SUCCESS STORIES

ONEIR SOLUTIONS UNLOCKS THE FULL POTENTIAL OF CARDLOCK™ FOR FUEL SUPPLIERS

Integration of Cardlock™ with Oneir Solutions automates all aspects of the business from multi-channel sales to securing company assets to complete financial control

by Andy Shaw

The companies and the truck drivers who service the resource industries in northern British Columbia's District of Chetwynd aren't much different from their counterparts elsewhere in North America. When their vehicles roll in to fuel up at Chetwynd Petroleums, they too want both convenience and control over their purchases. Nothing does that more efficiently than the Cardlock™ automated fuelling system. Much like a bank machine card, drivers can insert their Cardlock™ cards and activate a fuel pump, water, air or other services anytime day or night - as well as use it to purchase oil and other supplies over the counter.

"This results in a complete integration of all aspects of the business."

Whenever the drivers do so, and without so much as filling in one paper form, their bosses back at company headquarters soon receive a complete record of each fuel transaction - including the date, location, purchaser, kind of fuel, quantity bought, price, and the total cost. For the driver that means there's less time-wasting 'administrivia' on the job. And for the company, the paperwork savings and the better control over fraud are manifest.

As a result, Cardlock™ systems are becoming ubiquitous in the transport industry. In turn, fuel suppliers like Chetwynd Fuels are embracing Cardlock™ and offering it at their pumps. For the fuel supplier, Cardlock™ is both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is to keep accurate track of all Cardlock™ sales and to integrate them with the supplier's Business Accounting Software. The opportunity is for the supplier to take better control of their own costs and inventory as well as to strengthen their relationships with customers.

"Those are exactly things our Oneir system can do for a fuel supplier," says Jon Mainwaring, executive vice president of Oneir Solutions Inc. in Toronto. "Our unique accounting software and hardware package can integrate Cardlock™ completely with the supplier's cost and inventory control. And it can be a business builder too." A principal Oneir tool for accomplishing those two worthy goals is the easily accessed, comprehensive reports Oneir can generate. So a supplier like Chetwynd Fuels can pull up reports from Oneir that can among other data display:

• A summary log of pump and fuel transactions
• The gross margin, sales tax and net margin for each sale
• The Accounts Receivable ledger
• A statement detailing the transaction - with a tear-off for the Cardlock™ card holder (the statement would also show other over-the-counter sales, phone order sales for bulk deliveries, and Repeat Billing items such as tank rentals)
• Sales analysis by customer or by product
• A General Ledger audit trail for all transactions (Oneir automatically posts sales, sales taxes, Accounts Receivable, cost of goods sold and Inventory for each Cardlock™ transaction)

"If I can learn to use Oneir, anyone can."

"This results in a complete integration of all aspects of the business and provides a totally automated way to safeguard the company's assets," Mainwaring goes on to say. "We've met many business owners that are using two, three or more programs to try to manage the business. And that's simply not efficient."

It's also important to note that Oneir tracks the inventory change and cost of goods sold for each Cardlock™ sale. If desired, Oneir can go beyond that basic level of monitoring and make Inventory Control and stocktaking completely secure. And it can do this not just at one site, but for multiple locations, divisions, or companies.

"Oneir now very neatly pulls together Cardlock™ with our own Accounts Receivable Software, Accounts Payable, and Inventory Management System," says Candide Lavoie, Chetwynd Petroleums Office Manager. "And it is very easy to use. If I can learn to use Oneir, anyone can."

Andy Shaw is a freelance writer, broadcaster and international journalist with articles in many business and technical publications.

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