Big Stories - 1st Quarter 2007

Circle K Proceeds with NeXGen/TDL Rollout

The Lab Report

Allied’s NeXGen controller continues to permeate Circle K’s Gulf Coast and Southeast regions with parent company Couche Tard’s TDL POS platform. As the rollout continues, NeXGen’s exposure to other fuel sites and hyper markets throughout the region is growing as well.

“The rollout provides an excellent environment for proving the reliability of NeXGen” said Jack Dickinson, Allied’s Manager of Engineering and Development. “Such an environment (over 450 sites) is a great proving ground for the product.”

Richard Belanger, Senior Director of Information Systems at Circle K’s parent company Alimentation Couche-Tard, Inc., discussed his company’s decision to utilize the NeXGen controller. “When we were asked by our COO to implement our POS system in United States, we had to look for a new forecourt controller.  After analyzing different products, we chose Allied’s NeXGen controller mostly due in part to their 31-years of expertise in the petroleum industry and their customer service."

Allied’s “Circle K” project included certification on the ADS Network via the Conoco Phillips Network Interface, a comprehensive piece allowing Circle K to fully utilize NeXGen’s TCP/IP capabilities. Such capabilities were another driving force behind Circle K’s decision to move forward with the solution. “The added requirements on the product to process network transactions over an Ethernet connection prove its value not only as a forecourt controller but also as a reliable network processing device,” according to Jack Dickinson.

Simon Labelle, QA coordinator at Couche-Tard, works closely with Allied’s QA team on the Circle K project. “I found Allied to be very customer oriented.  They quickly jumped on any issue that they though they could help with, even if the issue was not on their end. They helped us greatly in the US deployment of our POS solution.”

Tim Durling, Circle K’s Manager of Information Systems for the Florida/Gulf Cost region, is confident in the Allied team: "It is a pleasure to work with the guys from Allied.  They exhibit a high degree of competence and professionalism.  They are real team players and work very closely with us to create a win/win solution."

Circle K plans on installing more than 850 NeXGen units throughout the Gulf Cost and Southeast regions before year’s end. Contact Allied Electronics for more information regarding the NeXGen controller.

The new Allied Active X Communicator Object, in concert with the equally new Allied Software Development Kit (SDK), is gaining popularity amongst many customers and vendors. Programmers are singing its praises for the ease-of-use while project managers are pleased with the increased efficiency.

Greg Taylor, systems analyst with Pilot Travel Centers, immediately saw the benefits of the Communicator. “Using the new Allied Communication Object and documentation has allowed Pilot to develop and deploy a very powerful monitoring and alert program, as well as add new tools to interface to the Allied in just a matter of months.”

“Without the Allied Communication Object,” says Taylor, “the same program, we anticipate, would have taken well over a year to develop.  Allied did a great job on providing an outstanding tool to enhance the customers ability to build custom applications to interface to the ANDI without the need for extensive knowledge of the ANDI and its interfaces.”

Allied software developer Rob Tomenchok, who designed the Communicator, recognized the need for such a utility. “When I came on board,” says Rob, “I sought to determine where Allied Electronics fit into the marketplace.  I looked at our product line from the perspective of a customer; in other words, what would compel me to deploy an ANDI based solution?  What would make me consider a competitor?  I found that there was an opportunity to improve the way in which the ANDI solution is integrated and that a Software Development Kit was the answer.  The ANDI Communicator, Diagnostic Application, and example programs came about from this effort.”

The Allied Communicator Object works in concert with the new Software Development Kit (SDK) to provide functionality designed to optimize development timelines and efficiency when coding to Allied’s interface. The Communicator allows for event-driven message handling and removes the need to support the Allied low level protocol.

For more information on the Active X Communicator Object, contact Allied’s technical support team.

The Lab Report

Special fraud logic was recently added to Allied’s Generic Gilbarco ANDI software. This enhancement was designed to prevent potential drive-off scenarios. There were also some enhancements to Allied’s “attendant card” logic.

Field testing continues on Allied’s Generic Wayne Direct ANDI (non-PIB) software. One highlight is support for up to 32 fueling points and card readers. Enhancements for the new Wayne iX dispenser as well as soft key support were also recently added.

Contact Allied Electronics for more information regarding recent software enhancements.