Connected Energy Inventory Management: How Mérillat SA Is Digitizing Its Services in Switzerland

7-minute read · Published on July 9, 2026

• What is energy inventory telemetry?
• The challenge: managing energy reserves without visibility on the ground
• The FOUR DATA solution deployed by Mérillat SA
• A service that offers greater value to the end customer
• Planning Ahead for Supplies to Large Consumers
• Optimize delivery routes based on actual inventory levels
• The Pellet: A Growth Driver for Telemetry in Switzerland
• What the Mérillat case illustrates for Swiss retailers
• FAQ — Energy Inventory Telemetry

For an energy distributor, simply delivering energy is no longer enough to set itself apart. Customers expect visibility into their usage levels, a responsive service when needed, and support in managing their energy supply.

In Switzerland, Mérillat SA has met this need by leveraging FOUR DATA telemetry. Connected inventory level monitoring has transformed its business: beyond simply supplying energy, the company now provides remote, connected management of its customers’ energy inventories.

Energy inventory telemetry involves remotely measuring the level of a tank, reservoir, or silo using a connected sensor. The data is automatically transmitted to a monitoring platform. This allows the distributor to continuously monitor its customers’ levels, anticipate needs, and plan deliveries without the need for manual on-site intervention.

Before implementing a connected monitoring system, a major energy consumer is operating in the dark. Inventory levels are difficult to track accurately, orders are placed on short notice, and actual consumption remains unclear. These blind spots have a direct impact on the distributor.

From a logistics perspective, the lack of real-time data leads to emergency calls, underloaded delivery routes, and constant pressure on the planning teams. Every last-minute delivery decision costs more than a pre-planned route: detours, underloaded trucks, and suboptimal delivery slots. For Mérillat SA, telemetry specifically addresses this pain point by providing continuous monitoring of inventory levels and better forecasting of needs.

The difference from manual inventory tracking is structural. The distributor no longer simply notes when stock levels are low; instead, it forecasts the likely date of stockout and schedules its delivery accordingly. It is this shift from observation to forecasting that creates value.

Mérillat SA relies on the complete FOUR DATA solution: a sensor installed on the tank, field-ready IoT connectivity, and a monitoring platform that centralizes the data. FOUR DATA designs and manufactures its sensors in-house, ranging from the non-intrusive NOVA US ultrasonic sensor for liquid tanks to pressure probes, enabling it to support a wide variety of installations using the same monitoring approach.

The choice of connectivity depends on the terrain. A sensor located in an underground tank or in a rural area does not face the same constraints as one in an urban setting. This flexibility prevents connectivity dead zones, which, in the field, render a sensor useless.

Level data is uploaded at regular intervals to the Desk platform, the operational interface for the distributor. There, Mérillat can view its entire fleet of monitored tanks, receive configurable alerts when a low threshold is reached, and plan its delivery routes based on actual levels rather than a theoretical schedule.

Alert thresholds are set on a per-tank basis: a high-consumption tank and a site with low turnover do not trigger alerts at the same level. The white-label Sens module also allows end customers to access their own thresholds directly, branded with the distributor’s logo.

This integrated approach—sensor, connectivity, platform, and support—sets FOUR DATA apart from competitors that sell only a sensor or only software.

The FOUR DATA sensor line, designed and manufactured in-house.

This article was written with the expertise of David Rotaru, Key Account Manager for Switzerland and Germany at FOUR DATA—he oversees the deployment of telemetry solutions for energy distributors in the DACH market.

Do you distribute heating oil, natural gas, or wood pellets in Switzerland? Let’s discuss your tank fleet and the connected service you could offer your customers.

The main benefit identified by Mérillat SA relates to the evolution of its service offering. Energy delivery is becoming an inventory management service: inventory levels are monitored remotely, and supply needs are anticipated on behalf of the customer.

This shift changes the business relationship. The end customer no longer has to monitor inventory levels or place orders at the right time. Instead, the customer delegates this responsibility to the supplier, who proactively manages the supply chain.

Installation monitoring is improving, day-to-day support is being strengthened, and the distributor now has a unique selling point that its purely transactional competitors cannot offer. For Mérillat, the trust that has been built as a result is one of the most tangible outcomes since the rollout.

The effects are particularly noticeable at high-volume locations. It was these locations that, due to a lack of visibility, exposed the distributor to stockouts and requests for urgent deliveries.

With continuous monitoring of inventory levels, Mérillat SA can now plan its supplies with greater confidence. This proactive approach reduces the risk of stockouts, prevents costly emergencies, and helps streamline the scheduling of delivery routes throughout the week.

Field data is transformed into operational planning: instead of reacting to a customer call, the distributor schedules the delivery before the critical threshold is reached. This marks the transition from reactive logistics to proactive logistics.

Anticipating needs naturally leads toroute optimization. When the distributor knows the likely date each tank will run out, it groups deliveries by geographic area and time slot, rather than rushing from one emergency to the next. A truck leaves fully loaded, serves several customers in the same area, and minimizes empty-run mileage.

The gain can be interpreted on three levels:

• Fewer isolated emergency trips.
• A higher truck load factor.
• A reduced planning workload for teams.

In the Swiss market, characterized by hilly terrain and long distances between valleys, this streamlining has a direct impact on delivery costs. Telemetry does not reduce customers’ consumption; it reduces the cost of providing service to them. It is a driver of both profit margins and quality.

Mérillat SA sees significant potential in connected pellet inventory tracking. The growth of wood pellet heating is creating new needs for monitoring inventory levels and optimizing deliveries in the expanding Swiss market.

Wood pellets: the next frontier for telemetry in Switzerland.

The outlook for growth remains strong for the coming years, both for distributors and end users.

Beyond pellets, Mérillat SA sees other segments opening up. Property management, for example, would benefit from having visibility into the levels of the systems it monitors, with the same advantage: simplifying management and minimizing the risk of shortages.

Mérillat SA’s experience demonstrates how connected inventory management is becoming a key differentiator—not just a technical tool. Monitoring inventory levels remotely, anticipating needs, reducing unnecessary visits, and optimizing delivery routes: these benefits add up to make the distributor a partner, not just a supplier.

FOUR DATA supports this type of initiative from the initial network coverage study through to the day-to-day operation of the platform, including the entire scope of tank telemetry and the fuel oil sector.

To put this case into a broader context,the Federal Office of Energy regularly publishes data on energy consumption in Switzerland, which is useful for determining the appropriate size of a storage facility and its monitoring requirements.