In the latest episode of ADDcast, Scott Tucker, Operations Process Manager at Paraco Gas and Chair of the ADD User Group Raven/Delivery Committee, discusses Paraco Gas’ longstanding partnership with ADD Systems. Highlighting his role within the AUG, Tucker shares the benefits of collaborating with peers to prioritize software enhancements and address industry challenges. He encourages other users to join the committee for valuable insights and knowledge sharing.
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Brian Cohen: Welcome to ADDcast. I’m ADD Systems Multimedia Specialist Brian Cohen. Joining me today is Scott Tucker, Operations Process Manager at Paraco Gas and Chair of the ADD User Group Raven/Delivery Committee. Thanks for joining me today, Scott.
Scott Tucker: Thank you for having me.
Brian: Could you start by telling us a little bit about Paraco Gas and what your role is there?
Scott: Paraco Gas is a full-function energy company. We deliver liquid propane, cylinder propane, fuel oil, and we do HVAC work and installation and technician. And my role is to support the operation side, the team in both the field and in the office, and I work with most of our third-party vendors and software and just looking to get the most work out of them and the most efficiency.
Brian: How long has Paraco been partnered with ADD Systems as a company? And along with that, how long have you been an ADD User?
Scott: We sat down earlier and tried to figure out the exact years. We believe it’s about 40 years. I’m pretty sure it was when Bruce was out selling before he was sitting in the chair he is now, but Paraco has been a longtime customer. And I joined Paraco about 12 years ago, so I’m on my 13th year. I’ve been using ADDs the entire time. And then I actively got involved with the user group, probably in my 10th year when we started trying to look through the challenges with delivery and the third-party software we were using to do our routing.
Brian: Before we get into the user group side of things, can you tell us a little bit about your overall experience with Raven during the 13 years you’ve been at Paraco, and what the product offers to help you and your team to stay efficient?
Scott: Sure. So I joined the team as the dispatch manager. And my responsibilities were the efficient routing and effective delivery for the customers. We had used Raven when I joined there, back when I think it was still the CN-140s. We have progressed forward, always marching forward. We use the Raven technology on the tablets. Our goal was to make it as effective as we could for the driving staff. They spend long hours on the road. We want them to easily be able to create tickets, be able to send them work throughout the day, be able to provide the customer with a signed receipt. So we’ve just kind of progressed. And then as we were working from the handhelds, we began looking at it from a dispatching perspective. We used a third-party vendor in the past to do our routing, and then even the dispatching at one point. And then we’ve slowly added the newer components to Raven as we’ve moved forward. So now, we have a Raven tablet in all our delivery trucks. They basically provide the driver with the best actual information; it’s much more detailed. They’re able to see what the customer has on-site, which has been a huge improvement. But we’ve also now progressed to using this batch monitor in conjunction with it to route our daily deliveries. We route several days in advance on some of our business models. And then we do our same-day dispatching through ADDs and the dispatch module to the Raven direct.
Brian: Now, you had mentioned this earlier that you and actually a number of the Paraco team members are part of the ADD User Group, which is the AUG. How has the AUG been helpful to you so far?
Scott: So the AUG, you know, one of the reasons I joined is I needed to be able to basically pick the brains of others who are already using it right. When you first start off, there’s a lot of support from ADDs, but that real industry sense from others who are using it give you so much more to work with. I joined the user group, again, probably 10 years that I’ve been on the Raven Committee, specifically because I was responsible for the rollout of the Ravens and the dispatch monitor system and routing. It just gives you an opportunity to work with your peers and get their feedback and not just the feedback from the owner of the software, right? You guys have been excellent in all your support. But some real-life experience helps us kind of work through and work forward and look for things that we need to do to make the product work for us.
Brian: Now, like we mentioned at the top, you’re the current chair of the ADD User Group Raven Committee. Can you tell us a little bit about that committee and its purpose?
