The right equipment for every filling station

Just over a year ago, Constance Municipal Works decided to completely modernize their whole refuelling area. This included the company's filling stations for buses, the semi-public filling station in the yard and a natural gas system. Requirements as specific as this put high demands on the technology and require a broad range of products. Hectronic was able to offer both. A system that met with the high demands of the customer was installed in cooperation with distribution partner Gleichauf.
There is no doubt that this system is very special, or rather: It is a whole complex system. For many years already, Constance Municipal Works relied on a network of filling stations due to the diversity of tasks. They manage buses, ferries, drinking water and energy supply as well as the Lake of Constance fleet (BSB).

The structure was quite modern, the relevant equipment, however, was not. "The equipment was simply no longer up-to-date and we had to do something about it," remembers Martin Wiggenhauser, Head of Logistics for this sector. Initially he made enquiries with companies all over Germany, but soon the wheat was separated from the chaff. "We could see right from the start that only a very experienced supplier could meet our expectations due to the number of challenges," says Martin Wiggenhauser. And that is how he found Gleichauf in Villingen-Schwenningen. Hectronics partner had exactly the right products available for the broad installation requirements in Constance. The company also has the necessary know-how and is an renowned expert in the refuelling sector. Martin Wiggenhauser and Juergen Vosseler, Technical Sales Representative at Gleichauf, met and discussed the future look of the filling stations. After all, there were three filling stations to consider and at a glance, it became apparent how different their use and function were.

 

 

The company filling station was only accessible for internal use, the yard filling station was, on the other hand, a semi-public filling station. Once again, four OPTILEVEL sensors were installed as well as a TA 2331 and also the vehicle recognition system PetroPoint is in operation. In this case, however, for the retail version, the personnel identification card is used for authentication. The vehicles of all other municipal companies can refuel here in addition to 85 in-house Municipal Works vehicles. Two double dispensers with a total of four pumps guarantee fast refuelling. A pre-calibrated system is in use due to third-party refuelling. E-journal and receipt printer offer additional service.

 

 

The public natural gas filling station was Municipal Works final requirement. "This filling station was the key that opened the door for the overall concept," remembers Martin Wiggenhauser. Up to this point there were two different systems in use due to lack of calibration: one for in-house users and one for external users. "This is obviously not the most sensible solution," declares the Head of Logistics. "We had to do something about it," says Martin Wiggenhauser. Today, the canopied two lane station operates 24/7 and is used extensively. "In the past month, we increased the dispensed natural gas quantity by 150%," he states.

 

 

Fast, comfortable and smooth refuelling are one corner stone for any system, another one is that data is universally available. In addition to all the new equipment, Hectronics forte is in this field. "In the past invoicing could take up to two days, today I only need around about ten minutes," states Martin Wiggenhauser. "The whole process was simplified completely. Monitoring, invoicing, refuelling processes or quantity control are now fully automated. And everything is networked." Only Hectronic was able to offer all of the above, Martin Wiggenhauser has no doubt about it. And on completion of this large scale project he draws the conclusion which just demonstrates his satisfaction: "All of our requirements were fulfilled! And that is excellent!"