One in the Czech Republic, one in Slovakia. Both new-build workshops servicing trucks and buses. And both leveling up their fluid dispensing with a new oil monitoring system. Michal Soukup, CEO at distributor SOMAX TECH, takes you behind the scenes of these two integrations. Michal explains why both workshops felt the need to switch to Pulse Pro, zooms in on the installation and talks you through the set-ups.

Let’s first set the stage.

This case is about two separate commercial vehicle workshops, both servicing primarily Mercedes Benz and Daimler trucks and buses. Each workshop is incorporated in a newly built sales center with a showroom. And each is part of a bigger group, used to working with cabled systems for their fluid monitoring.

Now, for the differences:

For the investors behind Velky Tynec, the fluid management system they used in their other workshop no longer sufficed. Michal: “It wasn’t working very well. Plus, they wanted a wireless system for their new workshop. So, they were open for a new provider.”

Also the group behind Senec was looking for a step up compared to the system they were using in another workshop.

Both groups saw their new workshop as a chance to get rid of their daily dispensing issues. With a new work place, comes new dispensing hardware and thus the opportunity to redesign processes.

Both workshops are now running on Pulse Pro. Both teams can now closely monitor their day-to-day fluid consumption, while keeping an eye on their inventory. 

As a result, these two workshops

• Minimize stock loss
• Optimize purchasing
• Protect oil margins

Watch how Pulse Pro makes this possible:

Graco distributor SOMAX TECH tailored each oil monitoring system to the workshop’s specific processes, types of fluids and lay-out.

Let us have a look at the set-ups.

“The installation is straight forward. It only took us 3 to 4 days to set up Pulse Pro. 3 to 4 weeks if you take in the pumps, tanks, piping, hose reels…”, says Michal. 

“Pulse Pro is a wireless system. That means we don’t have to run kilometres of data cables. This saves a lot of working hours. To give you an idea: installing Pulse Pro is up to three times faster than any wired alternative. So, what we can do on a single day for a wireless installation, takes us three days for a wired system”, explains Michal. “Wireless systems are usually more expensive, but that investment immediately pays off during installation.”

A tank for waste oil, equipped with a Pulse Pro level meter.

“A wireless system is also easier and faster to troubleshoot. In a wired system we need to check all valves and meters, one by one. With Pulse Pro we read out the hub and immediately know where the problem is located.”

The oil monitoring system in the Senec workshop.

From the workshop to the offices. The parts rooms, to be more specific. Let’s have a look at the integration with the DMS.

“In Senec this was very easy as they use DMS Automaster from the Keyloop family. Keyloop and Graco are partners, so it’s a native integration. We basically flip a switch, and everything is set up. There is no additional coding required, as was the case in Velky Tynec. Here, we had to bring in a programmer.”

“This takes some time. Not because of the quantity of code, but because a lot of parties are involved. Agreements must be made and approvals given. That means communication going back and forth. You are usually talking about several days or even weeks. While the integration with Keyloop is a matter of hours.” 

Both oil monitoring systems are now fully fuctional. “For the technicians, not much has changed”, says Michal. “The only difference is that they have to authorize themselves before they start dispensing. They do so by simply tapping their badge against the meter and selecting the right work number from a list. That’s it. Everything else is still the same.”

“As soon as the technician finishes dispensing, the data is transferred from the gun directly to the DMS. From there, it’s added automatically to the right invoice and the fluid stock is automatically updated. No more walking over to the parts room and handing over papers. No more tapping in the data manually. No more adding the amount on the invoice by hand. Everything is now automated. This saves time and is 100% accurate.”