Preconfigured Solution: Propane Tank Tracking

Situation: A San Diego-based propane distributor delivers propane tanks to individual restaurants that have no natural gas service. They have a large investment in tanks. They are faced with a common problem of the tanks being redirected and refilled by a low-cost supplier who has not made the investment in tanks.

Solution: A HAL Traxx Assets solution can barcode each tank for tracking, and with the multi-language capability the drivers can use the system on their mobile phones in Spanish, eliminating the cost of dedicated scanning devices. The tanks are scanned from the refill station to the driver’s truck and then to each customer location. When the empty tanks picked-up and returned to the refill station, they are coded as ‘empty’ and a business rule prevents them from being sent out again until refilled. A user authorization profile insures that only designated employees at the refill station can changes the status of a tank from ‘empty’ to ‘full’.

Result: The company no longer suffers from loss of tanks and refill business and is able to charge adequately to cover the cost of their tank investment. As an added benefit, the solution also tracks the hydrostatic certification of each tank and prevents it from being used if the certification expires.