AVIA Knittel was founded in 1871 and operates a network of petrol stations, now 64 stations under the brand name AVIA and 16 stations together with Shell. About one year and a half ago interest grew in having auto fuel terminals integrated into the fuel pump. The aim of Knittel was to define a refuelling process that is familiar to the customer from ATMs and takes away reservations about fuel terminals. To turn this solution into reality, it was necessary to work together with suppliers of fuel pumps and auto fuel terminals so as to meet the requirements of the medium-sized customers.

Hectronic seized this opportunity and was able to succeed against fierce competition. Customer requirements quickly made it clear that a joint solution needed to be offered. Hectronic and Gilbarco created a package and began operating the first pilot station at Knittel in Hanau Steinheim after a development phase of just three-months. The package includes the Gilbarco SK700-II fuel pump with an integrated HecStar CRID 10” Touch. The result was impressive. To date there are already four AVIA Xpress petrol stations that have been successfully kitted out with the automated vending solution.

“The significant advantage of Hectronic is that we are able to demonstrate a high degree of flexibility when it comes to fuel pumps. To our delight, even other medium-sized mineral oil suppliers have already shown interest in our solution,” Jens Vogel, Area Sales Manager at Hectronic.