Scott: Sure. So I took over a chairmanship last year of the Raven group. The Raven group is dedicated to customers, generally that are all doing some kind of delivery work. It is specific to using the Raven devices no matter what model in the field. We do a lot of discussion on the handheld in the field, tracking of your driving staff, a lot of discussions on dispatch monitor, pretty much anything delivery-related kind of falls under the Raven Committee – how we set up their accounts, like are we setting accounts up from a customer service standpoint to be the most effective when it comes down to the smaller group of people that are routing and building the work every day for everybody? And then basically the drivers in the field, right? What are they seeing? Drivers give us improvements; we discuss them; we get better ideas of how do we present to the drivers, right? You always have to sell everything to your staff in the field no matter what we’re working on. So being able to pick other’s brains really helped. And the Raven Committee does that and can provide that for anybody that looks to join or has any interest in the Raven product.
Brian: Now about how many ADD users are on the committee and what would you say is the makeup of the group as far as size of company and maybe job function?
Scott: The makeup of the group is a full mix. We have routers, dispatchers, managers, IT administration, pretty much anybody that would deal with the Raven on any side. We’re looking at about 37 to 38 companies right now on the delivery committee, and about 80 members, between the companies that are on. Most companies have several members that belong and participate so that they, you know, their delivery team and maybe their back office staff and their IT team.
Brian: And as the chair, what kind of users would you want to see the group attract?
Scott: I want to continue to attract anybody that shows an interest or desire and wants to collaborate. For the group, it’s about the collaboration, especially when it comes to, I know we’re going to talk about enhancements, as the product is being built out. And as ADDs continues to improve, the group working together help steer that. So I’d encourage anybody to join, even if you want to just be there to take the information in, you could be able to provide feedback to members that they’re probably not even thinking about in your own company.
Brian: Could you give us an example of a topic or discussion that the groups had in its past to give people a feel for the benefits of joining the group?
Scott: Sure. Over last season, and even the beginning of this season, we’ve had discussions regarding tracking your drivers, the GPS functionality of the Raven, being able to see where your staff is throughout the day. We had a very good discussion on meters. More and more companies, right, have metered accounts. So we were able to have a discussion. We know, as my own company, we’re looking to automate our meter reading, and that was a big topic of discussion. And we’ve also brought in discussions. A lot of our companies are using tank monitors, right? So they kind of split the realm between how it’s delivery-related because we’re looking at efficiency and effectiveness, and how it is from a communication standpoint. What can we automate, which I’m happy to say next on our meeting coming up in July, it’s going to be a joint meeting with the SmartConnect Committee, which both teams will be able to put more forward.
Brian: Does all the user group activity happen on the call? Or does it continue maybe outside of the regular meetings?
Scott: We meet monthly, generally out of our busy season. We’re meeting April to November. It’s only an hour and it’s a very full hour, but we email back and forth. There’s a lot of discussion. One of the topics coming up this month, we’re going to talk about the ADDs forum. A good place, we have a lot of new membership, and I don’t think they’re 100% familiar with where they can ask questions, and it goes out to the entire group. So we’re not just limited to the confines of our meeting. If somebody has a question, they’ll welcome the email and just put together a directory at the request of some of the members. They can pick anybody’s brain at any time. Everybody is very good about collaborating. We’re open for business and even in the offseason, we don’t discourage anybody. If something comes up, and we’re not in our meeting season, then certainly put it out to our team and the group. And if we need to call a meeting, we can, and if it’s something that any of us can help answer, right, because new things pop up all the time, then we attempt to do that to render communication.
Brian: What made you want to take on the chair role for the Raven/Delivery Committee and how have you found that role to be rewarding so far?
Scott: My first answer is my boss made me do it. I had been active in the committee. I wanted to be able to give more back and get more information on the behind the scenes. When the opportunity presented, I was happy to jump into the spot. We came off a committee chair who had it for three years. He was wanting to seek out more people to be involved. So it’s been for me, and I’ll never like to have a question that I don’t have the answer to, so I’m constantly looking for more knowledge, and been able to jump in as the committee chair, gave me the opportunity to work with everybody much more in depth. Plus, it lets me work with the executive team of the AUG. We see all the enhancements that are coming and working on and it just gave me a lot more opportunity to kind of build those relationships.
Brian: Let’s talk about enhancements now. One of the key functions of the AUG is to help gather and prioritize software enhancements. Can you share how the Raven Committee goes about this process?
