The iconic DeLorean, modified and optimized to travel through time, is the real unsung hero of the Back to the Future series. However, very little of HOW the time machine works is ever revealed on the big screen. We are given thirty seconds on time circuits, a couple sentences on plutonium, and a vague explanation of a mysterious cube device called the “flux capacitor.” While movies can get away with plot holes and defer to audience imagination, the real-world challenges of the fuel supply chain demand solutions that are meticulously crafted and deliver meaningful results. In our concluding installment, we want to do what the Back to the Future series never did and get into the component parts of how one would build a fuel industry time machine to address the ever-present time-money conundrum.
The first component needed is a technology platform to handle the volume and complexity of data that flows within the fuel supply chain. Examples of data points include inventory readings, pricing, bills of lading, taxes, freight, invoices, and payments. The platform needs to have automation as a core competency to scale to the magnitude of the fuel supply chain. Beyond these attributes, the technology needs a track record of success in the supply chain. Downstream fuel market participants are notoriously skeptical around “new technology” and will not tolerate the unproven at a time of such tremendous disruption.
Whereas the original DeLorean in the movies relied on gigawatts of plutonium, our fuel industry time machine will need a similarly immense amount of funding to power it. Billions of dollars exchange hands between buyers and sellers across the fuel supply chain every day. The success criteria for our time machine include accelerating cash flow to suppliers while extending pay terms to buyers. Achieving that success means that tens of billions of dollars will have to be accessible to simultaneously solve for the time-money paradox at scale. Again, reputation and history in the space will matter to market participants who will readily reject experimentation with their money and relationships.
The final component necessary for time travel is an airtight operation. The movie time machine had a scientist (technical expertise) with deep knowledge in his field complimented with the ideal operator (functional expertise) in Marty, the character portrayed by Michael J. Fox. Operation of a fuel industry time machine will take a multi-faceted team of professionals with the right blend of technical and functional expertise to both understand the time-money paradox and the corresponding solution to it. This team will need a track record of success with industry participants coupled with the right relationships to introduce “time travel” to the supply chain.
Our team of innovators at FuelHub is focused on breakthrough solutions for the downstream fuel industry as it both wrestles with today’s challenges and advances into the greener tomorrow. We believe solving for the time-money paradox in the downstream fuel industry is among the most consequential innovations that could be delivered. In the content to come, we will unveil the innovation our team has been diligently working on as well as point out how fuel supply chain participants can become part of our movement. Be sure to check out the first and second installments of our series if you haven’t already and rest assured you’ll be hearing more from us in the near future!
