FuelsManager SAP White Paper_0409

Automation solutions for oil & gas, defense and aviation applications

Integration of FuelsManager® with SAP®

Leveraging SAP's structured processes down to the local‐level fuel facility using FuelsManager

White Paper April 28, 2009

Executive Summary

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Contents

Executive Summary.............................................................................. 4 Terminal Automation System Interface.......................................................... 4 Limitations of IS‐TAS ....................................................................................... 5 Lessons Learned with CITGO Petroleum......................................................... 5 Lessons Learned with Marathon Petroleum................................................... 5 Ongoing Interface Development for xMII....................................................... 6 Alliance with Implico and Integration with OpenTAS ..................................... 6 Benefits of the Complete, Integrated Solution............................................... 6

The Value of Integrating SAP with FuelsManager ................................. 8 An Example Scenario in SAP............................................................................ 8 Real‐world Scenario ........................................................................................ 8

Demand Planning................................................................................................. 9 Inventory Management and Purchase Requests................................................. 9 Ordering and Receipt......................................................................................... 10 Quality and Acceptance..................................................................................... 10 Accounts Payable............................................................................................... 11

Challenges to Integration.............................................................................. 11 Tank Gauging System......................................................................................... 12 Movement System............................................................................................. 12 SCADA System.................................................................................................... 12 Terminal Automation System ............................................................................ 13 Environmental Compliance System ................................................................... 13 Integration and Ownership Costs ...................................................................... 14

Why Local Automation is Necessary............................................................. 14 Safety Considerations ........................................................................................ 14 High Availability Considerations ........................................................................ 15 User Interface Considerations ........................................................................... 16

A Complete, Integration Solution Based on FuelsManager.......................... 17 Local Operation............................................................................................. 18 Intuitive User Interface ................................................................................. 18 Quality of Data .............................................................................................. 20 Automation of Low Volume Facilities ........................................................... 20

Understanding the System Architecture............................................. 23 Subsystems ................................................................................................... 23

High Volume Facilities........................................................................................ 23 Low Volume Facilities ........................................................................................ 24 FuelsManager Enterprise................................................................................... 25 SAP..................................................................................................................... 25

Interfaces ...................................................................................................... 25 FuelsManager Web Service Interface................................................................ 25 FuelsManager Enterprise Web Interface........................................................... 25 FuelsManager to SAP Interface ......................................................................... 25 Email Interface................................................................................................... 26

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Capabilities of the Integrated Platform .............................................. 27 Demand Planning.......................................................................................... 27 Purchase Requisitions ................................................................................... 27 Supply Ordering ............................................................................................ 28 Bulk Receipts................................................................................................. 29 Sales Orders .................................................................................................. 30 Flight Line Automation.................................................................................. 31 Inventory Management ................................................................................ 32 Environmental............................................................................................... 32 Quality Control.............................................................................................. 33 Equipment Maintenance .............................................................................. 33 Training Logistics........................................................................................... 34 Tactical Operations ....................................................................................... 35

Conclusion.......................................................................................... 36 Credits................................................................................................ 38

About Varec .................................................................................................. 38 Copyright ........................................................................................... 39

Executive Summary

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Executive Summary SAP is the worldwide standard for oil and gas enterprise solutions with 97% of all leading companies using SAP. SAP provides a complete and integrated enterprise solution, but there are many important business processes that occur at the facility level. For this reason, the full power of SAP is only realized when facility level automation systems are fully integrated into the enterprise. Varec is a leader in oil and gas, defense and aviation and its FuelsManager® software provides complete and integrated solutions for facility level automation. As Varec expanded its product offering, discussions with customers increasingly began to focus on integration to SAP.

Terminal Automation System Interface

Varec began working with SAP in 2002 to develop a certified interface from FuelsManager to SAP’s Oil & Gas Industry Solution. The first step in the integration process was to perform an interface assessment, which identifies business processes in FuelsManager and maps these to the appropriate interfaces in SAP. At the conclusion of the interface assessment, the Terminal Automation System Interface (IS‐TAS) was selected as the priority interface with the Inspection Data Interface in Quality Management (QM‐IDI) as a potential additional point of integration.

The IS‐TAS interface is designed to integrate with automation systems at commercial oil and gas terminals. It supports many of the common functions for efficient bulk fuel handling and inventory management, such as downloading master data, orders and shipment schedules to the facility automation system and uploading fuel movement, loading (Bill of Ladings) and physical inventory data. Varec worked directly with SAP’s Oil & Gas team to develop and certify the IS‐TAS interface in 2002. This interface was later expanded and recertified in 2005. The certified interface connects through Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP/HTTPS) for

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Internet and intranet communications and is compatible with the latest versions of SAP, including the NetWeaver technology and the Business Connector.

Limitations of IS‐TAS

As Varec began working directly with its customer base to integrate FuelsManager with SAP, it found that many of them were not open to using IS‐TAS as the interface mechanism. The IS‐TAS interface links into components of SAP that many customers do not use. Extending IS‐TAS to work with the existing configuration was often viewed as too pervasive and, therefore, too risky and expensive. Customers also desired flexibility to exchange master and process data that is not supported in IS‐TAS. In addition, IS‐TAS was designed specifically for commercial terminals and was not well suited for aviation and defense applications.

Lessons Learned with CITGO Petroleum

When Varec began planning the interface to CITGO Petroleum’s SAP system, the design team chose a custom interface design. Although CITGO was one of the earliest users of SAP, it did not use IS‐TAS. CITGO’s SAP team analyzed IS‐TAS and concluded that the integration effort could not be justified. CITGO had an existing interface structure in place that met its specific business requirements. Therefore, CITGO and Varec decided to minimize the impact to the SAP configuration by developing a new interface from FuelsManager that re‐used the existing SAP infrastructure. This approach significantly reduced development time and costs and successfully met all of CITGO’s specific business requirements.

Lessons Learned with Marathon Petroleum

Varec worked with Marathon Petroleum and its customer, Ashland Chemical, to develop an interface from Marathon’s FuelsManager system to Ashland Chemical’s SAP system. The requirement for this interface was similar to the functions supported by IS‐TAS, but Ashland Chemical was running the SAP Chemical Industry Solution, not the SAP Oil & Gas Industry Solution. Because IS‐TAS is based on standard SAP Intermediate Documents (IDOCS), the message formats were similar. In addition, Varec had used web technologies to develop the certified IS‐TAS interface, so much of the software for the certified interface could be re‐used for the interface to Ashland Chemical’s SAP system. Although the

Executive Summary

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earlier development for IS‐TAS could not be used, Varec was able to leverage the existing architecture to interface to Ashland Chemical’s SAP system.

