Teamwork fuels Engen’s double victory

This year’s Focus on Excellence Awards, sponsored by WesBank, proved to be a significant milestone for Engen Petroleum. For the first time, victory in both the Best Supplier of Fuels and Best Supplier of Lubricants categories proved beyond doubt that the organisation’s dedicated approach to servicing the commercial transport industry certainly has not gone unnoticed by its fleet customers.

According to Lindsay Bassett, Engen’s key accounts manager, commercial fuels, “winning both awards crowns the collective effort of several divisions within Engen to cultivate stronger links with our fleet customers, offering them more direct channels of communication with Engen’s top decision makers and a growing market offering designed specifically to enhance the efficiency of their operations.”

For John Kennedy, Engen’s commercial business manager, “Engen received the highest accolades from the transport industry by being nominated as the winner of both the Best Fuel Supplier of the Year and Best Lubricants Supplier of the Year categories. This is a fantastic achievement and recognises Engen for being the leading fuels and lubricants supplier to this vital trade sector.

“These awards would not have been possible without the dedicated support from a cross-section of departments in Engen. I sincerely appreciate the efforts of our staff that have supported our strategies to target the transport trade sector through superior service levels. We often find ourselves being asked to go the extra mile and we wonder whether our efforts are appreciated or even noticed. The award of these two accolades is the direct result of these extra efforts and has contributed to the success of Engen’s strategies aimed at the transport sector.

“I applaud the way in which the support has been forthcoming from so many of our people and I am extremely proud to be a member of Team Engen. We’ve set the bar very high for ourselves and I trust that as we approach 2011, we will all take pride in our achievements to date and that Engen will remain Number One”.

With the sustained growth of the commercial transport industry in South Africa, competition amongst its fuel and lubricant suppliers is extremely robust. Engen has grown to a point where it now offers a range of products and services that cover key areas of a commercial fleet’s mobility infrastructure, in particular, reliable access to quality diesel and lubricants, competitive prices and easy-to-use electronic fuel management solutions, advice on asset management, and significant investment in on-road rest facilities for drivers.

“In many respects, Engen’s own operations span the supply chain where it is simultaneously the consignor, the transporter and the consignee. With its own fleet of road tankers, Engen has a comprehensive understanding of the challenges facing both fleet operators and drivers, as well as what they really need to run efficiently on a day-to-day basis,” adds Bassett.

For commercial road fleets, diesel and lubricants are the very life-blood of the operation. Having direct contact with key decision makers, within their petroleum supplier organisation, is imperative in this era of “Just-in-Time” inventory management, and an operating environment that is highly unpredictable and risky.

“Our commercial division has evolved over the past five years to a point where its customers regard Engen as a key partner in their operations. With 1 200 retail service stations and 12 dedicated Engen Truck Stops nationwide, Engen has the footprint to satisfy the entire spectrum of road transport applications,” Bassett explains. “Furthermore, for those customers requiring on-site service, our commercial division provides the necessary storage facilities and maintenance services to ensure sustained diesel quality and optimum fleet uptime.”

Beyond providing a range of quality fuel and lubricant products, Engen’s commercial division forms an integral part of the company’s overall strategic market positioning, a process made possible by an inspired team effort, from several departments within the organisation.

“Winning these awards attests to the fact that, contrary to the reputation giant organisations have of being ‘faceless’, Engen offers its fleet clients a real ‘human interface’ that is just a phone call away. Our communications infrastructure is designed to provide customers with swift solutions, when they need them, which, invariably, is ‘right now’. We understand that no two fleet operations are alike and, therefore, we train our personnel to ‘speak the language’ of each individual customer, to ensure our solutions meet their exact needs. A great team effort from all functional departments across the Engen family has contributed to these awards. The commercial department has operated under challenging conditions but through the commitment, dedication and support of all Engen personnel, we have proven that we can come out on top,” Bassett concludes.