OVERVIEW
“What gets measured, gets managed.” - Peter Drucker
C-stores have evolved substantially and have positioned themselves within the daily routines of our communties. As market trends continue, convenience stores (c-stores) are becoming digitally focused, acquiring and measuring as much data they can about their consumers.
Short for “Dispenser Experience”, DEX is a proprietary forecourt controller developed, manufactured, and released by 7-Eleven. This software allows insights into buyer behavior in real-time by capturing critical data and analytics. During development, 7-Eleven partnered with JF Professional Services (JFPS) to plan an aggressive development and rollout strategy. With the team's esteemed experience with complicated deployment, JFPS was to manage the logistics and equipment consolidation for DEX Digital to engage.
COMPLEXITY
The success criteria for the DEX program were stringent and heavily scrutinized by the executive leadership, with over 1,500 sites to be installed to accomplish the Phase I objective.
In addition to the rollout, research was needed for what functional specifications were supported by the controller and software at iterations of development, meaning that the schedule had to be built taking into account the configuration of the site. As development progressed and more functionality was supported, additional sites could be brought into the schedule, thus creating the on-going task of resource requirements, communications and scheduling revisions.
A marketing program was also put into play at the mid-point of the schedule to test-market a new customer loyalty app. A densely populated urban region was selected and saturated with installs within a 1-month period. All this activity was running concurrently with the competing and highly pressured EMV-activation timeline.
FLEXIBILITY
JFPS began the task with a knowledge transfer session to understand the agile development parameters that were underway. This process had to be adopted to create the schedule with an agile methodology, rather than the traditional waterfall approach.
Once the development process was fully understood, JFPS rapidly created a highly flexible implementation plan and installation schedule. This included:
- A customized fuel survey to assure all necessary ground conditions were captured and analyzed.
- A collaborative approach to develop and field test the technical user-guide for the techs.
- Sites grouped by installation “scenarios” which corresponded to supported functionality for scheduling.
- Monitoring and reporting on equipment procured nationally and globally.
- Engaging and coordinating service technicians nationally to complete the installations.
- Weekly communication cadence reports and calls to techs and operations.
Due to the breadth and depth of their fuel and forecourt knowledge, JFPS was able to provide innovative solutions in advance of demand and in turn became an extension of DEX Digital.
Logistic and Equipment Consolidation efforts ran flawlessly, even through supply chain interruptions. Equipment was received in bulk from various global suppliers then parsed, consolidated, and shipped in site-specific packages. Seed stock was also managed for contractors, sending a variety of “spare” equipment for contingency.
When the supply chain was interrupted, JFPS helped DEX Digital focus on the priority test marketing plan, redirecting all available assets to that area. This provided statistically sound marketing data, allowing strategic decision making which was implemented as soon as equipment flowed in.
LAUNCH
DEX has now become the standard forecourt controller installation at all 7-Eleven branded new stores. The fuel loyalty program has successfully launched. JFPS is pleased to partner with DEX Digital as their PM and logistics partner as development for this extraordinary controller continues
KEY COMPETENCIES
PROCESS
Ability to schedule and manage a velocity of 20+ sites per day, Monday through Friday
TOOLS
Facilitating a playbook and standard protocol to assure uniform results
A fully functional warehouse and staff to handle shipping logistics and create site-specific packages
REPUTATION
Experience with technological upgrades in multiple markets simultaneously
SCALABILITY & COVERAGE
We pride ourselves on being the national leader while keeping a strong local presence. Whether you’re looking to upgrade your current facility or build a new one, we are equipped to handle projects of all sizes. All of our team members are professionally trained and specialize in the services they offer. Our partners can expect a customer-centric approach centered on adding value to the distribution, construction, service, training, and technology solutions we provide.