Ongoing Interface Development for xMII

Varec recently began designing an interface from FuelsManager to the SAP xApp™ Manufacturing Integration and Intelligence (xMII). Whereas IS‐TAS focuses on business processes, the xMII interface is designed for real‐time, plant‐floor communications. FuelsManager downloads tank and production information from SAP. SAP then sends process data requests and FuelsManager responds in real‐time by transmitting process data, such as tank inventories, to increase corporate visibility into process controls and facility safety information. SAP xMII supports a variety of data formats, so Varec again chose to design the interface based on XML and HTTP(S) to be consistent with SAP interfaces for other customers.

Alliance with Implico and Integration with OpenTAS

In 2006, Varec began working with Implico, an SAP development partner, to integrate FuelsManager to SAP using Implico’s OpenTAS software. Implico is the developer of the Oil & Gas Secondary Distribution (OGSD) Industry Solution, which is branded and resold by SAP. Many of Implico’s installations use OpenTAS as a middleware solution between the terminals and refineries and SAP. OpenTAS supports the exchange of data in many different formats, so Varec used FuelsManager’s standard XML formats. One of the advantages of this approach is that much of the workflow business logic can be configured in OpenTAS, whereas with the IS‐TAS approach, the business logic must be configured within SAP. In addition, OpenTAS already has many interface points with SAP. As such, OpenTAS is an excellent solution when integrating FuelsManager with SAP systems that are already in production.

Benefits of the Complete, Integrated Solution

SAP is a powerful and highly configurable enterprise business platform that allows customers to adapt the system to their specific requirements. Varec’s experience in the market has shown that interface projects must begin with identifying the business objectives for the interface and then mapping these objectives to the specific SAP configuration. Where possible, using SAP interface standards, such as IDOCS and web services,

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reduces initial development time and future cost of ownership. When tightly integrated, SAP and FuelsManager provide a complete solution for all business processes in commercial, defense and aviation organizations.

SAP is renowned for providing complete business solutions for the enterprise. FuelsManager completes the supply chain solutions by automating all types of facilities, including airports, airfields, marketing terminals, intermediate terminals, marine terminals, refineries and petrochemical plants. When the two systems are fully integrated, FuelsManager extends SAP’s benefits to the customer. Master data, planning and order information that is managed in SAP can be automatically downloaded to FuelsManager for use by facility operators. Data that is manually recorded in SAP today can be captured automatically by FuelsManager and uploaded to SAP. The automatic exchange of data can significantly improve the quality of data in both systems and the speed at which the organization performs critical business processes.

The Value of Integrating SAP with FuelsManager

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The Value of Integrating SAP with FuelsManager SAP enables a common user experience, structured business processes and real‐time information visibility across the enterprise. Many oil companies have interfaces from their terminal automation systems to SAP in order to upload inventory counts and bill of lading information. However, numerous other business processes are not automated and consist of subsystems that are not integrated with the enterprise. This often results in the “swivel chair” scenario where facility operations personnel read information from paper forms, spreadsheets and stand‐alone systems and then manually exchange information with SAP.

An Example Scenario in SAP

Figure 1 shows a typical process flow for the resupply of bulk fuel using SAP. The process begins with demand planning.

SAP Processes

Order Receive Accept ReceiveInvoice PaymentRequestDemand

Planning

Figure 1 – Example Business Process Flow in SAP

Demand planning can be performed in SAP to establish budgets. As fuel is needed, procurement personnel combine one or more purchase requests and order fuel from a supplier. The supplier ships fuel to a delivery location via a carrier, such as a pipeline or trucking company. Once the fuel is physically received at the terminal, the facility personnel must perform quality testing on it before accepting it into the system for distribution. Upon confirmation of the delivery, the supplier sends an invoice for the fuel delivered. The accounts payable users will reconcile the invoice against the fuel receipt records and issue payment to the supplier.

Real‐world Scenario

All of the activities shown in Figure 1 are processed by SAP, but what is not shown is that there are many other systems and processes involved through the resupply life cycle. Figure 2 shows an example of the processes that occur outside of SAP for a typical resupply of fuel.


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Order Receive Accept ReceiveInvoice PaymentRequest

ManageInventory

ScheduleReceipt

CoordinateWith Carrier / Pipeline Co.

Control Pumpsand Valves

MovementTracking

Take QualitySamples

Record QualityTest Results

RecordInventory

Adjustments

Approve / Print

Bill of Lading

Set Up Tankfor Production

RecordReceiptin SAP

UpdateInventory

in SAP

PrepareFacility for

Receipt

SendRequest to

Procurement

SAP Processes

Facility Processes

DemandPlanning

Figure 2 – Example Business Process Flow Showing Facility Activities

There is a wide variety of system and process options for managing the resupply process. Typical solutions today consist of SAP at the enterprise loosely integrated with automated control systems at the facility level and supplemented by many Microsoft Access databases, spreadsheets and paper forms to fill functional voids.

Demand Planning

Demand planning can be highly automated using standard features of SAP. Commercial oil companies often use SAP and one or more third‐party or customized applications to estimate demand. Aviation and defense organizations more often use third‐party and custom developed applications for demand planning. The outputs of demand planning establish budgets and a framework for bulk fuel distribution for the fiscal year.

Inventory Management and Purchase Requests

Existing inventory management processes consist of a combination of manual operations and automated systems at the facility level. These processes and applications operate relatively independent and loosely integrate with SAP in order to send inventory and transaction information. Consistency of business processes is managed through standard operating procedures rather than automation. Highly


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automated facilities can be very expensive because there is no one solution for all business processes. The cost of ownership for highly automated facilities is also very high because multiple suppliers and server platforms are required. Therefore, many facilities continue to operate using manual processes based on manual forms, spreadsheets and local databases. For example, many terminals record information for each receipt in a Microsoft spreadsheet.

Purchase requests are often initiated within SAP. Alternatively, facility personnel send paper or electronic forms to procurement personnel who record the request in SAP. Confirmation of purchase requests also continue to be sent manually by phone or email.

