfolio. We have access to lots of information that can really shape not just how we satisfy demand but also how we’re able to target new business. We’re at a point
CLICK TO WATCH : ‘FLOGAS LNG VIDEO’ 07 now that a customer order can be
exported those orders to a scheduling
raised automatically by us based
system. We printed those routes out
on their consumption profile to enable
manually for drivers to deliver and then
the customer to be kept within product.
we entered in what had and hadn’t
That process is now almost completely
delivered which allowed us to invoice
digital from the order generation
people through the ERP,” he explains.
through to invoice.”
“Now, we have an order capture that
Having joined Flogas in January
is largely automated which allows us
2016, Eaton has helped oversee and
to manage the orders on behalf of our
shape his company’s ongoing technol-
customers within our ERP. They go
ogy transformation. “When I first joined
straight into our scheduling package
the company, I inherited a number of
and then are exported onto an on-truck
discrete systems that all did their own
computing system. When we deliver
jobs. We had an ERP system in place
the gas, it’s sent straight through with
that captured orders and then we
an electronic proof of delivery with an w w w.f l o ga s . co. u k
FLOGAS
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invoice to our customer. If it isn’t
ing the supply chain to ensure his
delivered, it tells the customer that
company’s suppliers are managed
we’ve unfortunately been unable to
correctly. “Procurement has always
deliver that, and sends it straight back
been a vital part of the business,” he
into the pot for rescheduling. If you go
affirms. “We have operations spread
back three years, you could be looking
around the country that control the
at a relatively long period of time from
flow of over 300,000 tonnes of
scheduling the delivery to knowing
product every year. There is a long
whether it’s been delivered. Now, it’s
list of suppliers that make sure that
almost instantaneous.”
the supply chain continues to flow.
Operating with procurement firmly
We’re continuously monitoring
at the forefront of Flogas’ decision-
how we manage our suppliers and
making process, Eaton understands
we conduct a regular review of our
the importance of continually oversee-
top 20 led by our central procurement
team. What we don’t want is people
we get the benefit of their expertise in
that will sell us a product and walk
a number of marketplaces. We need
away. We want people that are going
someone that understands a partner-
to be offering ways to improve our
ship is a two-way street and really
business, and open for us asking them
listens to what we want.” With this in
to improve how they work with our
mind, Flogas has formed alliances with
business. That’s absolutely critical
Lytx and AIUT in a bid to drive mutual
to how we achieve success with any
success. “Lytx helps with data
of our strategic suppliers.”
management and provides a camera
Eaton affirms the importance of
solution to our vehicles. The solution
forming and maintaining a successful
manages the success of our delivery
partnership. “What I’m looking for in any
operation and is activated through
major partners that we have is some-
harsh braking or acceleration to trigger
one to invest in their product indepen-
a camera image of what the driver was
dently. From being partners with them,
doing, and what was going on in the
E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE
Tim Eaton, Head of Logistics and Supply Chain Tim Eaton is the Head of Logistics for one of Britain’s leading off-grid energy providers. Tim has worked in a number of senior transport and logistics roles across the Retail, Construction and Utilities industries in both operational and change management roles. He is skilled in Operations Management, People Leadership, Transportation Management, Continuous Improvement, and Contract Management. He is Strong operations professional with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) focused in Business Management from Bradford University School of Management.
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FLOGAS
£ 300mn+ Approximate revenue
1984
Year founded
950
Approximate number of employees 10
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“ Procurement has always been a vital part of the business” — Tim Eaton, Head of Logistics and Supply Chain, Flogas
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13 road. This can help avoid accidents,”
an eagerness to consistently move
says Eaton. “We have also worked with
with the latest trends and avoid
our telematics system provider, AIUT,
standing still. “I think it’s always
for a number of years now. They’re very
important to be aware of what could
important because they provide us with
potentially come around the corner,”
all the Big Data, in terms of consumption data on how much customers are using and when. With AIUT’s help, we match that to what the customer uses the gas for and we’re leveraging that data to obtain a more accurate demand forecast.” By operating with a proactive approach that continues to adapt and change despite the attainment of success, Flogas has demonstrated w w w.f l o ga s . co. u k
FLOGAS
“ Ask yourself, what might disrupt the business? I believe that if you’re not looking to continuously improve what you do, somebody else will come in and do it 14 instead” — Tim Eaton, Head of Logistics and Supply Chain, Flogas says Eaton. “Ask yourself, what might disrupt the business? I believe that if you’re not looking to continuously improve what you do, someone else will come in and do it better.” However, Eaton affirms the biggest challenge is convincing employees to embrace change. “Everything can change tomorrow, but as long as we’ve always got the long-term future in mind, people will understand that change
is necessary. If we continue to do what we’re currently doing two years from now, we won’t be in the position we’re currently in.” With the future in mind, Eaton has clear ambitions for how his firm can remain sustainable and successful over the next few years. “We’ve invested around $4.4mn on new vehicles over the last three years to modernise our fleet which enables our footprint to become friendlier environmentally. We’ve also just invested in some natural gas-powered vehicles that will be running on bio energy,” says Eaton. “In two years’ time, we need to have completed the transformation and have a very robust analytic system that is evaluating data in terms of customer demand and is telling us what to do in advance.”
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Flogas Rayns Way Syston Leicester LE7 1PF United Kindgom T 0800 574 574 www.flogas.co.uk