By Susan Fisher, Story Acquisitions Lead, SAPinsider Motor Oil Group is one of Greece’s largest companies undergoing a deep transformation from pure oil and gas company to full-fledged energy supply and services company. Founded in 1972, the company of today is investing significantly in the company of tomorrow which will look quite different according to Victor Papaconstantinou, General Manager of Strategic Planning and Development at Motor Oil Group (MOG). “The whole environment is changing around us and we’re changing together,” Victor says. Increased presence in wind and solar, natural gas and liquefied natural gas, hydrogen production projects, biofuel and carbon capture and storage, and a fast and heavy expansion into waste management as renewable raw material for fuels define the Group’s future. This transformation is in response to changing customer expectations, increased regulation, and growing investments in the Greek economy to accelerate transition to renewable energy production and use. “We all demand more in terms of quality and effectiveness and more in terms of responsibility to the world around us,” Victor says. Nikos Giannakakis, Chief Information Officer and another member of the MOG Executive team, adds: “the energy industry is transforming itself in a new digital era.” As a result, technology is accelerating the Group’s transformation, innovation, and expanded customer experience.

Reimagining the Fuel Station of the Future

The Group has an ecosystem of around 1,000 fuel stations in the Greece and Balkan area. The combination of mobility and new technologies is stated as one of the Group’s strategic priorities in transforming the fuel station of today and developing the non-fuel retail business. The shift is reflective of changing expectations in mobility-related products and services like electric vehicle charging stations, ride sharing, and other types of fuel; and convenient access to new services and products not currently associated with today’s fuel station. How does MOG realize its value proposition to customers in the retail fuel convenience store? Consider that today most MOG customers spend minimal time on location. They refuel and move on without much time spent on non-fuel purchases which is not the norm for many European jurisdictions, but MOG is providing more reasons for consumers to visit their locations and increase their product and service purchases. With an ongoing expansion of e-vehicle charging in their fuel stations, consumers have 30-40 minutes of time to spend on pharmacy and courier services already in place, or future fitness and salon services, banking, and recycling reference points. All of this is possible with technology as the enabler. Working with partners and with an agile methodology to quickly cycle from concept to prototype to scale, MOG is already starting to see business improvements from its strategies, including double-digit increases in non-fuel revenue, penetration of diversified fuels, and uptake on new product and service offerings. It recently received a 2021 FutureEdge 50 award from IDG for its pay-at-the-pump app that enables fuel and other fuel-related purchases.

Personalization and Platforms Drive Engagement

A personalized customer experience is “the name of the game” according to Nikos, and that means providing customers with relevant information and engaging interaction at the right time. Platform innovation is essential to the Group in fulfilling a personalized customer experience. A cloud-based platform for on-location employees will provide data at their fingertips and enable them to better understand their customers and their preferences and facilitate an improved service and sale experience. In development is a separate customer experience platform that will leverage data from over one million current Group customers, evolve and expand customer options, and track their purchase history and preferences. The technology ecosystem includes a point of sale (POS) system that integrates with its system of record as its foundation and drives and supports the core business processes, with the Group looking at SAP S/4HANA Cloud for the future. “We are a cloud first organization and we love SaaS,” Nikos says. The next layer is a customer relationship management (CRM) system to predict behavior, followed by a customer experience platform to anticipate, prescribe, and support engagement. The Group is also utilizing SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) to support application development and integration because, according to Nikos, “it gives us a very coherent and structured way to connect our overall business.” Top-notch integration is essential to link development to the Group’s digital core and realize a 360-degree customer view across its different businesses. The Group is using SAP Analytics Cloud for robust analytics and reporting and is moving beyond predictive to prescriptive capabilities. Qualtrics is being considered for customer experience management, including automating the development of leading KPIs, the top priority being non-fuel sales.

