Reprinted from Grain Journal September/October 2019 Issue
History
CompuWeigh is a Woodbury, CT-based manufacturer that was founded on innovation. Incorporated in 1978, the company launched into the grain industry with the introduction of the first computerized legal-for-trade bulkweighing system.
In 1981, the company developed the first totally enclosed bulkweighing hopper system, eliminating the venting problems of previous systems, which is now a grain industry standard, according to Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing Tim Ciucci.
CompuWeigh introduced another industry first in 1996 with SmartRead, the first automatic identification system of grain rail cars by their RF tags. By 2005, the company launched its flagship SmartTruck system, which is “a sophisticated, yet easy-to-use automated truck weighing system that allows grain elevators to process more trucks in less time, saving them and their customers time and money,” says Ciucci.
In the past 15 years, CompuWeigh has continued to innovate by introducing products to help grain facilities operate accurately and efficiently. Its SmartChoice system, for example, automatically directs inbound trucks to a specific dump pit based on a truck’s commodity and grade factors. Similarly, its SmartTime system developed in 2015 scans RF tags as trucks enter a facility to provide real-time data to iGMS, allowing it to compute the current wait time at the elevator and optionally post to a customer’s website.
More than four decades of innovation have helped the company grow to 40-plus employees. “Where we see the company going in the future is a combination of our biggest seller, the SmartTruck system, along with our plant automation division and bin inventory software,” explains Ciucci.
“We’re becoming increasingly active with these unattended elevators – complete ‘lights-out’ facilities – and that’s where you start mixing our main technologies, and it pulls together our whole company,” he says.
Tim Ciucci
Philosophy
CompuWeigh’s approach to data can be summarized in three words: timely, relevant, and actionable. “Timely data means we’re offering information on which a company can base its decisions,” Ciucci says.
To illustrate his point, he recounts a presentation given several years ago at Texas A&M University. In the presentation, he explained how CompuWeigh’s SmartTruck system scans RF tags at all of the various points in the facility a truck travels past, which allows managers to know the exact time it takes for a truck to get from one point to the next and how long they remain in any one spot.
“A professor approached me afterward and said this was one of the biggest developments he had seen in some time. As he explained to me, ‘One of the biggest mistakes I see plant managers make is making investment decisions based upon gut hunches and not on facts and real data,’” Ciucci recalls. “So we’re working really hard to provide information that is meaningful and actionable.”
In its mission to use technology to reduce the cost of doing business for facilities, it’s hardly boastful for CompuWeigh to claim it is leading the industry in many ways. Given that most of the company’s products are industry firsts that often set the benchmark for the competition, it’s clear that CompuWeigh’s success results from its efforts to stay a step ahead of the pack.
Ciucci says the company is leading the way on technology for unmanned, fully automated facilities. “I think there are some companies toying around with this concept, but we’re actually doing it,” he adds, noting that CompuWeigh very recently contributed to a lights-out facility for a customer.
SmartTruck RFID Technology with SmartView Message Board and Fixed Position Camera
Products
When it comes to automating grain facilities, CompuWeigh has a product for nearly any application, including:
• SmartTruck and SmartFlow technologies for automated truck scale and flow meter data collection and processing systems.
• Outdoor ticket printers and intercom systems with noise cancellation technology.
• Fabrication of bulkweigh and process hopper scales.
• Computerized bulkweigh and process hopper scale controls.
• PLC/HMI equipment automation.
• Computerized bin inventory software.
• SmartRead and Enterprise Transportation System for rail car and barge computerized tracking.
In addition, CompuWeigh is best known for its flagship SmartTruck automated processing system. SmartTruck utilizes a combination of long-range RF cards, outdoor driver touchscreen terminals, outdoor message boards, electronic photo eyes, video surveillance cameras, IP-based intercom systems, and a powerful computer system configured to a customer’s specific needs.
“The focus is on automating the whole process of truck receiving and loadout, reducing scale ticketing errors, and eliminating the need to employ staff anywhere other than the first point of contact,” explains Ciucci, “which is typically the probe station in a grain receiving application.
“One of the reasons SmartTruck is so successful is that it reduces the number of employees needed at a facility and reduces the errors on scale tickets,” he adds.
Rob Nieminen, contributing writer
SmartTruck Lite RFID Truck Processing Terminal
Company Info
Woodbury, CT
203-262-9400
Robin Sax, Chief Executive Officer
Alex Oleynikov, VP of Engineering
Tim Ciucci, Senior VP of Sales and Marketing
Products & Services
Bulk Weigh Scales
Scale Control Systems
RFID Truck Processing Systems
Plant Automation
Bin Inventory Software