Ordering and Receipt

Once the procurement personnel react to the purchase request and place the order, someone must coordinate the receipt of fuel with the facility and the carrier. Just prior to the physical delivery of fuel, the facility operators must prepare for the delivery. This preparation might include taking the planned delivery tank offline and scheduling personnel to be on hand to control the pumps and valves for delivery into the tank. Automated systems sometimes control the receiving by truck, rail, barge, ship and aircraft, to include verification of security, control of pumps and valves and monitoring of meter values. Receipts by pipeline are automated with a combination of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems and Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) that allow users to set up movement tracking schedules, control pumps and valves, and record and store delivery information.

Tank inventories are typically measured and recorded before and after the receipt by automatic tank gauging systems. When the receipt is completed, the inventory is adjusted for the received fuel product code in an inventory accounting system, which is often a component of one of the facility automation systems. The receipt information is delivered by the carrier and signed by the facility personnel. This information is often recorded in the facility automation system as well.

Quality and Acceptance

Standard fuel processes include an acceptance process for all newly received fuel before it is redistributed. Facility personnel withdraw fuel samples from the tank and perform several standard fuel quality tests. In


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some cases the fuel samples can be drawn from the delivery vessel before it is received. In many cases, the inventory is not “received into the system” until it has been accepted. At this time, the inventory update is posted to SAP either manually or through an upload from the automation system. If the fuel passed the quality tests, standard operating procedures allow the tank to be set up as a supply tank for re‐distribution. For example, the tank can be set up as a market tank and lined up to supply a truck rack or flight line hydrant system. The fuel quality test results are recorded in a number of ways, including spreadsheets, local databases, paper forms and automation systems.

Accounts Payable

When accounts payable users receive the invoice from the supplier, they reconcile the deliveries and volumes on the invoice with receipt information received from the facilities. Once the invoice is reconciled with the receipt records, a payment is processed in SAP.

Challenges to Integration

Similar to the resupply process, other processes, such as sales and distribution and inventory accounting, involve a similar level of processing external to SAP. These external processes at the facility level are managed using a diverse set of tools that include multiple automation systems, local databases, spreadsheets, paper forms, emails, faxes and phone calls. Whereas SAP has standardized the processes at the corporate level, the lack of structured processes throughout the rest of the supply chain introduces errors and reduces processing time, which impacts the performance of the whole organization.

Automation of facility level processes has been costly because automation systems have traditionally supported specific, discrete business processes. It is not uncommon at larger, highly automated storage facilities to see three or more separate systems, each provided by a different supplier, controlling these processes. Figure 3 shows an example of the typical architectural landscape for a highly automated commercial terminal.


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RTUs PLCs Presets Gate CardReaders

Rack CardReaders

TankGauging

Pumps &Valves

TankGaugingSystem

MovementSystem

TerminalAutomation

System

SCADASystem

Environ.Compliance

System

Figure 3 – Example Facility Automation Landscape

Tank Gauging System

The tank gauging system consists of automated tank gauges, electronic interface devices, such as a Remote Terminal Unit (RTU), and systems software to monitor tank level and temperature and perform standard tank volume and mass calculations. Tank gauging systems are critical in order to support best practices for inventory accounting and provide real‐time inventory visibility. The systems also enhance safety by providing high‐level and other process alarms. These systems are typically supplied separately from other subsystems and operate on stand‐alone servers at the facility.

Movement System

Most facilities track fuel movements, to include receipts, shipments, disbursements and tank‐to‐tank transfers. The movement system interacts with the tank gauging system to capture tank volume information at the start and finish of each movement. There are very few cost effective solutions for movement tracking, so many facilities develop a custom Microsoft Access database or use Microsoft Excel. Some large facilities, such as refineries, build the movement tracking capability into a custom software application or as part of a SCADA or Distributed Control System (DCS), which allows the movement tracking to monitor and control pumps and valves involved in the movement.

SCADA System

Automating pumps, valves and other controls requires a PLC and SCADA software. The SCADA application typically provides graphical screens


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that depict the piping details for the facility and allows the facility operators to open and close valves, turn on and off pumps and view the status of other controls and alarms. These applications and hardware devices are typically supplied by generic automation companies, such as Rockwell Software, General Electric, Siemens and Wonderware. These companies do not specialize in oil and gas, and the systems must be developed to meet the specific oil and gas business requirements. The SCADA system is typically integrated with the other systems shown in Figure 3 in order to integrate tank gauging and loading information. These systems are typically supplied separately from other subsystems and operate on stand‐alone servers at the facility.

Terminal Automation System

Terminal automation systems consist of specialized software and hardware design to control facility security and loading and unloading racks. These systems often control the entrance and exit gates for truck loading and unloading facilities. The systems also automate the loading and unloading of fuel for trucks, rail and sometimes barges. In some cases barge loading and unloading is controlled by the SCADA system. In order to control the loading and unloading processes, the software application integrates with load computers or presets, which directly control the pumps and valves and monitor the meters. These systems are typically supplied separately from other subsystems and operate on stand‐alone servers at the facility.

Terminal automation systems are similar to automatic data capture systems used at airports and air bases, except that automatic data capture systems use handheld computers to exchange information with fueling personnel and equipment. Both systems are used to transmit loading presets to fueling personnel and capture loading and unloading transactions, to include meter start and finish values.

Environmental Compliance System

Certain states and regions have specific regulations that require automated monitoring of tanks and pipes to detect potential leaks. Standard tank leak detection algorithms analyze historical tank volume data to identify potential leaks over time. Automated pipeline leak detection systems often use SCADA software integrated with hardware controls that periodically pressurize piping to identify leaks. These


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systems are typically supplied separately from other subsystems and operate on stand‐alone servers at the facility.

Integration and Ownership Costs

All of the systems described above must be implemented and integrated to fully automate a facility. Project costs increase dramatically when multiple systems from different suppliers must be integrated to automate all critical business processes. A completely integrated system necessitates multiple contracts with multiple suppliers and the systems must be integrated, requiring each of the suppliers to provide its own team of engineering resources. Technical support is more difficult because help desk analysts must always first determine which system is causing the problem and it is often difficult to get multiple suppliers to work together to jointly solve a problem. Furthermore, future upgrades can be risky because upgrading one system often exposes incompatibilities with the other systems.