Innovation and Specialization Criteria for Technology Ecosystem

Given its size and complexity, the Group looks for partners to bring innovation and specialization to support its customer experience evolution, aligning technology with the business goal of personalization as mobility and selection of non-fuel products and services evolve. “We prefer to have strategic relationships that prove their value,” Nikos says. Accenture has been one of the Group’s strategic partners, along with niche partners that have relevant experience with specific industries, processes, and markets, such as support to the electric vehicle industry. Nikos contributed this from an earlier 2021 story: “We are following SAP’s model to become an intelligent enterprise,” he says. “The transformation to a leaner, faster, more efficient organization is succeeding and SAP S/4HANA’s interoperability with Microsoft Azure is playing a key role, with the ability to accelerate digital working initiatives, like remote working, being enabled through Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365.” As for RISE with SAP, Nikos provided early commentary following the announcement that included: “From a high-level view, it’s the dream of a CIO. You work with a single partner that offers end-to- end services. It is a one-stop shop for leveraging the strong elements of the intelligent enterprise. For me, it’s the answer to all of my questions, but also I have to really understand how this will work.”

Lessons Learned from the MOG Transformation

Victor espouses the importance of meaningful collaboration with internal partners at all levels to achieve better results. Nikos adds to this wisdom by referencing the Conway Law of 1968 which states “Any organization that designs a system (defined broadly) will produce a design whose structure is a copy of the organization's communication structure.” In other words, how you collaborate on the inside of your organization will be directly reflected on the solutions you deliver to your customers. If you aim to have a seamless and uncomplicated solution, that does inform the internal conversation and approach. Read our earlier story featuring MOG here.

Key Takeaways for SAPinsiders

Business and IT executives demonstrate true partnership in driving transformation in a highly disrupted sector
Shape a modern customer experience in a mature market with convenience and personalization
The importance of strategic investment in business technology platforms as a competitive advantage

Company Snapshot

Motor Oil Group

Headquarters: Maroussi, Greece
Industry: Petroleum, gas and energy
Employees: Approximately 2,500
Revenue: Approximately 7.308 billion US dollars (2020)
Company details: Founded in 1972, Motor Oil Group is one of the largest companies in Greece, and in the Greek energy sector.
SAP Solutions: SAP ECC Industry Extension Oil & Gas 6.0, SAP S/4HANA - IS U, SAP Retail, SAP Predictive Maintenance (utilizing SAP Cloud Platform and SAP Analytics Cloud), SAP SuccessFactors, SAP Business Suite on HANA, SAP Business Warehouse on HANA (for group reporting), SAP Business Planning and Consolidation, SAP Real Estate Flexible (RE-FX) for IFRS16 Compliance, SAP Disclosure Management

Technology is Accelerating Motor Oil Group’s Deep Energy Transformation, Innovation, and Expanded Customer Experience

Reading time: 5 mins

Motor Oil Group (MOG) is one of Greece’s largest companies undergoing a deep transformation from pure oil and gas company to full-fledged energy supply and services company.

The combination of mobility and new technologies is stated as one of the Group’s strategic priorities in transforming the fuel station of today and developing the non-fuel retail business. The shift is reflective of changing expectations in mobility-related products and services like electric vehicle charging stations, ride sharing, and other types of fuel; and convenient access to new services and products not currently associated with today’s fuel station.

Working with partners and with an agile methodology to quickly cycle from concept to prototype to scale, MOG is already starting to see business improvements from its strategies, including double-digit increases in non-fuel revenue, penetration of diversified fuels, and uptake on new product and service offerings.

Explore related questions

Platform innovation is essential to the Group in fulfilling a personalized customer experience. A cloud-based platform for on-location employees will provide data at their fingertips and enable them to better understand their customers and their preferences and facilitate an improved service and sale experience.

The company espouses the importance of meaningful collaboration with internal partners at all levels to achieve better results.

Read this article and learn:
– How environmental changes led Motor Oil Group to pursue its transformation;

– About MOG’s strategic priorities in transforming the fuel station of today and developing its non-fuel retail business;

– How the Group is fulfilling its personalized customer experience objectives and using a cloud-based platform for customer engagement;

– How strategic relationships are playing a critical role to bring innovation and specialization to support its customer experience evolution, aligning technology with the business goal of personalization.