Providing solutions that work. To those as yet unfamiliar with Hampel Oil Distributors, Inc. (and its subsidiary Hampel Oil Inc.), that is what this Wichita-based fuels and lubricants distributor is really all about. In business for just over 20 years now, Hampel Oil has succeeded by being the best at what it does and by being there for its customers when they need help the most.
"We've been in business for over 20 years and although our customers tell us we provide excellent service and top-notch products, we're not satisfied," the company proclaims in its promotional brochures. “We know that Hampel must continually improve in order to meet and exceed our customers' expectations. We give them the dependable, friendly assistance that has become one of our trademarks after several generations of family ownership."
It's that unwavering commitment to excellence that drives everyone at Hampel Oil to provide the most dependable service available, excellent products and, above all, solutions that work.
History of Company
Hampel Oil Distributors was incorporated 25 years ago in 1976 by A.W. Hampel and his sons, Ed, Bob and Ken Hampel.
By that time, A.W. Hampel had already been in the business nearly 30 years, having started in the industry back in 1946 when he began working for the Standard Oil Co. delivering fuel to various types of companies, contracting firms among them.
By the late 1960s, one of A.W.'s sons, Ken, had started working for him at Standard. Later, another son, Bob, joined them.
In the mid-1970s, this partnership turned into a family business when A.W. Hampel was asked to become an independent distributor for Amoco - and Hampel Oil Distributors, Wichita was born.
Originally, the company distributed Amoco products in a three-county territory in the Wichita area.
At first, of course, it was just the three of them - along with A.W.'s wife, Oliva, who did the bookkeeping. But not for long.
"The business continued to grow and in the late 1970s we purchased another Amoco and bulk fuel dealer out in Garden Plain, Kan.," Bill Hampel, president of the company today - and also a son of A.W. Hampel - reported recently. Another son, Ed, also came on board just after the firm got started.
"The business continued to grow and from there we added more customers and. more employees," Bill Hampel continued. "In 1981, we purchased another bulk-fuel distributorship in Iola, Kan."
Growth remained strong throughout the 1980s, and in 1988, the company ventured into the Kansas City market. Actually a subsidiary of Hampel Oil Distributors, the Kansas City branch operates under the name of Hampel Oil Inc.
Now employing 20 staffers, the Kansas City office of Hampel Oil is an example of being of service to contractors, said Ron Kelsey, manager of the Kansas City location.
"One of the things we really focus on is providing customers with equipment," Kelsey said, adding that the company can be of service to a wide variety of contractors."We can help really anybody running heavy equipment, a fleet, or industrial equipment." Kelsey added that Hampel is the only company in the area to have its own boom truck, enabling it to be of further service to contractors by being able to move tanks.
In 1990, Hampel's expansion continued when the company purchased yet another distributorship, this time a lubricants business in Garden City, Kan., serving the area ag market. Five years later, in 1995, Hampel Oil grew again when it purchased another distributorship in Pratt, Kan. This Pratt business was a bulk fuel, oil and propane distributorship primarily servicing the local ag and oil industries.
The latest addition to Hampel Oil's group of operations came 1997, when the company opened up a branch in Oklahoma City to better service its customers in northern Oklahoma. The list of products the company offers today includes: Exxon-Mobil and Citgo lubricant products, as well as Conoco and Phillips fuels and Baldwin heavy-duty filters.
Experienced Staff
Today, having recently celebrated his 75th birthday, A.W. Hampel has handed down the management of the company entirely to his sons. Even so, he still works half a day, five days a week.
With nearly 30 years experience when he first founded the company, much of the success of A.W.'s firm over the years was due to his extensive experience in the industry. Today, his sons have lived up to their father's standards by building up their own individual expertise.
Bill Hampel, president of the company and chairman of the board, for instance, is formerly served on Mobil's National Lubricants Advisory Council, Amoco's Regional Advisory Council, and Citgo's National Advisory Council. This kind of involvement keeps Hampel Oil on the cutting edge of industry innovations - and provides the company's customers with high value.
Indeed, with their father working nearly all of his life in the fuel and lubes industry, it can be said that the company's second generation of Hampels pretty much grew up in the business.
Today, Bob, Ken and Ed serve as vice presidents of the company. Bob serves as manager of information services; Ken is the fuel product line manager; and Ed is the lubricants product line manager.
Totaled together, the Hampels running the business today have greater than 70 years of experience in the business of distributing fuels and lubricants.
Hampel Oil Today
Hampel Oil Distributors Inc. is a much different company today from the one A.W. Hampel founded 21 years ago.
For starters, of course, the number of employees at Hampel Oil Distributors has grown tremendously. Instead of just four people, the company now employs more than 50.
Also, as mentioned earlier, the company has added five other branches to its lineup, giving Hampel a geographical diversity it didn't have before. This kind of expansion has been beneficial to both the company and its customers.
"Right now, we have statewide delivery service to almost any point in the state," Bill Hampel cited for example.
Hampel continued to explain that the growth in the company's territory is partly a response to the growth of many of its customers and their need to have a fuel and lubes dealer wherever they go.
Construction companies, for example, a significant segment of Hampel Oil's overall customer base, have to move from job to job and town to town. Because many con- tractors prefer to deal with the same vendor, Hampel Oil has to gear its own capabilities to be able to move to their various job sites. By being in so many places, Hampel Oil saves its customers money.
"The way a customer saves money is our commitment to reliability of delivery service," Bill Hampel explained. "One of the most costly things a customer can experience is downtime. And one of the things that would create downtime is if they were out of fuel or out of lubricants. So we make a commitment in terms of people and serviceability that we're going to be there when the customer needs us - so they don't have that downtime, either by being out of product or inadequate petroleum equipment to meet the solutions. That's how we save the customer money."
Hampel Oil offers delivery to the entire state of Kansas, Oklahoma and parts of Missouri. Regular, weekly truck deliveries run to all points in the state. Next-day delivery of products is available in the Wichita and Kansas City metro areas.
With its geographical diversity has come also customer diversity. Instead of focusing on just one industry, Hampel Oil Distributors provides product to several. Construction companies, manufacturers, industrial-based firms and basically any entity that operates heavy equipment is a potential customer of today's Hampel Oil Distributors Inc.
"What we're attempting to do is become as diverse as possible so that we don't rely on just one area of business," Bill Hampel said. "A lot of industries are pretty cyclical, so we try to insulate ourselves from that as much as possible."
Instead of having to be overly distracted by any business fluctuations in any given market, this layer of insulation, so to speak, allows the company to focus more intently on its service aspects.