Why Local Automation is Necessary

When confronted with the challenges of integration, some organizations have integrated many of the local business processes into SAP. When planning an automation strategy, organizations often ask Varec why these local business processes cannot be automated within SAP. The reasoning is that if all business processes are controlled within SAP, then there is no need for additional systems. However, this strategy is impractical for the following reasons:

• A centralized architecture based solely on SAP is not safe

• Facilities with medium to large traffic require high availability systems capabilities

• The SAP user interface is often too complex for operations personnel

Safety Considerations

Everyone who has worked on a corporate Wide Area Network (WAN) or intranet has experienced periodic network outages or performance lags. For email and many business applications, these network performance issues are a nuisance and might impact productivity, but never cause unsafe conditions. However, software applications that automate fuel


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facility business processes are considered safety critical because they monitor and control the movement of fuel, which is a potentially explosive material.

Tank gauging applications monitor tank levels and provide high‐level alarm notification in order to help prevent potentially dangerous overfills. Movement tracking, SCADA and terminal automation systems monitor and control pumps, valves and independent high‐level switches, and, as such, proper operation and alarm notification is understandably considered critical to the overall safety of the system. Due to the safety critical nature of these systems, best practice for system communications is to operate these applications on dedicated local networks. In addition, many of these applications connect to the required hardware control devices through proprietary networks that are not suitable for long range communications.

High Availability Considerations

Poor network performance and periodic network outages can severely impact the operations of facilities that perform a high volume of fueling transactions. For this reason, applications that control pumps and valves should operate on a dedicated LAN to ensure maximum network availability. Movement and SCADA applications are designed to allow facility operators to click on the screen to control pumps and valves in the field. These applications are often networked with one or more client computers connected to a server. The server often communicates to the PLCs and other control devices over the network. When filling a tank, for example, it is essential that the network is operational when the operator attempts to turn off the pump and close the valves. In these and similar scenarios, network failures can cause significant operational impact and in worse case scenarios can result in overfilling a tank.

Because the control networks must provide high availability, best practices for systems engineering is to isolate the control network (local LAN) from the business network (WAN or intranet). In the world of organized information technology attacks, depending on business networks for safety critical systems is considered an unacceptable vulnerability. Terrorist groups have begun to attack these networks for the express purpose of interrupting business operations, and military facilities, airports, terminals and refineries are high‐profile targets. In addition, enemies are trained to attack communications as a priority


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during conflicts. Installing critical logistics and control systems at the local facility and isolating these systems on control networks reduces vulnerability to attacks and to normal failures. With this architecture, the facility is able to continue working when connectivity to the business network is lost. Once the business network is restored, the fueling information, including inventories and transactions, can be uploaded to SAP so that the impact to business planning is minimized.

It is possible to establish high speed, high availability communications between SAP and the facility networks. However, in most cases the expense for the required communications infrastructure far outweighs the expense of having a local system.

User Interface Considerations

SAP is a powerful system that is designed to meet the business requirements of a variety or organizations. The SAP transaction screens are designed with a large number of fields organized by multiple tabs to facilitate recording any information about that transaction as shown in Figure 4. Often users have to navigate through several tabs, ignoring many unused and unnecessary fields in order to record the pertinent fuel transaction data. Users that are not accustomed to working with complex software applications often find this process difficult to learn. Additionally, SAP often does not provide standard support for many common business rules. As a result, business rules must often be enforced through written procedures and training rather than the application. This business logic can be developed using ABAP, but the result is a system that has been customized, which, as many customers are aware, often increases the complexity and costs of the initial system and future upgrades.

Due to the complex screens and lack of specific business logic, users require significant training and exposure before they become proficient at using SAP. Many organizations have a high employee turnover for facility operators. Some organizations that have designed their system so that facility operators record data directly in SAP find that these employees often move on just as they become proficient at using the application. As a result, these organizations have had problems with maintaining the quality of data input into SAP.


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Figure 4 – Example SAP Transaction Detail

A Complete, Integration Solution Based on FuelsManager

Just as SAP provides a complete solution to replace discrete legacy applications and ensure structured processes at the enterprise, FuelsManager provides a complete solution, as well as structured processes at the facility level. FuelsManager is a suite of software that includes all of the applications needed to automate airports, airfields, marketing terminals, intermediate terminals, marine terminals, refineries and petrochemical plants. With FuelsManager, the facility automation architecture is simplified as shown in Figure 5 below.


Rack CardReaders

TankGauging

Pumps &Valves

FuelsManager


Rack CardReaders

TankGauging

Pumps &Valves

FuelsManager

Figure 5 – FuelsManager Facility Automation Landscape


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A complete, integrated facility automation solution has the following benefits:

• Reduces system costs by operating the entire facility on a single server, simplifying information technology security and system maintenance

• Improves technical assistance because help desk analysts are trained on the entire system, from the gauge to the enterprise interfaces

• Eliminates unnecessary paperwork, such as spreadsheets, custom databases and forms, by integrating these functions into the system

• Increases automation and data accessibility by capturing and storing all transaction and physical inventory data in a single database and a common data format

• Provides growth and maintainability because new features and technologies are available through upgrades that are tested and implemented as a single installation for the entire system

FuelsManager provides everything that is needed in a single system, which makes facility automation cost effective. The combined solution of FuelsManager and SAP provides structured processes across the entire enterprise, including the corporate and facility levels. The overall platform is simplified because all business processes are handled in just two systems that are highly integrated.

Local Operation

FuelsManager is installed on control networks so that it can safely monitor and control the movement of fuel at the facilities. Operating on a local server, the operation of FuelsManager is unaffected when connectivity to SAP is lost. Once connectivity is restored, FuelsManager can upload information for immediate visibility and processing so that the quality of the business network has minimum impact to business operations.

Intuitive User Interface

FuelsManager’s user interface is designed specifically for oil and gas facility processes typical of commercial oil companies and aviation and


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defense organizations. Each transaction natively supports common business logic for bulk fuel operations at fuel facilities. Master data is set up with user friendly names so that users are not forced to memorize or look up numeric codes. Each transaction can be configured so that only the fields relevant to each customer are shown on the transaction screens. In most cases the transaction screen is a single page, as shown in the example in Figure 6. Every field in FuelsManager can be renamed to match the terminology already in use by the organization. These features enable Varec to provide user interfaces that are intuitive and easy to learn for facility operators and other operational users.

