If you’ve recently driven past a gas station or garden centre and spotted a new machine outside, you’ve likely seen London’s new self-serve propane exchange. Meet My Propane Buddy (MPB), the outdoor propane vending kiosk that was engineered, built and powder-coated right here in London.
Traditional propane exchange relies on a staff member unlocking a cage, retrieving a fresh tank, and taking your old one off your hands. But this model has been plagued with inefficiencies, especially after hours or during peak times when no one is available to assist. Enter My Propane Buddy (MPB): a self-serve, unattended propane vending machine that lets customers exchange tanks any time, day or night. This new kiosk could change the way Canadians (and eventually consumers abroad) refill their BBQ tanks.
SLEEGERS, a longtime London-based manufacturer specializing in pressure vessels and fuel systems, saw an opportunity to modernize the system. Upgrading propane exchange for outdoor, unattended use wasn’t as simple as slapping a touchscreen on a metal box.
“All of the cabinetry is designed and manufactured at SLEEGERS with our lights-out laser and press brake technologies,” says SLEEGERS President Dan Granger. "They're powder-coated with our customized multi-step process that provides long field life performance against the elements.”
Each unit is certified by an independent third-party to ensure it meets the rigorous safety standards required for propane—no small feat when your kiosk might be sitting in a parking lot during a January freeze or July heatwave.
“London was the perfect place to create the new product. The city provided a unique mix of skilled labour in software development, engineering and metal fabrication that made scaling MPB a local affair,” says Granger. “We were able to source software development skills, engineering skills and fabrication skills to support this evolving product.”
There’s also the community of retailers, many of whom were eager to add propane exchange but lacked the staffing support to manage the old cage-based systems. MPB changed the game for them.
“We identified many site operators that would like to offer propane exchange but could not provide the labour support needed to service customers via the conventional “cage-based” process. They had consequently avoided that offering to the detriment of customers frequenting their sites,” Granger explains. “With MPB, customers were able to service themselves very quickly without waiting for an attendant to become available, certainly a benefit from the customer satisfaction perspective. A labour savings for the site operator and a service speed improvement for the customer”
That means once a power source is connected, the rest (inventory tracking, maintenance alerts, transaction processing) is handled remotely by MPB. Retailers just get to offer a valuable service, no management required.
“As the machines are web-enabled, the site operator provides a power source to the machine and the rest is up to MPB,” says Granger. “This is a vehicle for a site operator to provide a service to their customers without the need for administration or management of the process.”
While you may have only recently noticed the machines popping up around town, they’ve already been deployed by the thousands across U.S. customer networks and a few hundred in Canada. The buzz is growing, and interest has come in not only from other provinces, but also from the U.S. and even as far as Australia.
And with North American patents locked in, SLEEGERS’ innovation is poised to fuel further growth—literally and figuratively—right from home.
“We hope rising interest leads to more manufacturing volume right here in London,” says Granger. “It’s a way for us to not only showcase what our team can build, but how we can lead in smart, automated retail.”
For customers, it’s convenience. For retailers, it’s labour savings and happier patrons. For London? It’s another notch in the city’s growing reputation as a hub for product testing, advanced manufacturing and industrial innovation.
With sleek design, smart tech, and a solid sense of timing, My Propane Buddy is more than just a machine—it’s a sign of what’s possible when local expertise meets a real-world need. Keep an eye out: the next time you exchange your propane cylinder; you might just be using one of London’s finest exports.
