DealersEdge Professional Forums

To continue along the same lines as "BULK OIL ALWAYS MISSING" from queenbee.

What systems or processes do you have in place to control bulk oil dispensing? I just want to see if there is any new and exciting technology to help with this task.

We have a Balcrank Spectrum monitor mounted in parts controlling 4 bulk tanks and 7 oil stations. No oil can be dispensed without us knowing. Tech comes and lets us know the repair order, the quantity, the type of oil and the station. We dial it up and bill it and we are always long on oil (5 quarts billed on 4.3, etc...) I use the extra money to scrap obsolete or ordered in error parts.

We use the new Alemite control system. Just came out this year. We are a small dealer....two tanks and 5 reels. That being said, this new Alemite control allows you to set 6 favorites. So, I hit two buttons and oil is flowing. Very nice system.

scott2112 wrote:We use the new Alemite control system. Just came out this year. We are a small dealer....two tanks and 5 reels. That being said, this new Alemite control allows you to set 6 favorites. So, I hit two buttons and oil is flowing. Very nice system.

When you say favorites, you mean type of oil and a certain quantity? All with one button?

We use Matrix for our oil control. All the dispensing is accurately recorded. The only issues we seem to have are with the tank level sensors. They're sonic sensors which don't seem to be the most accurate.

Parts007 wrote:

scott2112 wrote:We use the new Alemite control system. Just came out this year. We are a small dealer....two tanks and 5 reels. That being said, this new Alemite control allows you to set 6 favorites. So, I hit two buttons and oil is flowing. Very nice system.

When you say favorites, you mean type of oil and a certain quantity? All with one button?

With the faves, its stores a quantity I preset or quantities that are used most frequently. For example, our faves are 4.2, 4.8,5,6,8,and 10. I hit the corresponding preset and the reel number and that's it.

contact Jim.Dorothy at skf dot com

You may think I'm crazy. Well, being a parts manager, that is one of the qualifications, right?
We have open reels for all of our bulk oils. Yep. Wide open. Been that way for over 10 ears and haven't come up short yet. Cameras everywhere. Over 30 techs. Found it way too inefficient to try to control each and every drop. There was way too much time involved for a tech to get oil when it was controlled by a dispensing system.
I physical inventory GOG each month on the 1st and have the GL adjusted accordingly. Always a pick-up.

MSInventory wrote:You may think I'm crazy. Well, being a parts manager, that is one of the qualifications, right?
We have open reels for all of our bulk oils. Yep. Wide open. Been that way for over 10 ears and haven't come up short yet. Cameras everywhere. Over 30 techs. Found it way too inefficient to try to control each and every drop. There was way too much time involved for a tech to get oil when it was controlled by a dispensing system.
I physical inventory GOG each month on the 1st and have the GL adjusted accordingly. Always a pick-up.

I would also think that an oil control system would cause a logistical delay and affect technician and counterperson efficiency. My thought was to leave the oil wide open during the business day, and physically disable the system after hours.

Parts007 wrote:I would also think that an oil control system would cause a logistical delay and affect technician and counterperson efficiency.

Not if they have to come to you for an oil filter anyway.

Our system was ridiculous. We were doing over 2000 LOF's per month and the meter would stack up our entries as only one tech could dispense at a time. It was crazy slow.

We let our techs keep oil filters at their station, so no wasting time at the counter for a simple LOF.