“We are not springing any ‘new’ generation concepts or repackaged existing products. We are simply reaffirming our commitment to providing sustainable solutions for fuel storage, security and stock management, says sales director Stephen Hannan.

We have four points to get across: Firstly, Merridale systems are approved for resale; second; the equipment is designed to last; third, our build quality is paramount; and last but not least is the use of quality approved software with free updates for registered users.

1. For operators who are selling fuel on to third parties, the equipment must be certified as accurate by trading standards officials.
2. Proof of the durability of Merridale equipment can be found in the considerable number of installations still operational with the large fleet operators.
3. Merridale only use genuine parts. And there are no compromises on build quality.
4. Merridale offers practical solutions that can be easily integrated with their existing IT infrastructure.

In the south west area, Enterprise Mouchel  is responsible for the Area 1 network, which includes the A30 and the A38, the main trunk roads for Devon and Cornwall. Depot facilities are co-located with Highways Agency at the Devon County Council’s Sowton depot, near Exeter.

“The contract includes day-to-day network management, investment planning and budgeting, programming and the provision of strategic advice to the Highways Agency,” explains Clive Stears, Area Operations Manager.

“Apart from proactive measures our role is to deal with emergency reaction. With some 24 vehicles, the core fleet comprises the gritter trucks for winter maintenance duties. We also deploy traffic management equipment in order to implement lane closures etc with the ubiquitous cones. Other specialist vehicles include a truck with Hiab crane for the repair of crash barriers and we also operate a Mobile Elevated Work Platform.

The challenge
On taking over at this contract, we inherited an ageing fuelling point based on underground tanks and a couple of Merridale pumps. Fuelling information was recorded by hand and transferred to an Excel spreadsheet.

Whilst this was never intended to be particularly accurate, we are now more focussed as attitudes have changed markedly with the increasing costs of fuel. Today we have strict rules about accountability and that requires more accurate measurement.

Clive Stears continues: “ Initially we intended to upgrade the original installation simply by adding a monitoring system. But this then led to a discussion about state of the underground tanks. These had been in place for over 30 years and were not compliant with current specifications.

It soon became clear that we needed to start again. This gave us the opportunity to rethink the fuelling point and invest in an installation that would meet our foreseeable operational requirements. The specification was drawn up in conjunction with Devon County Council with the view to sharing the facility for fueling the winter maintenance fleet.

The solution
MIS Fuel Monitoring (Merridale) were consulted because they were already an approved supplier for the depot. The operational requirement was developed in conjunction the Highways Agency. A representative from the supplier was then invited to a question and answer session.

“We drew up a requirement for an ‘all singing and dancing system’. This was put out tender and the final selection was an integrated tank filling station supplied by MIS Fuel Monitoring. Basically it ticked all the boxes,” says Clive Stears.

Results.
At the time of writing this report the installation had been in service for less than twelve months. This initial period has allowed the fleet drivers to familiarise themselves with the procedure for drawing fuel, using a smart key to turn on the pump and the vehicle mileage reading entered onto the keyboard to authorise the transaction.

Clive Stears continues: “Our fuel supplies are secure and we are capturing data so in that respect, we have already benefitted by taking out the manual effort. The next step will be to engage the commercial team who will be using the reports for target costing jobs and doing their profit & loss analysis,”

Conclusion
“Since I am at the operational end of things, my main concern is availability of fuel to ensure that we can fulfil our work programme commitments sufficiently. At the end of the day I have got a job to do and that is to deliver road maintenance services.

“When it comes to renewing our service contract – the commercial team will require good information and fuel costs are a major factor. Indeed if fuel prices continue to escalate we shall require sound data to underwrite any future negotiations.”

The equipment
The fuelling point at Sowton is based on a dual compartment tank with 20K litres capacity for gas oil and 15K litres for white road diesel. Since gritters are dedicated to winter maintenance, they are excluded from duty and allowed to run on standard (red) gas oil. Other more general purpose, road going vehicles, such as the elevated platforms etc have to use white diesel.

Fuel is dispensed by a Merridale twin pump dispenser with integral monitoring, enabling all transactions to be recorded automatically for the production of fuel usage reports.

Electronic interface to vehicle engine management system to transfer relevant information such as the odometer (distance travelled) data. Trials are in progress with launch scheduled mid 2012.

For operators with mixed fleets of HGVs, small vans and cars, Merridale can provide an option for selectable delivery rates. Selection of the appropriate rate is made automatically by choice of delivery nozzle.

Tank management facilities have been enhanced with the introduction of optional bund and overfill alarms. This complements the Merridale electronic gauging to provide a comprehensive tank management capability to support reconciliation reporting via the fuel management system and software.

Merridale software has been integrated with GPRS communications to provide secure data transfer over an internet connection. This allows greater flexibility for remote and geographically dispersed fuelling stations.

As a universal solution, Merridale FuelFX has set the standard for comprehensive fuel management functionality.

Based on more than fifteen years experience, and benefiting from feedback from the broadly based user community, Merridale FuelFX is recognised as the market-leading software.

