There is no doubt about it – business in the 21st century is not what it used to be! Technology seems to be progressing at a pace that is hard to keep up with, even for the most tech-savvy individuals. While this has definitely streamlined business in many ways, it has also made it more complicated.

1. Effective Petroleum Software Does Not Have to be Complicated
There is no doubt about it – business in the 21st century is not what it used to be! Technology
seems to be progressing at a pace that is hard to keep up with, even for the most tech-savvy
individuals. While this has definitely streamlined business in many ways, it has also made it
more complicated. Utilizing different software products for different areas of your business – one
product for marketing, another for accounting, still another for inventory management, etc. –
may work well in each of those specific areas. But when it comes to communicating back and
forth between departments, using different software products can be a nightmare.
This is especially true for petroleum marketers, who work in an extremely complex industry.
When you add the complications of using multiple software products to a business that is
complex by its very nature, the result can be overwhelming. The very technology that you relied
on to streamline your business and allow you to keep current and remain competitive in a
challenging industry may have just the opposite effect.
Fortunately, software developers foresaw some of these challenges several years ago, when
they first developed ERP (enterprise resource planning) software. Originally designed for use on
PCs in the 1980s, ERP software was intended to help automate day-to-day business tasks. In
the 1990s, ERP software evolved into products that were designed to integrate different
functions within the same company. Thanks to this innovative type of petroleum software,
departments that used various forms of software could now communicate easily back and forth.
Today, ERP software not only enables different parts of the same company to communicate
more effectively, it also improves communication with outside entities and allows various
departments within the same organization to work in unison.
There are several characteristics that petroleum marketers should look for when trying to
choose the right ERP software for this specialized industry. Be sure to take into consideration
some of the challenges of the gas distribution business, and make sure the ERP package you
choose has the ability to do the following:
•
Forecast delivery needs of clients
•
Keep track of inventory to allow you to keep up with customer demands
•
Coordinate activities and paperwork of tank wagons
•
Calculate taxes due to suppliers and governments
•
Analyze customer payment records
•
Streamline vendor accounts and track new payables, credit memos, etc.
•
Track the history of customer purchases and integrate with an inventory module to allow
you to maintain an accurate history of purchases
•
Streamline your company’s purchasing processes
•
Improve relationships with customers and vendors, allowing you to keep track of
communications more effectively

2. Effective gas distribution software shouldn’t be complicated. In fact, it should make your life
easier!
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