CompuWeigh Corporation • 203-262-9400 • http://www.compuweigh.com
Incobrasa Industries Ltd. crushes well over 100,000 bushels of soybeans a day to produce soybean meal, soybean hulls, refined soybean oil, and biodiesel at its soy processing plant in Gilman, IL (815-265-4803).
Yet for all that volume – 36 million bushels of soybeans annually – the plant’s truck and rail scales were only partially automated.
“We had automation on our two truck scales, inbound and outbound, which provided full ticket entry automation, but we’ve always had to enter tickets manually for our railcar and other scale transactions,” says Office Manager Craig Kief.
He, along with Logistics Manager Rick Eshleman, was in charge of updating scale management systems at Incobrasa and extending them to all truck and rail unloading and loading operations.
“We considered upgrades to our existing system and also looked at other scale management systems,” says Kief. “Ultimately, we selected one from CompuWeigh Corp.(Woodbury, CT; 203-262-9400),” says Kief. “They manufacture and program all of their own equipment, and we felt like they would provide an all-in-one solution.”
The goal was to extend scale automation to both truck and rail loading and unloading and to include liquid products as well as meal and hulls. Plant Manager Sergio Baruffi estimates the enhanced automation will allow the plant, which runs 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., to process up to 200 trucks per day. “We want to make life easier for the drivers and for our team,” he says.
As part of the project, Incobrasa added a third truck scale adjacent to two existing scales, a 70-foot-long Mettler Toledo pitless scale installed by Central Illinois Scale Co. This scale is dedicated to tanker trucks carrying liquids.
The scale automation system for inbound soybean trucks is designed to keep drivers in their vehicles. RFID tags are scanned as the truck pulls onto the inbound scale, and an outdoor touchscreen SmartTouch terminal allows the driver to select who is to be paid for the load and check in the load from the cab of their vehicles.
A SmartTalk intercom system with noise cancellation allows the driver to speak with Incobrasa staff.
An outdoor scale ticket printer is available for outbound trucks.
Railcars bringing in soybeans have their RFID tags scanned by a trackside SmartRead IV unit.
Bar codes are printed on product sample bags. This allows railcar product samples to be scanned with a handheld bar code scanner later in the facility lab, eliminating human error and mistakes related to manual entry.
Loadout of soybean meal and pellets via truck also is designed to keep the driver from having to leave the cab. The driver pulls onto the enclosed loading station and the RFID tag once again is scanned.
The driver then can enter the load order number into a SmartTouch terminal, as well as answer required FSMA (Food Safety Modernization Act) questions. Another SmartTalk intercom system with noise cancellation allows the driver to communicate with staff as needed.
Ticket printers are available at the outbound scale.
For outbound soybean meal and pellets via rail, a SmartRead IV unit reads RFID tags on railcars as they enter the loadout station. The system also scans bar codes on hatch seals which ties them automatically to the transaction record of the railcar being loaded.
A future Phase II over the next year or two calls for the installation of a new biodiesel loadout station for both railcars and trucks. The CompuWeigh system will be tied into biodiesel flow meters for truck and rail. This will eliminate the need to run those trucks over the truck scales.
When all is done, says Kief, drivers will be able to check themselves in and out of the terminal 24/7.
Ed Zdrojewski, editor
From the November/December GRAIN JOURNAL
Incobrasa Industries Ltd. crushes well over 100,000 bushels of soybeans a day to produce soybean meal, soybean hulls, refined soybean oil, and biodiesel at its soy processing plant in Gilman, IL