Advanced features include customisable reports, graphical presentation and multisite capability. From 2011 all registered Merridale users can upgrade their software free of charge.

Latest versions can now be scheduled to provide automatic alerts when an upgraded version is available.

For those looking for a lower cost solution Merridale FuelSite provides the essential functionality for security, stock control and usage reports. Recent developments include the addition of a costing capability, enabling the smaller user to take full control of fuel data without the need for third parties or bureau charges.

Merridale FuelWorks  is a web-based service which allows fuelling data to be provided on demand from any location. The software can be installed as a stand-alone application, as a portal to local users on an office network. Similarly for remote sites, it can provide the link to a corporate wide-area network, allowing access for any authorised user over the Internet.

With a choice of three software solutions, FuelFX, FuelSite and FuelWorks, only Merridale  encompass all applications from entry level single site applications up to multi-depot enterprise operations.

As a universal solution, Merridale FuelFX has set the standard for comprehensive fuel management functionality.

Based on more than fifteen years experience, and benefiting from feedback from the broadly based user community, Merridale FuelFX is recognised as the market-leading software.

Advanced features include customisable reports, graphical presentation and multisite capability. From 2011 all registered Merridale users can upgrade their software free of charge.

Latest versions can now be scheduled to provide automatic alerts when an upgraded version is available.

For those looking for a lower cost solution Merridale FuelSite provides the essential functionality for security, stock control and usage reports. Recent developments include the addition of a costing capability, enabling the smaller user to take full control of fuel data without the need for third parties or bureau charges.

Merridale FuelWorks  is a web-based service which allows fuelling data to be provided on demand from any location. The software can be installed as a stand-alone application, as a portal to local users on an office network. Similarly for remote sites, it can provide the link to a corporate wide-area network, allowing access for any authorised user over the Internet.

Mark & Mike Silmon

Mike Silmon explains:  “We will follow up any opportunities wherever we believe that we can put up a competitive bid. Currently we are refitting the fuelling facilities of a national network of regional distribution units. This project, has taken us from Bristol in the south up to Glasgow in the north.”

“The company’s expertise is in project management – that means understanding the requirement and putting together the right mix of skills and resources needed to deliver a successful implementation – on time and within budget. Our expertise covers mechanical and electrical engineering and we work in partnership with a building contractor who looks after groundwork and civil engineering associated with forecourt installations,” says Mike Silmon.

Founded as plumbers’ in the thirties and restarted after the war by Ossie Silmon in 1945, the family-owned business is now being managed by Mike’s son Mark, who is responsible for day-to day operations, while Mike looks after the commercial side.

Says Mike Silmon, “We like to think that we are probably among the oldest companies serving the petrol and fuel oil industry. We have a longstanding relationship with Merridale which goes back to the first commercial diesel pumps with integrated electronic monitoring.

W O Silmon Ltd moved to its existing premises in Newcastle upon Tyne during the Eighties. Neighbours at the time included various specialist crafts including a fibre glass workshop which provided enclosures for petrol pumps.

Mike Silmon continues, “Having key suppliers on our doorstep gave us an important advantage in putting together customised installations. We are project orientated and disciplined about cost control and delivery commitments.”

All Silmon engineers are home grown having served company apprentices, although Mike’s ‘Dad’ Ossie insisted that both Mike and Mark should serve their apprenticeships outside of the business.

Mike Silmon believes that this ‘direction’ has helped them to keep in touch with the close knit culture and heritage of Tyneside’s shipbuilding and more lately offshore engineering.

For instance, current projects on Tyneside include both diesel and petrol fuelling points within sensitive industrial complexes, such as oil storage installations and refineries. In another application, Merridale has provided a compatible card reader which enables authorised drivers to use their existing port authority ID card to access fuelling points. With over a thousand users, this has achieved a big cost saving in the provisioning of standard Merridale access keys.

The dockside covers a huge area with various partner organisations and this ability to adapt or customise the Merridale solution has led to further sales.

Mark takes up the narrative by listing the scope of Silmon clients, encompassing Regional Councils, Public and Private haulage contractors, Local Authorities, Fire, Police and Ambulance Services.

“Naturally we will install whatever monitoring system is requested by the customer. But in some cases the most important feature is the flexibility of the reports. We had a customer on Teesside who wanted to customise the reports to suit their requirements rather than just rely on the standard menu.

“In these cases we will look to see how the vendors can help us to secure the contract. And to be fair. Merridale have not only offered good support with our prices, they have been prepared to get involved with sales meetings. We have a good working relationship with Stephen Hannan for sales support and John Russell for Technical Support.

“Silmon staff are always in attendance for commissioning and in particular the training sessions for new customers which are quite valuable for ensuring continuity for after sales support.

“As Mike pointed out at the start of this interview, some of our installations are a long distance from Newcastle. I am happy to specify Merridale equipment because I am confident that I know that I can install this without any concerns about breakdowns.

“At the end of day our relationship is with the customers. They put their trust in us but to deliver this, we must have a good working relationship with our suppliers.” says Mark Silmon.