Scott: As the AUG itself, we have an enhancement process. There are submissions which run through the end of June, start in May, I believe. And basically, any company that has a member on your committee can submit a submission. And currently, I’m working on the list for Paraco and it’s about 20 submissions for this year that we’re putting in. And it’s not just Raven and delivery. Again, selfishly, there’s a lot of Raven and delivery because I work with it every day. But we have IT suggestions, I have credit suggestions, and I, in my position, actually get the opportunity to work with all these teams besides my focus of just being delivery. I think it works well for companies to be able to help steer the suggestions into ADDs. And we all work together to bolster the votes that are needed to prioritize enhancements. I think from a Raven perspective, most companies that are ADD users are high-level Raven users because it’s your biggest part of your business. Your delivery, for most people, is their biggest part of their business. So we really try to put in as many suggestions or I’ll say practical and efficient suggestions as we can. And everybody might have one-offs that they want to have on, and if we can modify or work that specifically for the whole group and the Raven, it gives them more opportunity to get voted up.
Brian: Last year, a number of Raven delivery enhancements were voted to the top of the list. And that led to the next important step of this process, which is the design of those enhancements. Can you talk about the function of the design meetings and the importance of the committee discussions with ADD developers?
Scott: Yes. So once an enhancement has made its way through the voting, and it’s decided by the Executive Committee, it’d be something that we submit. ADDs is great about scheduling what we’ll call design meetings. They meet with the entire committee, and then some, so we’ll include anybody that will have feedback or input. And basically, we pick through the actual thought process, the, will say, business need, which is something they added right to our enhancement process, looking to see where do we get the most benefit? And we lay out the exact scenario that just about everybody on the committee is looking for from this enhancement, and your planning team can then tell us, “Yes, I think this will work. No, I don’t think I have enough space to do it. Or, hey, let’s tweak it here because then we can get more benefit out of it overall.” And that’s that was one of the meetings this year. It was very effective. And we ended up changing multiple levels within the program because it wasn’t just something that would affect delivery, but it could affect service, it could affect the billing side, and we were able to broaden that out and get more bang for our buck from the committee.
Brian: Now, if somebody was maybe hesitant about joining the ADD User Group, what would you tell them?
Scott: If you have a thirst for knowledge, and you want to be involved in the future of how you are going to operate, the ADD User Group is one of the best ways to help promote what your company needs. It’s the best way for you to gain knowledge. And it’s a great way for you to learn what others are doing within their operation or what workarounds they’ve had to use or fixes they’ve had to imply. It’s a great opportunity. I take the fact that I serve on this group and I kind of pushed it out to some of my other vendors. And I’ve actually gotten two of my vendors to start something similar. I think this is a good model, and I’ve been able to not only encourage it, but being involved in a group like this just gives you capabilities that you wouldn’t have if you were sheltered from it.
Brian: Okay, someone’s listening to our discussion today, you’ve piqued their interest, how would they go about getting information on how to join the committee?
Scott: They can visit addsys.com/services/add-user-group/. There’s an online form that they can fill out. We have a membership member. It’s the vice president of our group; he will contact you. And we will set up for you to join a group. He will find out your interests. Selfishly, I’d love you to join my committee, but there’s multiple committees. I wouldn’t suggest sitting in on all of them because it can be overwhelming. We joke about it but some of us who’ve been on it for a while, like we’ve done our rounds through a few of the committees, and find out what your best benefit is and then dragging your partners at work, and have them join other committees so that you guys, not only you’re collaborating with others, but then you can collaborate within your company.
Brian: I’ll make sure to have that link embedded on the episode page. Scott, I’d like to thank you so much for taking the time to join us today and look forward to the next ADD Raven/Delivery Committee meeting.
Scott: Thank you very much for having me, and I look forward to anybody joining and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Brian: To keep in touch with the latest happenings at ADD Systems, visit addsys.com/blog or connect with us on social media by following ADD Systems on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram or X. If you have any questions about ADDcast, feel free to reach out to us at addcast@addsys.com. Thanks for listening and have a great day!
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