Written on: March 5, 2013 by ICM
Angus Performance Advisors (APA) today announced the release of a new business intelligence software program designed exclusively for Fuel Oil and Propane companies. The new program, BRITE™, makes it simple for companies to get key performance data from their back office systems, instantly, in a format that makes it easy to manage business with certainty.
BRITE (briteinfo.com) enables fuel companies to instantly access reports showing service and sales performance, actual margin vs. budget, pricing program positions, delivery effectiveness and much more. In addition to giving fuel companies a broad view of what is actually happening in their businesses, BRITE allows companies to drill down into the information. It also flags areas that are off target, and provides guidance on potential action steps. A benchmarking component will add perspective by allowing subscribers to see how similar companies are performing in each category.
“The back office systems in our industry are excellent at handling day-to-day functions at fuel companies,” says Bob Levins, Managing Partner of APA. “But they were not really designed to make it easy to pull all this information together in ways that make it simple to understand what’s occurring in your business right now, and how that affects your profitability and growth potential. BRITE complements these systems, and really unleashes your power to turn information into insight, and insight into action.”
BRITE is an outgrowth of work APA (formerly TAG Systems) has done for fuel companies in the oil and propane space for more than 12 years. TAG has installed proprietary programs for many of the country’s largest oil and propane companies, learning a great deal about what matters most to fuel companies. However, these customized individual installations required large investments. The breakthrough occurred when APA took their reporting capability and placed it in a cloud environment. Now, many of the benefits will be available at a fraction of the cost, easily within reach of the vast majority of fuel dealers.
“Imagine if you could flip on your computer and instantly see how your real margins and gallons are comparing to your budgeted ones rather than waiting till the end of the month? Or which autos switched to will call yesterday? Which service-agreement customers were costing you too much money because they were getting too many calls? Imagine if you could know your gains and losses month to date, year to date, vs. last year, and vs. your own goals, and were flagged if you were falling off your targets? How much easier would it be to take action quickly, and get your team aligned on the same page? That’s the power of BRITE,” says David Baratz, APA General Manager.
BRITE operates in a rigorously secure environment, and can be accessed by laptop, iPad, or smartphone—so you can get critical information about your business at any time, wherever you happen to be. It will also offer selective access for employees, so you can share only certain information with key managers.
Best of all, BRITE can be installed easily, with a modest learning curve. There is no huge financial investment. Instead, subscribers pay a very reasonable monthly fee, and aren’t handcuffed by a long-term commitment.
“BRITE doesn’t change anything in your existing software, and it literally takes about a week—not months—to get up and running. Our team is fully prepared to help our subscribers get going, and to understand how to get the most from this powerful tool,” says Baratz.
“It is clearly getting harder and harder to run a fuel business successfully, and there is less margin for error than ever before. We think once people start using BRITE, they’ll wonder how they ever got by without it,” says Levins.
About Angus Performance Advisors
Angus Performance Advisors is the premier software development firm in the petroleum distribution industry. We know petroleum, we know technology, and most importantly, we know how to bring the two together to help you overcome even your most complex business challenges. APA solutions are structured around the very latest technologies from companies you know and trust—companies like Microsoft and Rocket Software. Partnering with these best-of-breed software providers helps us fulfill our commitment to provide you with best-of-breed solutions.
