Increased efficiency for UK lime producer
New driver-operated weighbridges and bespoke software from Avery Weigh-Tronix are helping to streamline the weighing and invoicing processes of Singleton Birch Ltd.
The company’s Melton Ross site has operating facilities on either side of a road. The main manufacturing site has four kilns, each of which can produce up to 100,000 tonnes of lime a year. Stone is extracted and processed from a quarry on the other side of the road.
Before upgrading the site, the only weighbridges available were on the opposite side of the road to the quarry and required full-time operators. Each lorry would visit a weighbridge before and after loading, crossing the road each time. If the vehicle was overloaded it would need to have some of its load removed and then return to be re-weighed before leaving the site with a safe and legal load.
When the company installed a new sales order processing (SOP) system called Weighsoft to improve their processes they also decided to upgrade their weighbridge capability. Avery Weigh-Tronix installed two new weighbridges next to the production site and developed bespoke software to interface with the company’s new system.
The SOP system schedules jobs and exports the information to the weighbridge software. With the new system a driver swipes a card on a console at the unmanned weighbridge. This captures information about both the vehicle and the haulier. The driver is then instructed what material to load.
The vehicle’s tare weight is recorded before it enters the site for loading. On leaving, the weighbridge system records the gross weight and calculates and records the net weight. It then issues a ticket detailing the information for the customer and haulier’s records. Finally, the weighbridge software collates the information and exports it back to the SOP system, which then produces an invoice.
If the vehicle is overloaded the driver is not issued with a ticket and must return to remove some of the load. Only when the vehicle is within its legal weight limit will a driver receive the ticket to leave the site.
Avery Weigh-Tronix will be assisting management at Singleton Birch to upgrade their other weighbridges. These will also be driver operated and will offer additional functionality. The software will be programmed to report on several different bulk and bagged products. It will also include information about the customer’s required weight for shipping and allow for product to be returned if too much is ordered.
For further information contact Avery Weigh-Tronix on tel: (0870) 905 0061; fax: (0870) 900 0366.
