Fuel & Convenience Retail

Why Gravitate? A Q&A with Kwik Trip

7

7

7

States served via Convenience Transportation LLC

The benefits of Gravitate for us were three main areas: the supply optimization engine (best buy), the integrated nature of the solution, and the flexibility and strength of the product roadmap.

Erica VanRavenhorst

Fuel Project Manager, Kwik Trip

About

Kwik Trip operates 900+ stores across seven states, supported by its own transportation subsidiary, Convenience Transportation LLC, which handles the vast majority of petroleum and grocery distribution in-house. With billions of gallons flowing through its network annually, that level of vertical integration demands airtight coordination, visibility, and reliability.

Kwik Trip operates 900+ stores across seven states, supported by its own transportation subsidiary, Convenience Transportation LLC, which handles the vast majority of petroleum and grocery distribution in-house. With billions of gallons flowing through its network annually, that level of vertical integration demands airtight coordination, visibility, and reliability.

Kwik Trip operates 900+ stores across seven states, supported by its own transportation subsidiary, Convenience Transportation LLC, which handles the vast majority of petroleum and grocery distribution in-house. With billions of gallons flowing through its network annually, that level of vertical integration demands airtight coordination, visibility, and reliability.

Industry

Fuel & Convenience Retail

Company size

900+ stores

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The Company

Kwik Trip operates 900+ stores across seven states, supported by its own transportation subsidiary, Convenience Transportation LLC, which handles the vast majority of petroleum and grocery distribution in-house. With billions of gallons flowing through its network annually, that level of vertical integration demands airtight coordination, visibility, and reliability. Kwik Trip has grown by an average of 7% year-over-year for the last five years — organically and through acquisitions — and that pace requires continually implementing new processes and technologies across the business.

The Challenge

Manual processes and fragmented systems

Kwik Trip's internal processes around best buy and dispatch were manual and systems were fragmented. Erica VanRavenhorst, Kwik Trip's Fuel Project Manager, recalls, "We realized that there were opportunities being left on the table, and we wanted to have better visibility into exactly what was going on day-to-day. We also saw an opportunity to make better supply decisions based on fundamentals and we lacked the ability to react quickly, from a logistics perspective, to market changes. Dispatch was also looking for a replacement for an outdated solution."

The challenge was that most dispatch solutions on the market were light on the best buy front. Kwik Trip has a complex business and needed a solution that could meet all of their needs — across procurement and forecasting through to dispatch and ultimately transportation into the ground at retail sites.

The Solution

Why Gravitate?

Kwik Trip conducted a full market assessment before selecting Gravitate. The benefits boiled down to three main areas:

  1. The supply optimization engine (best buy). Kwik Trip needed a software partner with deep expertise in machine learning and data science to meet their optimization scenarios. Gravitate's best buy engine was the only solution on the market that fit their complex strategy and supply chain.

  2. The integrated nature of the solution. A dynamic business like Kwik Trip's needed an integrated solution. When the market shifts or they face a supply outage, Gravitate quickly revises orders, updates dispatch, and can redirect trucks — even if they're already en route.

  3. The flexibility and strength of the product roadmap. Like Kwik Trip, Gravitate is constantly looking for ways to improve and be the best. The solution is flexible and easy to integrate with.

VanRavenhorst added, "Another important aspect is the Gravitate Team. They have been great to work with, as they share our roll-up-your-sleeves work ethic, and in addition to that, they understand our business."

The Results

Anticipated benefits across the fuel supply chain

With Gravitate, Kwik Trip is positioned to benefit in many ways, including:

  • Increased profitability and lower in-ground cost of fuel

  • Increased visibility and control of day-to-day operations

  • The ability to react quickly to day-to-day opportunities (market moves, supply constraints)

  • New insights into data and analytics to help drive better long-term decisions

  • The ability to evaluate the opportunity cost of alternate decisions to support future growth and strategies

  • Enhanced communication between supply and logistics groups and fewer manual processes

  • Digital resilience and built-in room for the dynamic growth of the business

The partnership has been so successful that Erica VanRavenhorst now serves as Director of Customer Success at Gravitate.

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