Distributors are working to grow businesses at a time when costs are at an all-time high – and not going down anytime soon.
In today's hyper-competitive gas distribution industry, the difference between surviving and thriving often comes down to one word: efficiency. The costs of doing business are up across your business, and they’re not going down any time soon. Diesel prices are higher than ever, gas prices are high, truck prices are high (especially with financing) and according to a recent study, more than 80,000 drivers are needed to make up a shortage in America this year This too doesn't look like it will be solved anytime soon. It is believed that by the year 2030, there will be a shortage of 160,000 truck drivers. All of these costs make margins tight so margins for error, both on the road and in the back office, are even tighter. Getting the most value out of every asset and employee hour is more important than ever. That’s why so many distributors are growing their businesses with Pulsa.
Pulsa: the necessary tool for thriving distributors
The Pulsa platform brings many new efficiencies into the distributor’s playbook, the most immediate being reduced truck rolls due to more efficient routing. Customer needs are always dynamic, so distributors need to be able to act on those needs when necessary – but only when necessary. “Thanks to Pulsa,” says Bill Markle of Maryland-based Roberts Oxygen, “We’re reducing operating expenses and streamlining the service for the customers utilizing the technology.”
These benefits to the bottom line are anything but subtle. Says Andy Castigilione Jr., President of San Diego-based WestAir, “Squeezing out even one delivery per account can make a real difference. If we've got 700 or 1000 accounts, that's 700 deliveries a year minimum. Multiply that by $75 per stop and that's a lot of stops and a lot of money.”
With fuel and vehicle costs at historic highs, alongside a challenging labor market, Pulsa’s real-time intelligence and streamlined routing isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity. Says David McCarthy, VP of Illinois-based MacCarb, “If they’re not willing to adapt to a dynamic routing system, distributors are going to find themselves behind the eight-ball.”
Building your bottom line through ops savings
Every distributor can tell you a good story about an urgent customer problem that was quickly solved – at the distributor’s expense. Like the weld shop that ground to a halt until they got a ten-cent contact tip, pronto. Distributors hate to impose costly charges onto good customers for incidents like these. Customers like them even less. What if impending stockouts could be detected remotely, and real issues like leaks addressed before they escalate?
The Pulsa platform’s real-time data eliminates the unnecessary visits that give everyone indigestion. “When a customer is upset and feels they are out of CO2,” says Bill Markle of Roberts Oxygen. “I then can log into the Pulsa dashboard and view their liquid CO2 level in real-time. This reduces downtime significantly because as we know time is money.”
Eliminate false alarms, detect real problems immediately
Pulsa’s precision monitoring eliminates “emergency” repair visits that are only false alarms. Says Kelly Netherton of Welders Supply & Gases of Louisville, “Customers call us and say they have no house line pressure in the building. But we have the Pulsa headspace sensors installed, which allow us to remotely read their pressure. With this ability, we’ve been able to let the customer know that the vessel is at operating pressure and more than likely someone closed a valve. Pulsa saved the day and a drive out to the customer facility.”
Pulsa helps distributors see real problems even before their customers do due to readings every three minutes. Other telemetry systems report only once or twice a day or charge substantial fees for additional readings. If there’s a leak, the information often comes too late. As all distributors know, the results can be costly. A distributor shared a recent experience where one of their customers had a helium leak. The team immediately assessed the potential cost had they not detected the issue that day. Their calculation revealed that they would have lost $34,000! Thanks to Pulsa, they were able to quickly pinpoint and resolve the problem.
Increase your profits
The Pulsa platform increases the health of every distributor’s bottom line. In fact, Pulsa efficiencies are the easiest way to grow your business without costly new investments in vehicles and personnel. Keeping customers at optimum fill rates with minimum bother keeps everyone happy. The ability to remotely diagnose issues like leaks or temperature fluctuations lets everyone stay ahead of inventory loss. These kinds of efficiencies – predictive, preventive, and fully dynamic – are just one hallmark of the award-winning Pulsa platform, and just one reason why distributors are ramping up with Pulsa.
See the numbers for yourself . .
Understand the amount of increased profits when you add more sensors. And learn how Pulsa Installation Services are boosting distributors’ bottom lines faster. It’s easier and more affordable than you think. sales@pulsasensors.com
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For part 2 of this series click here.
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