EN
NL
Oct 4, 2022 4:40:17 PM
A household name in the Dutch inland shipping industry since 1953 as a supplier of marine fuels and shipping supplies. A real family business, where Frank and Robert Heijmen have literally been ‘at the helm’ since 2007. They expanded the business with a branch in Rotterdam in 2014 and another one in Nijmegen in 2017.
The business stands out thanks to an approach that focuses on quality and individual attention to customers, which is an important aspect of its success. There are three delivery points and six bunker boats from which they supply customers in the Millingen aan de Rijn, Nijmegen and Rotterdam regions. And they can also supply customers throughout the rest of Europe via their extensive network of ‘bunker partners’. Their new inland navigation tanker ‘Independent’ came into use at the end of 2018. As a result, they can guarantee delivery of high-quality, clean fuel from the refinery to their customers’ vessels.
Bunkerstation Heijmen also has web shops at which existing and new customers can order their products.
“Together with Logic Vision, Bunkerstation Heijmen is ready for the future.”
Gerben van Eck - Financial Controller
FuelVision 365
"When I started working for Bunkerstation Heijmen in Millingen, in 2005, they had just switched to Navision. To make this possible, they were using several different software solutions, none of which offered the information we were looking for. Data was fed into several packages to be able meet the information requirements. Our old software did not have the ability to extract all the information from one software solution. We came into contact with Logic Vision through a fellow business, Bunkerstation Papendrecht. They had plenty of experience in the oil industry with the Microsoft Dynamics NAV and FuelVision 365 package and the administration that goes with it. After an extensive demo and the promise that our wishes were workable, we made a start on installing Microsoft Dynamics in mid-2005."
Fully operational in just a few months
"The Logic Vision consultants clearly know what they’re doing. The system was fully operational in just a few months. The changes we wanted to introduce to the software could be made without any problems. Our operations in Rotterdam (SBH Heijmen Rotterdam) and Nijmegen (Neptun Heijmen Nijmegen) also work with Microsoft Dynamics. The situation in Nijmegen was that we already had a solution that made it possible to incorporate specific existing discount structures in the generic Microsoft Dynamics solution.
All our bunker boats have workstations that are directly connected to our central server via a 4G connection. So we have all the information we require at our fingertips. In addition to FuelVision 365 we also use an Exsion module to analyse the administrative data in greater depth.
Bunkerstation Heijmen is a company that operates round the clock. We are available to our customers 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Continuity and reliability of the hardware and software are very important to us. And if there’s ever a problem, the help-desk staff and consultants are there to get you back on track quickly. Together with Logic Vision, Bunkerstation Heijmen is ready for the future."
Update April 2022
In March 2022 we had another conversation with Gerben. Is bunker station Heijmen still satisfied with Logic Vision and Microsoft Dynamics NAV and which developments are there in the field of IT at Bunkerstation Heijmen?
Benefits of Microsoft ERP system
"You can approach information from different ways, that's a big advantage.
Suppose you are in the supplier card, then you can go directly from there to open items. From the open items you can then zoom in on orders or invoices and from there zoom in on materials, turnover and cost price. Many systems, such as Exact, work through a menu structure, but in Dynamics NAV you have much more flexibility.
Another big advantage of Microsoft Dynamics is that the interface feels familiar to new users, so they can quickly master the system. Because you can zoom in further and further, new users are quickly able to fathom all the data. The learning curve is sometimes a bit difficult because there is a lot of information at first, but once you know it, you go through it effortlessly. The integration with Office applications is also an advantage: especially the combination with Excel and Excion is just right and easy for the end user."
Upgrade
Bunker Station Heijmen is currently still using Dynamics NAV but will soon be upgrading to the latest version: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
Where currently a lot of customization is used for industry-specific functionalities, during the upgrade this will be accommodated in our FuelVision 365 extension. Think about:
- Prices based on Index and national recommended prices
- Excise and customs functionality
- Customer and vessels and their relations
- Fuel daily prices and stock valuation
- Extended units (L, L15 etc.)
- Back-to-back deliveries
- Contracts
"You notice that the software is getting older and therefore not as user-friendly as the latest version. There are also regular requests from the organization to make the administration easier, for example by using barcode scanners. I therefore expect that the connection with third-party solutions will be easier after the upgrade. In addition, Business Central contains new functionalities that we want to use and we will be able to upgrade more easily in the future."
