Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (BPCL) has teamed up with Accenture Plc to transform its sales and distribution network digitally. The IT consulting company will use its capabilities in data, artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud technologies to build, design and implement a digital platform, called IRIS, as per a statement on Tuesday.
This proposal will integrate real-time data from across BPCL’s countrywide network, including more than 18,000 fuel retail outlets, 25,000 tank trucks, 75 oil installations and depots, 52 liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) bottling plants and 250 additional industrial and commercial locations, to make available a consolidated view of its extensive operations.
Determined by analytics based on AI and machine learning technologies, the IRIS platform will consequently trigger automated alerts and actions, including rapid response to equipment failures or hazardous situations.
It will also empower the BPCL workforce of more than 100,000 employees across India to make faster and more precise decisions, including preventative maintenance. This can help increase sales at fuel retail outlets by minimising infrastructure downtime and ensuring consistent fuel quality, as well as improve the experience for customers. Accenture said that it would assist BPCL optimise its operational performance and efficiency, improve security and safety and deliver a superior experience for its retail and commercial customers across the country.
“Digital transformation opens up new opportunities for the oil and gas industry… We look forward to leveraging technology to unlock tremendous value, sustainable growth, and improved efficiency,” said Arun Kumar Singh, Director (Marketing) and Director (Refineries), BPCL.
The new platform will be competent of accepting more than three million inputs per second from automated sensors, cameras and Internet of Things (IoT) devices deployed at all key locations, tracking performance based on key parameters such as fuel stock, safety, compliance, equipment health and boosting asset uptime.
BPCL’s field workforce and partner network will have a flawless experience thanks to support from a portal, mobile app and call centers in Noida and Chennai. The digital sales and distribution platform will make use of BPCL’s cloud infrastructure, making it more agile and scalable, stated Accenture.
Piyush N. Singh, India Market Unit Lead at Accenture, added the technology major’s industry expertise and extensive digital capabilities can aid BPCL drive the next wave of growth and gain a distinct advantage in the market.