Company Profile
CompuWeigh Corp.

Reprinted from Grain Journal March/April 2014 Issue

In harvest season, there are two timeless truths at play: time is short, and time is money. If a grain handler can’t process trucks that are in queue efficiently, profit margins begin to deteriorate quickly.

“During that time, if you have trucks lined up down the street, which happens many times, there’s no telling those farmers to come back tomorrow,” explains Tim Ciucci, Vice President of Sales for CompuWeigh Corp. in Woodbury, CT (203-262-9400). “Your only choice is to bring grain in faster, turn the trucks around faster, and in return, ship it out faster, because you’re going to run out of storage. You need to be turning inventory over as quickly as possible.”

It’s a scenario all too familiar to grain handlers, because, as Ciucci notes, nowadays it’s becoming more and more common to load out at 80,000 bph, up from 40,000 to 60,000 in the past. That’s why in recent years, so many grain handlers have turned to automation not only for loadout but for truck receiving, and why CompuWeigh just experienced its best year in the company’s 35-year history.

Ciucci says there are several reasons for the company’s recent success, many of which have to do with CompuWeigh’s fastest-growing product: SmartTruck Technology.

“Number one, producers want to keep drivers in their trucks,” says Ciucci. “The guy that owns the farm wants to get more loads in every day. He doesn’t want the [truck driver] waiting 30 or more minutes to drop off a load of grain. He wants him in and out in under 10 minutes. And to do that, you need to keep him in the truck and automate the process,” he explains.

SmartTruck Technology

To that end, CompuWeigh developed SmartTruck Technology in 2005 to enable grain handlers to process more trucks in less time and potentially reduce manpower. With SmartTruck, probe operators remain in control of collecting all load information (producer, splits, etc.) at the first point of contact (typically the probe station). From that point forward, the RF tag automatically recalls the truck at each subsequent station with no operator intervention.

SmartTruck utilizes a combination of long-range RF tags, outside message boards, electronic photo eyes, video surveillance cameras, IP-based intercom systems, electronic signature pads, driver’s license readers and a powerful computer system tailored to meet each customer’s unique mode of operation.

The entire truck ticketing process is automated by providing both clear visual (SmartView message boards) and audio (SmartTalk intercom) communication to the driver and probe attendant. Both combine to reduce errors and make the delivery process easier for the customer. Ciucci adds, “By SmartTalk eliminating nearly 85% of background noise, the conversation between the probe operator and driver dramatically improves and becomes very efficient.

“Understandably, inaccurate information into accounting will result in inaccurate information out of accounting,” says Ciucci. “So if the probe attendant can’t understand the driver, you’re setting yourself up for failure from the start. Intercom system technology is a really big thing for us. Nobody else has anything like this.”

Another part of CompuWeigh’s competitive advantage in the market, according to Ciucci, is that the company has made a strategic decision to focus strictly on improving operations and automation systems at the elevator and not on providing accounting systems. Whereas some accounting companies have dipped their feet into the waters of operations and automation, so to speak, CompuWeigh focuses efforts strictly on its core focus then imports and exports  data into the customer’s existing accounting system.

Ciucci adds, “We have interfaced with nearly every accounting system on the market and many times with multiple systems at a single facility.

“That’s really what makes CompuWeigh unique is that we focus on only these areas and not on writing accounting software,” says Ciucci. “We feel there is a real difference between accounting and automation-minded developers. By focusing our efforts on one aspect, we feel we have a better thought-out and more capable system to offer.”

CompuWeigh’s Automation Division also had its best year ever. “The secret to success is not working hard; it is working smarter,” explains Ciucci. “That is why so many of our customers are asking to tie SmartTruck Technology into plant automation, specifically at the pits. The goal is to run safely, efficiently, and with as few people as possible.”

Unique to CompuWeigh’s plant automation systems is that the scales and data management are completely integrated into the control system eliminating unnecessary computers and ensuring that information is supplied accurately to the accounting system.

Real-time bin inventory also is becoming a large product offering. In 2011, CompuWeigh introduced Enterprise Inventory System, a bin inventory system that allows elevators to replace manual chalk bin boards and provides upper management with visibility of remote operations. Ciucci says, “We see this product as becoming a focal point for elevators to automate around because accurate information is now so accessible.

A History of Innovation

Of course, CompuWeigh didn’t start out offering such a broad spectrum of innovative products, when it first incorporated in 1978 and introduced the first computerized legal-for-trade bulkweighing system for the grain industry. But its Compudraft 1000 product revolutionized the bulkweighing industry replacing old lever-beam scale systems with load cells and microcomputers. Then in 1981, CompuWeigh introduced the first totally enclosed bulkweighing hopper system, now a grain industry standard that eliminates the venting problems of previous systems.

“We hung our hat for years on designing high-speed computerized bulk weigh systems,” explains Ciucci. “And for years, we were well known in the industry for that and still are. People still come to us for that product, because it’s known to be user-friendly and the most accurate and fastest in the industry,” he says.

Product Timeline

A few of the many industry firsts that CompuWeigh, which today employs more than 20 people, has been known for throughout the years include:

1985 – The Compudraft 2000, a controller with no moving parts that set a new standard for accuracy and reliability at half the price of competitive products. More than 1,000 grain elevators and 85% of all U.S. export grain elevators installed this controller.

1994 –The Grain Management System® (GMS), the first Windows-based, NTEP-approved system for weighing on both platform and bulk weigh scales, is launched. Over the years, this system has been expanded greatly to include multiple scales running on one computer, grading, inventory management, accounting interface, and integration to plant automation.

1996 – CompuWeigh offers SmartRead, the first automatic identification of grain railcars from their RF tags. The accompanying SmartCar database contains all the grain cars in North America allowing CompuWeigh to calculate the optimum amount to load into each railcar automatically.

2010 – SmartChoice automatically directs trucks to the correct pit based upon current pit rules.

2011 – SmartPit provides the ability to sound an alarm, close a gate, or stop a leg, if a truck pulls into the incorrect pit.

Throughout the past 35 years, CompuWeigh has remained a dominant player in the grain industry, says Ciucci, by providing more than 60% of all the bulkweighing control systems in the United States. The company also has has a full range of bulkweighing and process hopper scales used for in-plant processing. “We are the only company that designs both the scale and the control system,” he says.

Ultimately, giving grain handlers the ability to process high volumes is what has helped elevate CompuWeigh to the level it’s at today. “We’re addressing the market by helping to turn trucks around faster, with less mistakes and getting loading out as efficiently as possible,” says Ciucci.

“We’ve had our best year in the company’s history this year. This is attributed the discipline to focus on what we do best and providing thorough consultation.”