Concrete Colossus and CementView Software
A mega, Midwest-based concrete and construction corporation faced limited inventory visibility at their central dispatch. Non-stop silo climbing and tape measure dropping resulted in an inaccurate, time-consuming process for the suppliers’ workers—not to mention the potential safety hazards it involved.
A Demand for Centralized Monitoring
Dispatch needed real-time inventory oversight of ten local plants—plus additional remote plant locations—to keep up with the demand for cement powder and fly ash. Improved logistics between the cement plant and the batch plants were essential to ensure all locations were running efficiently.
Two full-time workers scheduled and routed trucks for the ten local plants situated around the metropolitan area, as well as the remote plants. They were overwhelmed. BinMaster was up to the challenge of providing a solution for the company’s complexities.
Logistical Challenges
Each batch plant location had between five and eight silos containing Type I cement powder, IPF, or fly ash. Fly ash for all ten plants was supplied primarily by a local power plant, while the Type I powder and IPF was ordered from a single cement plant. Their trucks held about 32 tons of material per load. When these trucks made a delivery, it was critical to ensure there was enough space for an entire truckload to fit into a silo. Coordinating these variables was crucial to prevent both companies from losing time and money.
Non-Contact Radar Relief
Nathan Grube, BinMaster VP of Sales, recommended 80 GHz non-contact radar level sensors for the corporation to continuously measure silo levels without climbing.
The plant’s maintenance staff pre-wired their silos. BinMaster`s in-house technical services team was able to get commissioning done in a day or two per location.
Over time, 58 silos were outfitted with NCR-86 sensors, along with rotary-level indicators for redundant high-level alerts. Since the silos fill up very quickly—in as little as four to five hours—DPM-100 digital panel meters were added for allow local access to bin level data.
A BinCloud® gateway was installed to communicate measurements from the sensors to the DPM-100s without extensive wiring. Custom cabinets housed multiple digital panel meters, offering silo data in a centralized location.
With these integrated solutions, truck drivers—as well as anyone at the plant—could check head space in the silos at any time. The drivers could load silos and empty trucks with confidence, knowing the full amount of material would fit.
Software Takes the Solution Full Circle
Real-time inventory levels at every batch plant were essential to keep up with each plant`s rapid-fire pace. Access to CementView remote monitoring software was provided to the corporate dispatch headquarters and at each plant. With everyone looking at the same data, inventory discrepancies became a thing of the past.
Now all on the same page, dispatchers, drivers, and plant managers could set priorities to reduce out-of-stock events and emergency deliveries. With CementView software, dispatchers could monitor and order materials for multiple locations. Meanwhile, plant managers accessed inventory information for just their location.
The users could view and sort bins by material, set automated alerts, look at trends, and easily generate usage reports.
A Rock-Solid Result
The concrete company stated they "couldn’t afford to run out or risk messy overfills." They no longer have to deal with the risk of climbing in volatile Midwestern weather.
Upon system installation, the company`s workers also expressed they "really like the visualization of what’s going on."
"They can look at data for all locations, just one location, or just bins that need to be filled,” stated Nathan Grube. "And since their plants are so active, they get updates every ten minutes. Workers recognize the value of technology, especially while plants are faced with trying to do more work with fewer people."