Acknowledgement

I solemnly express my sincere gratitude to Dr. K.V.Krishnankutty, for the guidance and
valuable suggestions I received throughout the study. I was greatly benefited by his
support and encouragement.

I am thankful to our head of the department Prof. S. Siva Kumar, for his esteemed
guidance for my project.

I am grateful to Mr. S.Gupta, Senior. Regional Manager, HPCL Cochin Region, for
providing me an opportunity to conduct the study.

I take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to Mr. Pratheesh Balakrishnan,

Marketing Officer, HPCL for his appropriate advice for the project.

I am immensely grateful to all the dealers and managers of HP retail outlets and other
outlets for the help and co-operation rendered to me during the project.

Last but not the least I thank the Almighty for the successful completion of this study.

RAKESH RAMACHANDRAN

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 ABSTRACT

In a move to curb fuel adulteration and to improve the customer satisfaction, HPCL
(Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited) is implementing an end-to-end automation of
the fuel delivery network. As competition has increased in the world of fuel retailing, oil
companies are reaching out more than ever to the end user. The only way to capture
petrol retail market in the future is to collect detailed information about customers and
sales. This information provides the basis for continuous improvement, which in turn
means efficient customer response.

Petroleum retailing automation system is complex and involving management of the

forecourt, wet- and dry-stock, different cards and a wide range of head office
applications. Managing all of these elements effectively requires efficient communication
with headquarters, financial institutions, external databases and suppliers.

In order to identify the need gap and also to enhance the existing system a study was
conducted covering both the customers and dealers. From the feedback, corrective
actions to be taken are identified, and this is accomplished only by collecting firsthand
data from the customers and dealers. The effectiveness of various components of
automation system is analyzed. The influence of automation system with the customers is
identified during the study. A comparison with other automation systems revealed the
factor that, HPCL’s system is at the industry standards but proper implementation, user
training, and customer awareness is necessary for the success of the automation.

This report deals with the process of data collection in order to analyze the present
system and also to benchmark with industry standards. Suggestions for enhancing the
present system were derived from the input of various stakeholders of the system. The
management has approved the suggestions and that these will be implemented in the near
future.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER NO. TITLE PAGE NO.

TITLE PAGE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT i
ABSTRACT ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS iii
LIST OF TABLES vi
LIST OF FIGURES vii

1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Organization Profile 1
1.2.1 Quality Policy 2
1.2.2 Products 2
1.2.3 Testing & quality assurance 2
1.3 Project in the background of organization 2
1.4 Problem identification 3
1.5 Problem definition 3
1.6 Objectives of the study 3
1.7 Limitations of the study 4

2 LITERATURE REVIEW 5
2.1 Disconnectors 5
2.1.1 Parts of the disconnector 5
2.1.2 Type of tests conducted in disconnectors 6
2.2 Work study 7
2.2.1 Cycle time 10
2.2.2 Causes of long cycle times 11
2.2.4 Managerial implications 14
2.2.5 Cycle time improvement tips 16

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 2.3 Stepper motor 17
2.3.1 Programming the microcontroller to control a stepper 20

3 CURRENT SYSTEM STUDYAND DATA COLLECTION 21

3.1 Production process done in the company 21

3.2 Cycle time **
3.3. Sub parts of 123kV/ RC 22
3.4 Current MOM/MGB box 23
3.5 Flow chart for the current system 25
3.6 Data collection 27
3.6.1 Calculation of cycle time 27
3.6.2. Drive box 32
3.7 Assembly of Drive Box 34

4 ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 35

4.1 Method study 35
4.2 Calculation of return on new investment 39
4.3. New system development 43
4.3.1. Calculation of profit from new system development 43
4.3.2 Comparison of cost of old system and new system 44

5 NEW SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT 45

5.1 New system development 45
5.2 The new system design to reduce the cycle time of the
Disconnector 45
5.3 The new MOM / MGB Box 45
5.3.1 The new system of the drive box 46
5.3.2 The flow chart of the new system 48

