Shopping has replaced religion as the opiate of the people.
Oil companies, chasing more accessible money as selling fuels grows more cutthroat, have turned their gasoline stations into drive-in convenience stores.
Yet across Europe there is a wide variety of incompatible equipment in use on service station forecourts, called driveways in some parts of the world. Operating and maintaining this electromechanical mish-mash is said to be wasting money retailers can no longer spare.
Europe has about 140,000 gasoline stations, according to Ian Nayler, information technology manager at Fina plc. These have an average turnover of $5 million/year, and some sell as many as 3,000 kinds of items.
"There is a complex management system behind a typical retail site," Nayler said. "Only a small part of this is seen on the forecourt. Back office computing and data communications links to head office are crucial."
Nayler also is president of the International Forecourts Standards Forum (IFSF) based in Dorking, U.K.
In this role, Nayler said oil companies need to cut retail operating costs to survive. Standardizing retail electronic equipment could save Europe's oil firms millions of dollars, he told an IFSF seminar in London.
FRUSTRATION
"The IFSF was formed in 1993 out of frustration at the lack of harmonization of forecourt equipment," Nayler said. "For instance, there are 27 different pump types available across Europe. With current equipment there is no possibility of integration under a common management system."IFSF's aim is to develop electronic technology standards to make forecourt equipment from different vendors interconnectable and interchangeable.
"These standards should provide a choice of suppliers," Nayler said, "and these suppliers should have lower development costs, which will mean lower costs to oil companies.
Standardization of technology will mean it requires less time to bring improved equipment to market."
IFSF chose the internationally recognized OSI 7 layer model as its standard for electronic equipment. This will allow retailers to incorporate much off the shelf computing and communications equipment in management systems.
PILOT PROGRAMS
Two pilot stations in Italy, one operated by Fina and one by Agip, are operated using equipment to this specification. Further pilots are planned for first quarter 1996.So far, IFSF has completed its specification for dispensers and is working on protocols for tank gauges, pole signs, communications links, car washes, and payment handling devices.
Payment devices could be a major headache for IFSF Nayler said there are 29 different standards for "smart" cards in Europe. The banks and credit card operators are reluctant to adopt a common card swipe standard.
IFSF is lobbying banks to adopt a common card reader and reckons it has a powerful argument because 47% of all Europe's electronic fund transfer business is from oil companies, and 60% of this due to IFSF members.
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