The Hindu Business Line : NCR Corp to automate HPCL, BPCL outlets

NCR Corporation has secured an order from Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) to automate 325 petrol stations across India with NCR’s Octane 2000 solution. NCR has already automated over 415 petrol stations in India.

The company will provide the petrol stations with an end-to-end solution deployment, including supply of hardware, Octane 2000 application software and implementation services, said a press release from the company. NCR will also provide a complete electronic fund transfer solution to handle debit, credit and smart-card transactions.

The Octane 2000 solution will reduce manual intervention, increase transaction speed and improve customer interactions.

The company will be able to monitor and analyse wet stock (petrol, diesel) and dry stock (lubes and other accessories) in real time for better inventory management. The automation will facilitate data extraction and communication to headquarters and effective retail fuel-price management.

NCR will also supply, install and implement the retail automation solution, integrating all NCR and third-party hardware, including forecourt peripherals – pumps, tank gauging systems, density display for customers (for quality assurance) and outdoor payment terminals.

The point-of-sale (POS) and back-office system will be integrated with a radio frequency identification (RFID) based tagging system.

Each attendant will be provided with RFID tags to unlock the dispensing units for a transaction, tracking complete transactions details. This will help the company track employee performance and ensure fuel purity and quantity for customers. The customer will also get an automated receipt showing the exact quantity purchased, the release added.

Mr Ali Mir, General Manager, Retail, Hospitality and Self-Service Solutions in India, NCR, said, “As competition has increased in the world of fuel retailing, oil companies are reaching out more than ever to the end user.

“Branded petrol and diesel products, loyalty programmes and smart cards, convenience stores, increased amenities such as vending machines or ATMs are changing the drab petrol stations of old into interesting brand entities. NCR is geared for the future of India’s petrol retail business – catering to the total automation needs of convenience stores, retailing fuel as well as non-fuel products.”