Streamlining Weighing With Automated Truck Scale System
Summary
KapStone Paper and Packaging makes unbleached kraft paper and high performance lightweight liner board. Their Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina plant, set on the banks of the Roanoke River, runs 24/7 with approximately 430 employees producing over 470,000 tons of paper per year. The Fiber Supply department works with local vendors to provide the two million tons of round wood and wood chips to keep this massive plant running.
To capture their bulk material purchases, KapStone uses two Rice Lake concrete deck truck scales side by side. The scale indicators tie directly into their ALDATA transaction software to record all of their deliveries. A camera monitoring system is in use at the scale house. However, KapStone knew they could improve their process by upgrading this system and contacted Cross. “We were already working with Cross for calibration,” said Sheila Clary, KapStone’s Fiber Supply Procurement Lead Tech. “We did talk to another company about the
project, but they didn’t listen to our needs. We sat down with Cross and talked about what we wanted and together we developed a solution.”
Solution
• Two sets of loop detectors on each scale to monitor exactly where trucks are on the scale
• Four stoplights – one on each end of each scale – to cue drivers when to move
• Four remote displays to inform the driver of their truck weight
• Two self-service kiosks containing a touch screen display and a scanner
• Two printer kiosks
These were all integrated with their existing indicators and into their existing software. Now, drivers delivering wood chips scan themselves in with their barcoded gatepass which automatically records their inbound weight. They then use the touch screen to record their trailer number and take a ticket, before proceeding to one of the self-service truck dumpers. Once the load is dumped, they move onto the outbound scale, scan again and the net weight is recorded and completed ticket printed.
The Fiber Supply team is very pleased with their new system. Said Ms. Clary, “I’m so proud of this project. I think we’ve really done a good job to help our vendors.” She cites four main benefits of the new system:
Cost Savings
Under the old system, every truck was weighed in by an attendant. With the new system, the outbound remains totally unmanned and only the inbound round wood trucks require an attendant to check for quality. All together, KapStone estimates that it will save them about 500 overtime hours this year.
Efficiency
A chip truck weighs in, dumps its load and weighs out in approximately fifteen minutes. 24/7 delivery hours allows suppliers to come when they like or when traffic is light: early morning, late in the evening, weekends and holidays.
Vendor Relations
KapStone wants to be the customer of choice for their vendors. By offering convenient drop off hours and an easy to use interface, they can set themselves apart from the other mills in the area. The new scale system has become a marketing tool, to attract additional business from current vendors and entice new vendors to join them.
Fraud Prevention
Fraud is always a concern when such large volumes of raw materials are being purchased from so many different vendors. The automated system keeps everyone honest during the weighing process and records exactly what has been delivered, eliminating potential fraud and providing an impartial record of every transaction.
Cross continues to partner with KapStone to refine the project and Ms. Clary has been pleased with the products and services they have received. “I would use Cross again because of the good service and the good working relationship. So far, we haven’t run into anything that we couldn’t resolve together.”
She also appreciates the high level of continued customer service. “We thrive on being customer-service oriented. We have to be if we want to be the preferred mill in the area. We appreciate when we receive good customer service in return.”
For more information regarding KapStone Paper and the range of products and services they offer, please visit www.kapstonepaper.com. Cross is a precision measurement company with over 75 years in the industry. For more information about truck scales and all of the other services they offer, please visit www.crossco.com