Figure 6 – Example FuelsManager Transaction Detail

The user interface design for the integrated system fits the application to the appropriate target users. SAP is designed to accommodate the complex and manual enterprise business processes where many optional fields are needed and users are highly trained. FuelsManager is designed to accommodate the needs of operational users who have high employee turnover and whose training is less focused on software.


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Quality of Data

Automating all facility business processes with FuelsManager and integrating tightly with SAP can significantly improve the quality of data within SAP. The need for paper forms, spreadsheets and custom databases is replaced with standard processes in FuelsManager. FuelsManager automatically captures most of the transaction and inventory data through connections to tank gauges, meters, PLCs and other control and measurement devices. Where manual data input is required, FuelsManager’s handheld, kiosk and operator terminal devices allow operators to record the data as a standard part of the fueling process rather than recording it on paper for later data entry. FuelsManager and its peripheral applications enforce process specific business rules that protect against common data entry errors.

FuelsManager can automatically synchronize master data, such as trucks, aircraft, fuel types and organizations, with SAP to keep both systems up to date when information changes. This eliminates the common errors that result when users attempt to upload transactions that use master data that cannot be found in SAP.

FuelsManager also enforces the integrity of data uploaded to SAP. Many custom interfaces in operations today are based on manual file uploads or automated batch file transfers. These designs do not enforce the integrity of the transactions. When a user exports a file, the facility automation system has no way of ensuring that the file was successfully uploaded to SAP. The automated file transfer method eliminates user errors, but there is no way to guarantee the file is delivered. FuelsManager connects directly to SAP and records the upload status for each transaction. The transaction is not marked as sent until SAP confirms the successful acceptance of the transaction. If SAP rejects a transaction, it returns an error to FuelsManager that is saved for that specific transaction. In addition, because all processes are automated and tightly integrated, all data is auditable back to the source.

Automation of Low Volume Facilities

Organizations that have facilities spanning a large geographical area typically have a combination of high volume and low volume facilities. High volume facilities require more sophisticated automation typical of the diagram shown in Figure 3. Low volume facilities often have no automated control of pumps and valves and sometimes do not even have


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automatic tank gauging. These facilities might only perform ten to thirty loadings per day.

The cost of installing a fully automated system is not always justified for low volume facilities. A central web application is a perfect solution for these facilities. The facility operators can record transactions on paper forms or an Excel spreadsheet and, because the number of transactions is low, these can be manually entered into the central server at the beginning or end of the day. For this reason, operations of low volume facilities is not usually severely impacted when connectivity is lost to the business network for hours or even a day.

FuelsManager Enterprise Edition is designed to support multiple locations from a central web server. The user interface for FuelsManager Enterprise Edition is the same as other editions that would be installed at high volume facilities. Additionally, users at the high volume facilities can upload the transaction and inventory information to the enterprise server so that all information is stored in a single database. FuelsManager Enterprise Edition can then serve as the single point of integration to SAP. In addition, operational visibility and reporting can be performed within FuelsManager Enterprise Edition rather than SAP so that facility operators can take advantage of the simple user interface.

A potential alternative solution is to have the facility operators log in directly to SAP and record the transaction data for low volume locations. This approach has the following disadvantages:

• There are two separate and distinct business processes for low volume versus high volume facilities. This makes it more difficult to support. Help desk support analysts must learn both systems. In addition, super users at high volume facilities are less likely to be able to help support users at low volume facilities.

• Facility operators often find the SAP user interface to be very complex compared to FuelsManager. For organizations that have high turnover, users are often just becoming proficient with SAP before they move on to other jobs.

• The customer must have separate training programs for low volume and high volume processes. The training program for SAP for facility operators at low volume facilities would be different


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than the training program for FuelsManager at high volume facilities.

• The servers at each high volume facility must interface directly to SAP. Since the SAP system is used for many other business processes, it has a very high risk profile because any breach of security can impact many different areas of the business. Interfacing these facilities to the FuelsManager Enterprise central server significantly isolates security risks associated with the facility automation systems.

• Change requests for the low volume fuels processes must be controlled through the SAP configuration control board. Therefore, the ability for the information technology team to respond to business needs is slower and more costly.

Understanding the System Architecture

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Understanding the System Architecture The typical integrated fuels information management and control system consists of software and hardware installed across a large geographical area. It is comprised of many subsystems operating at fuel facilities in one or more countries and on central enterprise servers that span one or more data centers. Depending on the type of organization, the fuel facilities can have various automation and controls, such as tank gauging, pump and valve control, truck loading, rail loading, aircraft refueling and marine vessel loading. These facilities can range in size from low volume (having less than thirty transactions per day) to high volume locations (having over a thousand transactions per day). Figure 7 below is a graphical illustration depicting the relationship between the subsystems and interfaces for the integrated system.

FuelsManager Professional Server

Personal Computer with Internet

Explorer

TankGate PLC Preset

FuelsManager Enterprise

Servers

Enterprise Data Center

SAP Servers

Web Service Interface

Standard Browser Interface

FuelsManager / SAP Interface

Hand Held Computer

Load Computer

High Volume Facilities Low Volume Facilities

Figure 7 – Example Fuels System Architecture

Subsystems

This section describes each of the subsystems shown in Figure 7.

High Volume Facilities

Subsystems at high volume facilities consist of a standard Microsoft Windows server with FuelsManager and Microsoft SQL Server. The


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subsystem can use server clustering to achieve very high availability if desired. The subsystem operates on a local control network that connects the server to control devices.

Devices that only support serial communications are typically connected to the control network using standard Ethernet to serial adapters. The Varec TankGate or 8130 RTU interfaces to automatic tank gauges, which typically require proprietary interfaces.

Where desired, additional FuelsManager client workstations can be set up on the control network. Facility operators interact with FuelsManager through the clients or directly on the server in order to monitor and control fueling operations at the facility.

The control network is connected to the business network through standard firewalls and switches to enforce security. The subsystem uses the connection to the business network to exchange data with the FuelsManager Enterprise subsystem. If the connectivity to the business network is lost, the local subsystem can continue to operate without error and synchronize data with FuelsManager Enterprise when the connectivity is restored.

