July 17, 2019—Castrol announced a new gravity-fed engine oil dispensing platform called ePODS, or efficient premium oil dispensing system.
Benton said that the system leaves no excess oil in a used container.
“In other packaging formats, those last bits of fluid gets trapped in packaging," Benton said. "Because this is gravity fed, you get the maximum oil use.”
According to a video accompanying the product release, the system works a bit like an office water cooler, but with multiple five-gallon oil containers that Castrol calls pods. Press a button and the oil drains into a dispenser below, which can be removed to take over to the vehicle.
Each pod contains five gallons, and Castrol has made some of their most popular oils available from the start.
“Today, we have 38 different SKUs that are available in ePODS, but that continues to grow," Benton said.
Fully loaded, the stand is about six feet tall, and Benton said that it takes up about the space of a 55-gallon drum but dispenses four different grades.
Castrol is marketing the ePODS system mostly toward mechanical repair shops and quick lubes. For the latter group, Benton said it might make an ideal system for the quick deployment of lesser-used motor oils that still need to be on hand to serve customers.
“Even a very high-volume quick lube, there will be a place for ePODS for a certain kinds of SKUs that are slow-moving to them,” he said.
Images: Castrol
