Background
A major fuel marketer in New England operates a geographically diverse network of 73 convenience stores and gas stations, 25 heating oil offices, and 12 fuel facilities, spanning from remote northern Maine to urban areas near Boston and southern New Hampshire. Due to the expansive nature of this footprint, the marketer continually seeks innovative solutions to remotely monitor and control critical fueling systems across their sites from their central main office. In this region, winter storms frequently cause power outages, requiring swift action to restore operations. Previously, their service team had to manually restore power by visiting each affected site, a time-consuming and costly process, especially under extreme weather conditions.
Challenge
The dispersed nature of the company’s stores presented significant operational challenges. Getting sites back online requires devices like dispensers, fuel controllers, distribution boxes, and price signs to be powered up in a specific order. This sequencing is essential for completing the communication handshake needed to restore full functionality across all devices at each location. The marketer’s primary goals were to enable a remote response to power disruptions, reduce the need for truck rolls, and improve overall site uptime
Implementation
The marketer adopted the Remote Control Solution (RCS) with OVERSITE™ from Franklin Electric to remotely monitor critical site devices, receive timely outage alerts, and respond remotely to power disruptions. By networking the RCS with site devices, the marketer could detect power outages and restore systems in sequence remotely from their central office, eliminating the need to dispatch technicians to manually restore power.
The RCS combines the site and personnel protection devices required by the National Electrical Code® (emergency disconnects, E-stops, dispenser hook isolation, low voltage dispenser disconnects) into a single panel while also leveraging these connections to provide advanced fuel system and C-store critical asset monitoring and control capabilities including:
Remote Control Solution with OVERSITE™
Remote E-stop initiation and monitoring
Remote asset power cycling and sequencing
FFS PRO® Connect Remote Software
Device power status monitoring with timely outage notifications
Automated event response triggers when paired with EVO™ Series
The deployment of the Remote Control Solutions with OVERSITE™ led to significant improvements like:
Reduced Service Truck Rolls
By leveraging remote power sequencing capabilities, the marketer significantly decreased the need for service truck rolls during outages, leading to substantial cost savings and faster recovery times.
Increased Site Uptime
Remote control over critical systems minimizes downtime at stores during storm events, ensuring customer access to fuel and convenience items when needed most.
Proactive Power Monitoring
With OVERSITE™ the marketer can now monitor and manage power-related events in real time, allowing for quicker response to site-specific issues and enhanced operational efficiency.
Sequential Power Restoration
Following a power outage, sequential power-up streamlines the process of safely bringing sites back online, reducing the risk of equipment overload and ensuring smooth operations across the network.
Conclusion
By adopting Franklin Electric’s Remote Control Solution with OVERSITE™, this New England fuel marketer has optimized their response to power outages, enhanced site uptime, and reduced operational costs. This innovative solution has proven invaluable in maintaining site uptime and enabling remote, proactive management across their expansive footprint, ensuring resilience even during New England’s harsh winter storms.