Low Volume Facilities

The minimum configuration for low volume facilities is a single computer connected to the business network and capable of running the latest version of Microsoft Windows Internet Explorer. Facility operators log into the FuelsManager Enterprise web site and manually record fueling transaction and inventory information. Since all control of pumps is not dependent on software, facility operations are not affected when connectivity to the business network is lost. Additionally, because these facilities typically have a low number of daily transactions, facility operators are easily able to record completed transaction information once connectivity to the business network is restored.

In many cases, even low volume facilities will have automated tank gauging. In these cases, a very low cost edition of FuelsManager can be installed and configured simply to perform tank gauging while all other functions are performed through the FuelsManager Enterprise web site.


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FuelsManager Enterprise

The FuelsManager Enterprise subsystem typically consists of two or more Windows servers in a cluster or network load balance configuration. It supports operations on 32 bit or 64 bit servers. The subsystem uses a Microsoft SQL Server database that operates on the same servers or in a separate cluster depending on the transaction volume and user load.

SAP

The existing SAP subsystem infrastructure can often remain completely unchanged. Where SAP already interfaces to existing terminal automation systems, FuelsManager can be adapted to the existing interface. Where interfaces do not exist or when the organization desires to expand the capabilities of the interface, the SAP software must be configured to meet these additional requirements. Hardware and other equipment changes are almost never necessary.

Interfaces

This section describes the interfaces shown in Figure 7.

FuelsManager Web Service Interface

FuelsManager includes a standard interface to exchange data between high volume facility subsystems having a local server and the enterprise subsystem. The standard interface is based on Microsoft Message Queue and communicates over standard HTTPS connections. Alternatively, the interface can be configured to support IBM Websphere MQ Series.

FuelsManager Enterprise Web Interface

Users access the FuelsManager Enterprise subsystem using Microsoft Internet Explorer from any computer running Microsoft Internet Explorer through an HTTPS connection. Operators at low volume facilities use this interface to record inventory and transaction information. Management and other corporate users connect through this interface to administer the system and view information and reports.

FuelsManager to SAP Interface

FuelsManager exchanges data with SAP through this interface. The standard IS‐TAS interface exchanges standard SAP IDOCS over HTTPS.


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The IS‐TAS interface can be extended to support additional business processes that are not supported by the standard interface.

When developing custom interfaces, Varec and SAP typically recommend using standard technologies, such as IDOCS and HTTPS. However, where existing interfaces exist, FuelsManager can be adapted to integrate with the existing technologies.

Email Interface

FuelsManager typically requires a connection to an SMTP email server in order to provide automated distribution of reports and email event notifications.

Capabilities of the Integrated Platform

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Capabilities of the Integrated Platform The integrated platform, based on FuelsManager and SAP, implements structured processes across the entire organization. SAP enforces structured business processes at the enterprise level and FuelsManager enforces structured business processes at the facility level. FuelsManager is highly integrated with hardware controls to automatically capture inventory and transaction information to ensure the highest quality of data. The interface to SAP enforces the integrity of the data exchanged between the facilities and enterprise levels. The complete, integrated system results in improved performance for each discrete business process in the supply chain, from forecasting and budgeting to sales and distribution. The combined solution delivers capabilities that are tailored to the target users, with SAP designed for corporate users, such as procurement and finance, and FuelsManager designed for facilities users, such as facility operators and fuels department managers.

Demand Planning

A key input to demand planning is historical data. FuelsManager ensures that all data is captured accurately and uploaded to SAP each day to make sure that an accurate history is available to support future demand planning. FuelsManager not only provides accurate information about fuel movements, but it also provides information about facility operators and equipment associated with fueling activities. The detailed information supports the capability for SAP or FuelsManager Enterprise to provide reports to calculate the maximum number of personnel, trucks, load racks and other resources needed to support peak fuel throughput for a selected period. The historical data is then supplemented with manually recorded sales forecasts and planned activities to predict future fuel demand and resources. As a result, the outputs of the demand planning process can predict the throughput and resources needed for the future. Budget and forecasting can then be performed in SAP based on the outputs of the demand planning.

Purchase Requisitions

Depending on the organization’s standard process, purchase requisitions can be raised by facility personnel or by enterprise personnel. For those organizations that use a process where facility personnel raise the


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purchase request, the purchase request is entered into FuelsManager and transmitted to SAP for processing by procurement personnel. The facility personnel are responsible for managing inventory storage and movement information, such as the receipt tank and preferred supplier, which can be recorded in the purchase request.

Supply Ordering

Purchase requests that are transmitted by FuelsManager are automatically created in SAP. SAP can prompt procurement personnel to take action on the purchase request. The procurement personnel will create a purchase order in SAP for one or more purchase requests and send this purchase order to a supplier. Upon acceptance of the order by the supplier, a bulk shipment schedule can be recorded in SAP showing the planned delivery quantities and dates. SAP can send the bulk shipment schedule to FuelsManager, which adds the receipt record to the movement tracking application with the planned start date and time, allowing the facility managers to plan accordingly. An example of the movement tracking application is shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8 – FuelsManager Movement Tracking


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To prepare for the receipt, facility management must plan to have personnel available at the time of the receipt and ensure that tank storage is available. Often, facility personnel coordinate directly with carriers for truck and rail receipts or with the pipeline company for receipts by pipeline.

Bulk Receipts

Facility operators monitor and control the receipt of fuel in FuelsManager. When receiving fuel by pipeline, facility operators use the FuelsManager movement tracking system shown in Figure 8 to monitor the movement quantities. The movement application captures the level, volume and other process data at the start and finish of the movement. The movement tracking application can integrate with the PLC to automatically open the appropriate valves and start the pumps for the movement. Alternatively, the facility operators can manually open the appropriate valves and start the pumps using a FuelsManager graphics screen shown in Figure 9.

Figure 9 – FuelsManager Graphics Screen

For receipt by truck, rail or barge, FuelsManager can integrate with presets and load computers to automatically capture the receipt


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information. Where required, FuelsManager can identify drivers and loading personnel using identification cards. The driver or load personnel can enter the receipt quantity, purchase order number, equipment numbers and other information. The preset and load computer will then automatically open the valves and turn on the pumps and then monitor the meter to receive the required quantity. At the completion of loading, FuelsManager automatically creates the receipt transaction.

