Dealership's New Matrix System Manages Lube Transactions

When Peterbilt of Sioux City in Sioux City, Iowa, began planning a new service facility to keep pace with their growing business, Brad Wilson, President and CEO of its parent company, Sioux City Truck Sales, Inc, viewed the new construction as an opportunity to build a state-of-the-art dealership. Sioux City Truck Sales, Inc. is a Peterbilt dealer serving portions of Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. In addition to its Sioux City facility, the company also operates three full service branch locations in their sales and service territory.

“Our management wanted the new facility to increase quality and customer service, as well as improve efficiencies and enhance profitability,” said Jerry Hale, Director of Service. “We looked at each of our service areas — which includes repair, maintenance, refinishing, and body shop operations — to determine where new technologies or techniques would improve our service quality and profitability.”

One of the technologies the dealership investigated was fluid management systems that dispense fluids such as engine oil, transmission lube and antifreeze. These systems also meter the amount of fluids dispensed for billing and inventory control purposes. “We had been using a Graco wired Electronic Fluid Commander™ (EFC) fluid management system in the old shop that we had purchased years ago,” says Hale. “The system accurately metered the oil and other fluids, but it required our technicians to walk to the parts counter where they made a request for the amount of fluids they needed to dispense in their service bay. If the parts desk was busy with another order or away from the desk the technician had to wait or come back later. Furthermore, the old system could only dispense fluids to one meter at a time. The technician would occasionally return to his workstation and have to wait his turn. Neither one of these scenarios is an efficient use of the technicians time,” he adds.

The company wanted a system that would provide accurate fluid inventory control, permit multiple fluids to be dispensed at the same time, and allow the technicians to control the dispensing process at the service bay. “We needed a fast and efficient way for the technician to dispense fluids without delay. We also wanted a method to consistently bill the customer on the correct repair order, thereby reducing billing errors and inventory shrinkage losses, which have a direct, negative impact on profitability,” says Hale.

According to Hale, the dealership learned that Graco’s new Matrix wireless fluid management system was a state-of-the-art system that many auto dealers and other truck service centers were using to manage their fluids. Hale contacted a number of auto dealers and other truck service centers that were using Matrix and discussed the system with his counterparts. The feedback he received was very encouraging. “We learned that Graco has a quality product, and that they stand behind it if there are problems and make it right.”

Upon reviewing the system’s features and benefits and determining that the system fit their needs, Sioux City Truck Sales decided to install the Matrix system into their new facility. The new state-of-the-art dealership opened in the fall of 2006.

The new 48,000 sq. ft. Peterbilt of Sioux City facility features 16 service bays, a 90-foot long quick lube bay, seven body shop bays, a double-bake paint booth, frame correction, VIS inspection and write-up bays, as well as an indoor truck display, customer lounge, parts display, warehouse, lobby and sales office.

In the maintenance and repair service area, there are four banks of reels mounted from the ceiling between the bays. The 135-foot long service bays allow the technician to dispense lube to twelve tractors. Each bank of 5 hose reels dispense two engine oils: Mobil and Shell’s Rotella®, transmission lube, gear lube and antifreeze. The Matrix metered dispense valves are used to dispense the two motor oils and two gear lubes.

In the 90-foot quick lube bay there are two sets of wall mounted reel banks allowing two tractors to be lubed simultaneously. Each bank contains three hose reels. Two Matrix meters dispense the motor oil while the third valve dispenses antifreeze. Gear lube is dispensed from Matrix meters located in the pit.

“We can completely service a tractor — even one that makes an unscheduled stop — at our quick lube bay in about 1-1/2 hours. It’s a great service for drivers that find themselves with some time on their hands and are close to their scheduled lube cycle,” adds Hale. “While the trucker appreciates the fast service, the Matrix system assures a record of the transaction is instantly conveyed to the parts desk where it is added to the repair order. There’s never a need to track down a service technician to get the information which enhances our efficiency.”

When a service technician needs to dispense oil or gear lube into a tractor he simply enters the work order number of the tractor he’s servicing into the keypad of the Matrix meter he’s using and dispenses the fluid into the vehicle. The whole process is instantaneous and has eliminated the tech’s trip to the parts desk for authorization.

“We’re saving 5 – 10 minutes on each lube order,” says Rick Burkhart, Parts Manager. “A single event might not seem like a big deal but over a period of time it becomes a significant savings.”

The work order information and the amount the tech dispensed are then routed through a wireless transceiver to a central computer where the information is recorded and billed to the correct work order — there are no lost or forgotten dispense orders!

“Shrinkage is an increasing concern as the cost of fluids rise,” says Burkhart, “Controlling losses is a great way to improve our bottom line. That job is a lot easier with the Matrix system!”

All the fluids are pumped from an underground pump room adjacent to the quick lube bay. The oil is stored in 1,000-gallon totes, the gear lube is in 500-gallon totes, while the antifreeze is contained in two 300-gallon tanks. Graco Fireball® 6:1 ratio air-operated pumps are mounted on the totes. The pumps transfer the fluids from the totes through Graco Cleanline filters to the Matrix meters upon the command from the technician in the bay. The Fireball pumps were selected because they have the capacity to transfer the lubricants over long distances to multiple bays. Sioux City Truck Sales installed the 14-micron Cleanline 900 filters to ensure the oil is clean and that no contaminants are dispensed into the tractors.

In addition to the transfer system, each tote tank has a Graco tank level monitor mounted on it. The ultrasonic signal measures the fluid level in each tank and communicates this information wirelessly to the PC, keeping the Parts Department informed as to when fluids need to be ordered. “It has eliminated the task of manually checking the volume of each tank,” explains Burkhart.

“The Matrix system allows us to handle our customers’ lubrication requests quickly and accurately; and contributes to our improved efficiencies and profitability. It’s one of the products that help us quickly respond to our customer’s service needs.” he says. “Our goal is to be a one stop shop!”

“We did not cut corners in designing this new dealership,” concludes Hale. “It’s head and shoulders above our competition in the area. The Matrix system is one example of the many new technologies we have incorporated into this new facility that allows us to provide great customer service and be more efficient and profitable.”

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