5.4. Job Scheduler 49

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5 DATA ANALYSIS 32
5.1 Methodology 32
5.1.1 Charts 32
5.2 Data Analysis: Dealers Questionnaire 33
5.2.1 Satisfaction about inventory management system 33
5.2.2 Satisfaction about authorizing employees with Tags 34
5.2.3 Centralized price updating feature 35
5.2.4 Customer satisfaction regarding card payment with OPT’s 36
5.2.5 Importance of density display 37
5.2.6 Easiness of usage of the automation system 38
5.2.7 Effectiveness of end user training 39
5.2.8 Customer’s general confidence level after automation 40
5.2.9 Quality of service by the implementation team 41
5.2.10 Frequency of Report Generation 42
5.2 Data Analysis: Customers Questionnaire 43
5.3.1 Frequency of checking density display 43
5.3.2 Ratio of customers preferring bills to not preferring bills 44
5.3.3 Importance of monthly consolidated bills 45
5.3.4 Increase in confidence due to automation 46
5.3.5 Awareness about the advantages of retail automation system 47
5.3.6 Waiting time at dispenser after automation 48
5.3.7 Influence of automated system in the fuelling practices 49
5.3.8 Influence of fully automated outlet 50

6 COMPARISON WITH VARIOUS SYSTEM 51

6.1 Introduction 51
6.2 BPCL –Retail Automation 51
6.3 IOCL –Retail Automation 54

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7 DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW SYSTEM 56
7.1 Introduction 56
7.2 Enhancements 56

8 FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS 63

9 CONCLUSION 65

BIBLIOGRAPHY 66

APPENDIX 68

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 LIST OF TABLES

TABLE NO TITLE PAGE NO

5.1 Importance of inventory management system 21

5.2 Importance of authorizing employees with tags 22
5.3 Satisfaction rate of dealers with the centralized price updating 23
5.4 Satisfaction rate of customers with OPT’s 24
5.5 Importance of density display boards 25
5.6 Easiness of usage of the automation system 26
5.7 Satisfaction of dealers regarding the training 27
5.8 Change in customer’s confidence level 28
5.9 Quality of service by implementation team 29
5.10 Frequency of Report Generation 30
5.10 Frequency of checking density display boards 31
5.11 Ratio of customers preferring bills to not preferring bills 32
5.12 Importance of monthly consolidated bills 33
5.13 Increase in confidence due to automation 34
5.14 Awareness about the advantages of retail automation system 35
5.15 Difference in the waiting time at the dispenser after automation 36
5.16 Influence of automated system in the fuelling practices 37
5.17 Influence of fully automated outlet 38

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 LIST OF FIGURES

FIG NO TITLE PAGE NO

3.2.1 Context diagram for Retail Automation System 21

3.2.2 DFD Level 0 22
3.2.3 Child diagram for process 1 23
3.2.4 Child diagram for process 2 24
3.2.5 Child diagram for process 3 24
3.2.6 Child diagram for process 4 24
3.2.7 Child diagram for process 5 25
3.2.8 Child diagram for process 8 25
5.1 Importance of inventory management system 21
5.2 Importance of authorizing employees with tags 22
5.3 Satisfaction rate of dealers with the centralized price updating 23
5.4 Satisfaction rate of customers with OPT’s 24
5.5 Importance of density display boards 25
5.6 Easiness of usage of the automation system 26
5.7 Satisfaction of dealers regarding the training 27
5.8 Change in customer’s confidence level 28
5.9 Quality of service by implementation team 29
5.10 Frequency of Report Generation 30
5.10 Frequency of checking density display boards 31
5.11 Ratio of customers preferring bills to not preferring bills 32
5.12 Importance of monthly consolidated bills 33
5.13 Increase in confidence due to automation 34
5.14 Awareness about the advantages of retail automation system 35
5.15 Difference in the waiting time at the dispenser after automation 36
5.16 Influence of automated system in the fuelling practices 37
5.17 Influence of fully automated outlet 38
7.2.1 Context diagram for Enhanced Retail Automation System 57

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7.2.2 DFD Level 0 58
7.2.3 Child diagram for process 2 59
7.2.4 Child diagram for process 2.1 59
7.2.5 Child diagram for process 3 59
7.2.6 Child diagram for process 4 60
7.2.7 Child diagram for process 5 60
7.2.8 Child diagram for process 5.3 61
7.2.9 Child diagram for process 6 61
7.2.10 Child diagram for process 6.2 61
7.2.11 Child diagram for process 8 62
7.2.12 Child diagram for process 9 62
7.2.13 Child diagram for process 10 62

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