Upon completion of the physical receipt of fuel, facility fuels accountants allocate the received inventory to one or more stockholders. The bill of lading information, including the purchase order number, is recorded if it was not already captured through the preset or load computer. FuelsManager then increases the book inventory for each of the stockholders.

Sales Orders

When customer service or other users receive sales orders, they enter the information into SAP. SAP automatically downloads the order information to FuelsManager. FuelsManager is then capable of automating the complete process for the pick up of the sales order. When the carrier arrives by truck, FuelsManager automates the driver identification and entrance gate control. The driver then proceeds to the truck rack and interfaces directly with presets and load computers to perform the loading. The preset and load computer at the truck racks have card readers to identify the driver before allowing the loading. The driver enters the order number in the preset or load computer, allowing FuelsManager to automatically determine the loading information. The preset or load computer then automatically controls the pumping of fuel into the containers on the trailer. When the fueling is completed, FuelsManager prints the bill of lading and automatically records the transaction.

Sales orders that are picked up by barge and rail can also be automated through presets or load computers. However, in most organizations the loading is performed by facility operators rather than the carrier or customer. In all scenarios, FuelsManager is able to automatically record the transaction information and print the bill of lading paperwork.

FuelsManager uploads the sales transaction information to SAP where it can be posted against the sales order. Financial users are then able to generate invoices for the sale of fuel. FuelsManager can also support the


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sale and distribution of fuel against open sales orders rather than individual orders. In addition, for scenarios such as exchange agreements where no order is required, FuelsManager supports posting the sales transaction against SAP load identification numbers (“Load IDs”).

Flight Line Automation

FuelsManager provides complete automation of the sale and distribution of fuel at airports and military air bases. Aviation sales may be posted against individual sales orders, open sales orders or Load IDs. The aviation sales and distribution business processes are based on flight line resource management and handheld computers instead of presets and load computers.

Resource management is performed using FuelsManager’s dispatch application. This application enables the user to import a flight schedule and assign flights to fueling operators and equipment, such as trucks and carts. The application can be integrated with flight management systems in order to update the flight schedule with real‐time information. The flight management system can also provide fuel loading information, including the required fuel to be loaded into each tank on the aircraft.

FuelsManager’s dispatch application operates on a server that communicates wirelessly to a handheld computer application used during the fueling of the aircraft. When a dispatcher assigns a flight to a fueling operator, the fueling operator can then use a FuelsManager handheld computer to view the assignment. The handheld application provides the estimated time of arrival and gate or load spot where the aircraft is scheduled to be fueled. When the fueling operator arrives at the aircraft, the handheld computer provides the information necessary to perform the fueling and ensure the quality of the data. The handheld computer prompts the fueling operator to enter the aircraft tail or nose number and validates this number against the information on the FuelsManager server. The handheld then provides the amount of fuel to be loaded onto the aircraft. As the fueling is performed, additional hardware on the fueling truck or cart captures the metered fuel volume. When the fueling is complete, the handheld computer performs a series of validations based on the organization’s business rules and sends the transaction information back to the server. FuelsManager then sends this loading information to the cockpit of the aircraft and to SAP for invoicing.


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Inventory Management

FuelsManager performs complete management of inventory and fuel movements and pushes this information to SAP to provide enterprise inventory and financial accounting. FuelsManager integrates with the Varec TankGate or 8130 RTU to communicate with any tank gauging technology, including advanced gauging and mechanical gauging. This allows FuelsManager to be retrofitted to existing tank gauging at any facility without concerns for compatibility, thereby making maximum use of existing infrastructure and minimizing the system costs. FuelsManager communicates in real‐time to the tank gauges to update the tank inventory calculations every one to ten seconds. It then transmits a snapshot of the inventory to SAP every hour or every day, giving inventory and financial users accurate and timely access to all inventory worldwide.

FuelsManager records a physical inventory transaction as part of the end of day closeout process. The inventory ledger in FuelsManager calculates the book inventory based on movement transactions, such as receipts and sales. FuelsManager provides complete solutions to control and record the transaction information for all movement and adjustments to fuel inventory, including tank‐to‐tank transfers, regarding fuel from one type to another and recording adjustments to account for routine gains and losses. FuelsManager also provides an inventory reconciliation function that helps facility fuels accountants reconcile the book versus physical inventory on a daily basis. Fuels accountants at the facility use this feature to identify missing or incorrect transaction data and make corrections as necessary.

FuelsManager uploads the physical inventory counts and all transaction data to SAP as it is recorded in FuelsManager or upon completion of the end of day closeout. SAP then calculates the aggregated book inventory and gains and losses for the organization. This structured process ensures the data uploaded to SAP for each facility is error free before financial and management users process invoices and produce reports.

Environmental

FuelsManager integrates with hardware devices to perform automated tank and pipeline leak detection. Tank leak detection is performed by archiving the tank volume information at five minute intervals over a sixty day or longer period. FuelsManager analyzes the archive data to


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detect statistical increases or decreases in the volume during periods when the tank is inactive. The tank leak detection test can be scheduled to run at a specific day and time each month or a specific time each day. Upon completion of the leak detection test, FuelsManager will automatically print or email the test results for auditability.

FuelsManager is also able to analyze the historical tank volume to calculate the tank emissions in accordance with United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations. The application outputs a test file that can be imported directly in the EPA Title V Tanks software for automated reporting.

Automated pipeline leak detection is performed by isolating and pressuring pipeline segments within a facility. FuelsManager’s SCADA application is often used to control the testing skid that performs the testing. The test results can be printed from FuelsManager for audit records.

Quality Control

All facilities, whether military, aviation or commercial, perform standard fuel quality testing using similar processes. FuelsManager can integrate with SAP through the QM‐IDI interface to allow the organization to define standard quality tests and test sets. These tests and test sets can be downloaded to FuelsManager at all facilities to ensure a consistent quality process is enforced across the organization. FuelsManager allows the facility quality management personnel to schedule the quality tests so that facility operators receive an advance notification of when the quality testing must be performed. The facility operators perform the quality tests and record the test results in FuelsManager. The information is then stored in the FuelsManager database for future auditing and allows reports to be created showing quality trends. FuelsManager then uploads the quality results to SAP, allowing corporate quality personnel to analyze quality for the organization.

