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Article: How to Implement Computer
Automation to Get the Results You are
Seeking
By
Doug Howard, President, BDG Entrepreneurial
Services |
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| There is no avoiding it. Computer
automation is here to stay! Cash register systems,
engine analyzers, and store scanners are all computer
driven. But is all of this technology improving the way
we operate our service stations and convenience
stores? |
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| Back office software for the petroleum
industry offers convenience store and service bay
modules designed to improve both store and bay
performance. The fact is that only a small portion of
the technology that is available in these systems is
actually being used. In fact, many dealers who buy these
systems are not getting the return that they could or
should from their investment. |
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| I believe that there are five steps to
implementing automation successfully. And surprisingly,
the first step has nothing to do with software at
all. |
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| The first step is to evaluate your
business operation to determine what management
information and automation results you need to improve
your business. For example, in the convenience store
business it may be helpful to know which items are not
selling. Or, it might be helpful to know how many
cigarette packs of particular brand were sold during a
promotion. In a service station, you might want to know
what your profit margin is for a particular vendor. Or,
you might want to be able to print follow-up cards from
the work orders that have been done in the past. For
either type of station, you might want to be able to
track expenses, monitor your accounts receivable or
produce payroll. The first step in the process is to
determine how automation can best impact your operation
and enhance the bottom line. |
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| The next step is to get the involvement
of the people that will actually be using the automation
tools. Store managers, service writers, auto
technicians, bookkeepers and others must be included in
the process. They will know best the type of information
that will be useful in their work. This process will
also indicate to you how much your organization is ready
for change and where obstacles to change may lie. Keep
in mind that if you are not going to change your
operation based on the management information you
generate from an automation system, it is unlikely that
you will reap the benefits of your investment in such a
system. |
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| Once it has been determined what system
features and management information is needed, it is
then time to select the appropriate software. So what
should you look for in a software system? Well the fact
is that you should evaluate the software company as well
as the software itself. You should consider the
following: |
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1. How long has the software
company been around?
Today’s world of
technology is full of “flashes in the pan”. As a
result, there are dealers in the area with systems
that cannot get support or upgrades. Companies that
have been around ten years or more have made
transitions from DOS to Windows and other conversions
and have survived. |
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2. How well does the software
function?
Some programs are easy to use.
Others are more cumbersome. The software you choose
should be easy to navigate should not require entering
the same entry in different places and should make it
easy to access information. One mistake many
automation buyers make is to look at how easy it is to
put data into the system and fail to see how difficult
it is to get information back out of the
system. |
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3. What training will be
received?
Training should be done on-site
at your store location. It should include several of
your key people to avoid the possibility of having the
one person trained on the system leave your company.
Training should also include some form of follow-up
training once your people have gotten to work on the
system for a while. Finally, included in your training
should be proper set-up of the system. It does no good
to be trained on a system that is not configured
properly with UPC numbers, accounts receivable and
accounts payable set up. |
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4. What support is
available?
No matter what program you buy,
there will be technical issues. You need to know how
support is provided, what the support hours are and
what the cost of support is. |
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5. Spend time talking to users
of the software
There is no better source
of information about how a system works and how a
company supports the product than other dealers that
have the system. |
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| Once the software has been selected,
training must be given a priority. The training company
should have a schedule for training and checklist of
items to be covered. You need to schedule properly to
insure that you have several people available for
training. You also need to be sure that during this
training they are not completely distracted with the
daily operation of the business. The more you commit to
proper training, the better your implementation of
automation will be. |
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| The last step is to review your
operation to be sure that management information being
produced by the system is accurate, understood, being
used and making an impact on your operation. If it is
not, you will not get the return on your investment that
you should. |
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| With these steps followed, you will have
the tools and information to improve your convenience
store or service station. If you have a convenience
store you will be able to control prices at the
register. You will be able to monitor slow moving items.
You will be able to track items that are frequently out
of stock so that more can be ordered each week. You will
be able to make merchandising decisions based on the
profitability of section of the store rather than on
gross sales. |
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| For you service station dealers you will
be able to use the system to implement customer
follow-up to generate more repeat business. You will be
able to track the performance of individual technicians.
You will be able to track inventory parts to insure that
unused parts are returned for credit. You will be able
to produce professional looking work orders. |
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| For either type station, you will know
where you stand on cash, accounts receivable and
accounts payable. Fuel reports will give you information
about margin, projected volume and the true cost of what
you have in the ground. In all, you will have more
immediate information about your business. |
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If you are starting to automate your
business, these steps should help guide you through the
process. If you have already gone through the process
and have not yielded the results you wanted, you should
go back to step one, contact your software company and
go through the process again. If you have not yet
decided you automate your business, tuck this article
away somewhere because your time will
come!
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