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 Blossman Gas started to roll out its new ADD Energy E3® software the way many large, multiple-location companies do: Gradually, one location at a time, learning along the way. After an initial handful of software conversions at its roughly 70 locations by early last year, the vast majority were still on the home-grown, 25+ year-old legacy system. Looking at another three years to upgrade the remaining locations, Blossman executives came to a realization. With data conversion issues between the two systems, and financial data generated from two distinct sources, which then had to be assimilated, the roll-out in dribs and drabs just wasn’t doing the job. So in the spring of 2009, the Mississippi-based company brought together all of its officers and key field personnel for a planning summit. At the end, they emerged with a bold decision, every bit as game-changing as the name alludes: The Big Bang. The propane dealer, which has locations throughout eight southern states, extending now into the Mid-Atlantic, would install the new E3 at all of its remaining 40-plus locations in a one-month swoop, in the late summer of 2009. This was a resounding success. “It’s turned out that the bold move is the right move,” said Randy Doyle, Chief Financial Officer at Blossman. They know it was chaotic, and some employees may have felt overwhelmed, but overall they found the better approach was to get through the learning curve all at once. “I think overall it’s been very positive,” Doyle said of the rollout. While this approach may not be for everyone, Blossman proved that a major rollout can deliver an immediate and major payoff. After some initial “train-the-trainer” sessions with an ADD Systems Training and Implementation Specialist, Blossman’s people fanned out around the company and taught the software to branch managers and others. Marty Beech, Blossman’s Vice President of Accounting and IT, and designer of the preceding legacy system, is another who agrees with the Big Bang project. “It was a very good call,” Beech said. During what turned out to be one of the harshest winters in recent memory, Beech said of the software: “It survived, it carried our company. We’ve been able to serve our customers and we’ve made money. We’re in good shape now.” All About People 
Blossman employee John Hudson at a branch office in Lafayette, Georgia, in front of an E3 customer display.
Much of the reason for the success is that Blossman employees rallied around the decision to make it work. “Almost everybody in the company got excited, and rallied, and said we can do it,” Doyle recalled. Doyle explained that Blossman is firmly grounded as a people-oriented business, focused on offering first-class customer service. One aspect of this approach is a recognition that its employees are important, so the company will provide an enjoyable, fair work environment. Among the company philosophies is a sentiment that “the company exists for the benefit of the employee.” “We treat people as not a cost or an expense, but a benefit,” he said. Founded in 1951, Blossman has grown by expanding into new markets, as well as some acquisitions. The company is recognized as one of the 20 largest propane dealers in the United States. Blossman has more than 100,000 customers and 500 employees in its roughly 70 locations. Intuitive Design But another reason for the Big Bang’s success is the ease of learning the E3 system. “The design of E3 made it simple to put together a basic set of operating instructions, keep your store running, and service the customers. The ease of doing that is what made it work,” said Beech, who has 29 years with the company. Still, there are realities: “Any change of a computer system is difficult, it’s complex,” Doyle acknowledged. “Any change is painful.” “E3, we felt it was easy enough to learn,” he said of the willingness to plunge full-bore into the system. “The lesson learned for us is that good planning and perseverance are the things that make companies do what seems to be impossible,” said Doyle. Scratching the Surface The employees had grown comfortable and learned how to work easily on the legacy system, but one of its drawbacks was the inability to apply new features onto it, said Beech. Now, conversely, one of the exciting advantages of E3 is the unexplored possibilities. “I love the system , there’s so many things we can get out of it,” said Sandy Blair, a business analyst with the company at the time E3 was rolled out. For Doyle and others, the access to data is E3’s key benefit. Whether it’s through E3’s built-in reports, or querying data through Crystal Reports, there is unprecedented access to get at precisely the data they want. For example, Blair said she loves how, if a branch manager wants to see specific information, E3’s Report Generator can pull it up. Now, Blossman can begin to explore the deeper corners of E3, its reports and screens of information, which will yield a richer picture of its business and new efficiencies. For ADD Systems, this was one of the most intense installations in our 38-year history. We were in close contact with Blossman throughout the process, and after. “It’s an excellent relationship,“ Doyle said. “I consider our relationship with ADDs to be one of Blossman’s most important vendor relationships.” 
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