Equipment Maintenance

The integrated system of FuelsManager and SAP allows a flexible approach to equipment asset management. Equipment information can be managed at the appropriate level based on business processes. For example, an organization might choose to manage equipment that never leaves a facility within FuelsManager at the facility level, but manage


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equipment, such as tanker trucks and aircraft, that move between facilities within SAP. Equipment managed within SAP can be automatically downloaded to FuelsManager so that the information is synchronized in real‐time. Keeping the equipment in SAP allows the organization to easily manage asset values and status.

Managing equipment information in SAP also helps ensure consistency across the organization. When equipment information is managed locally, attributes, such as model numbers, are not standardized. Standardizing the equipment information in SAP ensures the data uploaded as part of the transaction data can be analyzed. For example, having consistent model numbers enables an SAP report that shows the average time out of service for a particular model number. In addition, having all equipment serial numbers managed in SAP allows the equipment to be identified uniquely and analyzed accurately. When equipment serial numbers are managed at the facility level, there can often be errors or inconsistencies between the facilities, which causes SAP to view the equipment as separate pieces rather than one.

FuelsManager’s maintenance application allows facility users to manage the status of the equipment. The facility maintenance team can access FuelsManager to mark equipment as out of service when it is being serviced. FuelsManager can then provide warnings to other users when they try to use the equipment in operations. When the equipment is taken out of service, the users are able to record a reason, allowing analysis of maintenance trends.

Training Logistics

The operation of fueling equipment, facilities and processes requires all personnel to be adequately trained and certified. FuelsManager’s training application supports the capability to define training requirements, such as training courses, and record the completion of training activities. The training courses can be standardized and defined in SAP and then downloaded to FuelsManager to enforce a consistent training program for the organization.

Facility managers can use FuelsManager to define a schedule for each training course for each employee. As the employee completes the course, this information can be recorded in FuelsManager. FuelsManager can also link the training status to other applications and verify training status when a user attempts to assign personnel to use


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equipment with an associated training requirement. The training completion records can be uploaded back to SAP, allowing corporate users to assess training competencies across the organization.

Tactical Operations

Tactical military operations have unique requirements related to the management of temporary facilities using specialized equipment. Varec provides gauging solutions to measure the volume of fuel in collapsible fuel tanks and rigid mobile storage tanks. FuelsManager can be operated on a tactical laptop at the facility to interface to the tank gauging. The FuelsManager handheld computer can be used to record receipt and sale transaction information. The handheld can communicate with the FuelsManager laptop using wireless communications or it can synchronize the data when placed in a recharging cradle. All other capabilities of FuelsManager are consistent with fixed facilities, including complete integration with FuelsManager Enterprise and SAP. The FuelsManager tactical solutions allow defense organizations to easily automate tactical fueling operations using commercial technologies and integrate the tactical facilities into the standard business processes.

Conclusion

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Conclusion Most organizations responsible for managing oil and gas products today have an existing SAP application that automates enterprise functions to ensure consistent business processes. However, a similar level of automation at the facility level has been too expensive in the past. Therefore, even the largest organizations still have many manual and unstructured business processes at the facility level. Even where automation exists, the systems are loosely integrated with SAP and only exchange basic information, such as inventory and transaction data. Many interfaces are file based, which degrades the integrity of the data and are expensive to support. In addition, most interfaces are based on legacy technologies that do not support communications through web services, which exposes the organization to security vulnerabilities and limits scalability and interoperability.

FuelsManager provides a complete, integrated solution that automates all business functions for any type of facility, including airports, airfields, marketing terminals, intermediate terminals, marine terminals, refineries and petrochemical plants. The FuelsManager application software can operate on a single computer at the facility, which reduces hardware costs, maintenance costs and security vulnerabilities. The FuelsManager Enterprise Edition provides a central web server solution that allows low volume facilities to manage all business processes without the need for hardware or software at the facility level. Because FuelsManager provides a complete solution, the system can be deployed by a single systems integrator, reducing the total cost of the solution by as much as 75%. The solution is scalable, allowing the functions of the system to be expanded in the future at a pace that is financially manageable by the organization. The cost of ownership is significantly reduced because the system is supported through one support contract and one company.

The integration of FuelsManager to SAP enforces consistency of data and business processes for all areas and levels of the business. Interface solutions can be adapted to meet the specific requirements of the organization. Standard interfaces can be used where they meet the business requirements. The standard interfaces can be expanded and custom interfaces can be developed as needed to meet all business requirements. No matter what interface approach is chosen, the use of best practices based on XML IDOCS and web services ensures the

Conclusion

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solution scales to meet changing business requirements in a secured environment.

Integrating FuelsManager with SAP enables an organization to establish data and business process standards at an enterprise level. Consistent master data ensures the organization can collect accurate metrics to support business analysis and process improvement. Pushing standards, such as quality tests and training requirements, down to the facilities ensures the organizations comply with corporate and international standards and meet regulatory requirements. Data that is uploaded from the facilities is validated to ensure its quality so that actions taken on this data are done right the first time, eliminating expensive errors and rework. Having timely and accurate data allows the organization to make maximum use of SAP’s capabilities to respond to changing business conditions in near real‐time.

As much as two‐thirds of an organization’s business processes occur at the facility level outside of SAP. The integration of FuelsManager significantly enhances the capabilities and value of the existing SAP system at the enterprise and leverages SAP’s structured processes at all levels of the organization. The resulting system can significantly enhance performance of the organization while simultaneously improving quality and reducing cost.

Credits

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Credits

About Varec Varec, Inc., delivers measurement, control and automation solutions and professional services for most major oil companies, defense organizations and airlines worldwide. Varec's FuelsManager® software applications and hardware products provide local level management and enterprise visibility of liquid petroleum assets at bulk storage facilities, marketing terminals, refineries, petrochemical plants and military fuel facilities.

Copyright

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Copyright © Copyright 2009 Varec, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or for any purpose without the express permission of Varec, Inc. The information contained herein may be changed without prior notice. Some software products marketed by Varec, Inc. and its distributors contain proprietary software components of other software vendors.

All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. Data contained in this document serves informational purposes only.

These materials are subject to change without notice. These materials are provided by Varec, Inc. for informational purposes only, without representation or warranty of any kind, and Varec, Inc. shall not be liable for errors or omissions with respect to the materials. The only warranties for Varec, Inc. products and services are those that are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services, if any. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty.