DTN User Summit Recap
Thanks to everyone who attended our recent DTN User’s Summit held in Omaha during an incredible heat wave. In spite of soaring temperatures, the event was a big success—with more than triple the number of attendees over last year.
Since DTN serves the downstream in many different ways, Summit 2006 brought participants from all aspects of the supply chain together. Representatives from suppliers, marketers, terminal operators, pipelines, carriers, and end users found plenty of things to talk about. Seems like whenever you get a group of oil people in a room together — no matter what their job title is — you’re sure to hear a lot of conversation and laughter!
EDUCATIONAL SESSIONS
In cross-industry educational sessions, participants got a chance to interact with each other and help shape the direction our integrated supply chain data solutions. DTN product management detailed product enhancements made since Summit 2005; and led lively feedback forums that established and prioritized upcoming enhancements.
The many challenges facing the refined fuels supply chain provided a framework for the educational topics. Darin Newsome, Market Analyst for DTN said, “You’ve got some savvy folks out there. I was getting very good questions on the market during the Achieving a Marketplace Advantage session on proprietary methodology we use to analyze the volatile fuels market.”
Wholesalers spent time discussing DTN Fuel Buyer™ — a comprehensive market and supplier price analysis tool designed to help you profit by using market volatility to your best advantage. Suppliers showed significant interest in using real-time product and exchange allocation management from DTN TABS™ to help alleviate many of the daily inventory-related challenges that face them. Terminal operators also participated in peer-to-peer sharing and learned how to get the most out of the cool new features in the DTN Guardian3™ (DTN G3) terminal automation system. Peter Van Noten, Terminal Operations at DCM in Belgium, Europe said, “I think the most interesting part of the summit was the interactive lecture where DTN talked about their improvements on the DTN G3. I liked when we, the customers, could suggest our ideas.”
“I thought Ken Gunn’s presentation on Optimizing the Supply Chain was very interesting,” said Shalee Gooch, National Sales Director Supplier Solutions for DTN. “Ken used stories to engage the audience and make us think. He explained that our industry is still behind the curve in ideals and technology after years of investments, compared to other industries.”
When asked the reason why the downstream is behind the curve, Gunn said, “Other industries have been investing in technology, too—but have been working with a faster timeframe. One of the common stumbling blocks to advancement in the downstream is the old-fashioned notion that ‘this is the way we’ve always done things.’ Just because you’ve always done something one way, doesn’t always mean it’s the most efficient way to do it.”
Educational sessions also included discussion on recent and upcoming enhancements to DTN electronic transaction management; pricing and customer communication services. “A common misperception I see is the idea that new sellers must have buy-in from 100% of their customers before they start posting static rack or prices that move with the NYMEX on the DTN Exchange® online rack order system. This ‘all or nothing’ attitude hurts suppliers,” said Gooch. “Instead, let’s say only 10% of your customers are ready to start buying from you via the Exchange today. Why not take the 10% and work with that? That’s 10% of your risk gone. You can start to realize the benefits brought on by having electronic transaction data feeding throughout your organization in real-time. First, you’ll have a much better sense of your actual demand; second, your hedging group can be a lot more effective; and third, you can invoice your customers faster.”
According to Gunn, companies that will stay ahead of the curve keep advancing because they hire people that question the status quo and are willing to try new things continuously. “Innovative companies listen to the messenger, not shoot them,” he said. “You know, business is a marathon, not a sprint. You have to remain in training to stay a leader. The goal should be to build a ‘perpetual learning company’, so you are proactive and not a reactive company.”
NETWORKING A BIG PART OF THE SUMMIT
From the Sunday night reception on, participants at Summit 2006 had a lot to say to each other. We all enjoyed a nice meal (including succulent, prime corn-fed steak…) at the French Café in the Old Market—a fun, ‘spruced up’ historical district in downtown Omaha—on Monday night. Tuesday night we all had a good time playing pool at the Upstream Brewpub. Wednesday’s golf scramble at the nation’s best ‘ball-eating’ golf course was successful, despite the 115-degree heat. We even had a spa and shopping event at Faces Day Spa – a nice way to unwind and relax.
Across the board, feedback from participants mentioned how valuable they found the open discussion and the opportunity to network. Based on feedback, next year we’ll include longer time periods for cross-industry discussion.
Stay tuned for more information on upcoming DTN events - hope to see you there!| DTN: 9110 West Dodge Road Omaha, NE 68114 www.dtn.com |
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