From Manual to Electronic Docketing in an Unmanned Situation.

Transcription

1 From Manual to Electronic Docketing in an Unmanned Situation. 1 By Cobus van Vuuren: Aggregates Manager, Higgins Aggregates LTD. An invitation to travel with me and share our experience.

2 Contents: The way we were. Drawbacks of old system. Scope of project. Hardware. Software. File management. New issues Telemetry as a solution Operational issues solved and Final Outcome. 2 Measuring Wheel circa 1890 (Later version in background)

3 The way we were: Very basic stuff, the truck driver would go into the despatch office, and complete a triplicate self carbonated handwritten docket in a book. Top copy for himself, next copy for the office in town and the fast copy in the book as backup and site record of the transaction. The loader operator kept a tally sheet in the loader, on which he recorded load details, truck rego and supposedly checked against the docket book at night or if there was a query. Some of the drawbacks of this system as one can imagine would would be: 3

4 The way we were: Incomplete dockets Illegible handwriting Laborious checking at end of shift to match tally sheet with docket book! Wrong products could be loaded No immediate check customer valid or credit worthy? System based hugely on trust. 4 Clearly we had to do something.

5 Scope of the Project: Develop and introduce an electronic docketing system that will achieve the following: Reduce or eliminate errors on input Reduce office time to re-capture information, manually. Be reliable and accurate We also wanted something that would be Easy to use, specially for the truck drivers Reliable from a hardware perspective Affordable Formatable to suit our needs Easy to maintain and update truck, product, customer files etc. Easy to interface with our Unix based Accumen Accounting System. 5

6 Scope of the Project At that stage we had one weighbridge installation at our flagship site, Te Matai Road and several sites that sold by volume. The software supplied with the weighbridge did not meet our needs, and the decision was made to develop our own. With this decision came the need to select the appropriate hardware and where to put it. 6

7 Hardware Installation Our hardware installation: It had to be user friendly, ergonomically easy to use and secure. We ended up installing the unit in a standard double door steel cabinet, with fold down table, printer and screen at eye level for somebody standing up. Everything could be reasonably securely locked away at shift end. Photo to follow during presentation, showing cabinet and computer setup. 7

8 Software The software had to fit the above scope, and additional requirements were to keep it simple, to meet our credo, that if you can read and point your finger, you can operate the system. Using a mouse and simple selections on several menu screens, the driver would be led through the choices of truck registration, customer, job number, product and quantity required. We chose this in preference to touch screens, as they were and are still unreliable, and compared to a mouse very costly. 8

9 Software You could not proceed without making a choice. The system also had some artificial intelligence. The potential error level was reduced by linking trucks to customers, and customers to jobs, jobs to products etc, to reduce choices available to the driver. On the final screen the truck driver had the option to check his information, correct if necessary and then print a triplicate docket much the same as before, one for himself etc. 9

10 Software Cont.. The files had to be exported in an acumen format at the end of the days work into a folder that could be accessed either directly or remotely. What we needed now was either computer literate loader /plant operators, and/or a carrier pigeon to take the floppy to head office at the end of day. But we had difficulty teaching the birds to download the files to the floppy. We had achieved most of our objectives; getting phone lines to the computers would make remote access possible. And it was done. 10

11 File Management: At first we used a dialup program to collect the information daily. This involved somebody doing this and it took time. There had to be an easier way. Our I.T. department discovered a gem of a software program that could handle attachments in both directions. We could export our files daily, update the computer remotely and automatically, with little or no computer knowledge required on site. 11

12 File Management: cont. This completed the circle, the system was now self sufficient. Apart from delivering our daily sales in acumen format, we could do file exports in Excel format. This meant we could manipulate our information to give us all sorts of management indicators, truck turn around times, loading efficiencies, monitor sales, stock levels, customer activity, you name it, any time of the day. No more laboriously checking hand written dockets if needed to know anything, adding columns of figures. 12

13 New Issues But we still had one or two more problems. Customers without an RT or CB on our frequency, had no way of communicating their requirements to the loader operator. Getting out of the truck and presenting dockets to the loader operator introduced a number of hazards and injury risks which we were not prepared to accept. We were back to the limitations of being unsure of product, quantity or customer, and the loader operator once more completing a tally sheet. Errors turned out to be costly, as the customer is mostly given benefit of doubt and assumed to be right. We were back on our system of trust. 13

14 Telemetry as a solution But a solution was staring us in the face. Our loaders were fitted with bucket weighing systems, and these systems were capable of telemetry. No significant software available, and what was available could not be integrated with our software. A meeting of the minds were held and we decided that we would develop our own telemetry software. After all, the signals from the loader were not substantially different from the weighbridge, and we could make sure it integrated with our electronic docketing software. 14

15 Telemetry as a solution We could communicate between the loader and the weighbridge via wireless modems. As with project of this kind, you live and learn, and test the patience of your operators and workers. They find the bugs, and you sort them out. These included modems and aerials, signals to strong and too weak, dodgy connections, software bugs and fixes, operator training and resistance. 15

16 Final Outcome In the end, it was all worth it. We have a fully functional system that meets expectations. Once the driver completes his docket, the information is transmitted to the display on the loader, with truck, product type, quantity, customer and job number. As soon as the loader operator has loaded the truck, he completes his job, and the information is send back to the computer in the despatch office. 16

17 It has also solved a number of operational issues: Truck drivers can no longer enter the yard and hide behind stockpile having a break, blaming the operator for slow turn around time. As soon as the docket is completed, the system beeps in the loader, and the operator knows a truck has entered the yard. Our operator has accurate information on what is required. On completion, the job is send back to the computer. Trucks optimally loaded. No top ups or tip off s required. 17

18 Operational issues solved cont We can now easily see as often as we want what the accuracy of our loaders are. The correct product is on board. No truck drivers getting out of their trucks in busy yards, with no risk of ankle or back injury, or getting run over. Only valid customers get serviced. 18

19 Final Outcome cont. Software easily formattable for both applications. The system can check and warn on overloads, tracking of product supplied and overruns. Manage stock levels, price jobs, deliveries, and much more. On the non weighbridge sites the trade certified loading systems can operate like a weighbridge. Software easily formattable for both of above. And our accountants are happy. 19

20 Final Outcome cont. We have come a long way since we started five years ago, and we are happy that we have a robust and smoothly operating unmanned electronic docketing system, totally driven by our truckies and loader operators. Our thanks to them. My thanks also to the Higgins Group Directors for the free hand given to me in this project. And thank you for indulging me. 20