CASE STUDY – COURTESY OF GRAIN JOURNAL
A driver uses the CopmpuWeigh SmartTruck system at the scale of the Flint Hills Resources’ ethanol plant in Arthur, IA.
FLINT HILLS’ PLANTS BENEFIT FROM COMPUWEIGH’S SMARTTRUCK
Flint Hills Resources is seeing positive returns from installing CompuWeigh’s SmartTruck system at its ethanol plants.
Kevin Clausen, general manager of grain merchandising and trading for all seven Flint Hills Resources’ ethanol plants, said CompuWeigh’s SmartTruck has been installed at plants in Fairmont, NE; Menlo, IA; Arthur, IA; Fairbank, IA; and Camilla, GA and will be installed in Shell Rock and Iowa Falls, IA, in 2018.
“Installing SmartTruck is part of our focus on improving the customer experience at our plants,” Clausen stated. “We strive to make it as easy as we can for our corn and co-product customers to get in and out of our facilities with speed and accuracy.”
Clausen said the company looked at several companies before deciding which truck automation system to install.
“CompuWeigh’s SmartTruck technology is the best fit for our business and the most suited for creating value for our customers.,” he noted. “Once we identified CompuWeigh as the industry leader, we moved forward.”
The SmartTruck system has been installed for:
• Corn receiving by truck
• Corn receiving by rail
• DDGS loadout by truck
• DDGS loadout by rail
• Modified wet cake loadout by truck
• Corn oil loadout
• Corn syrup loadout
• Truck ethanol loadout
Return on Investment
The return that Flint Hills Resources is receiving on its investment has several elements, Clausen stated. “We want to be the destination of choice for our customers and we put a high value on the accuracy of our transactions and focus on the efficiency of the system,” he said. “Also, we recognized that CompuWeigh would improve the traffic flow at our facility. Furthermore, Flint Hills Resources’ customers gave the company feedback that CompuWeigh was a user-friendly interface as well as being efficient and accurate.”
Clausen said that one of the key selling points of the SmartTruck system is that it allows a truck driver to remain in the truck to complete the transaction, which promotes safety and efficiency. “SmartTruck allows us to fully track the exact flow of the trucks coming and going at the plants,” he said, “and to track how long they are on the grounds.”
It also helps plants comply with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) regulations because drivers can answer prior load declaration questions in their trucks.
Clausen stated that other advantages of CompuWeigh’s SmartTruck include:
Simplicity. “Because the system is so easy to use, it makes training a smoother and more efficient process. It’s a simpler system from front to back than we were using and the other systems we looked at.”
Speed. “The intuitive nature of the system automatically helps our employees become more efficient when they are serving the customer. The touch screen and the digital prompts show drivers when to advance from the probe to the scale and onto the plant and ties all the steps together.”
Truck history. The SmartTruck system can use the truck’s history, or the memory of prior loads hauled by each truck, to speed up the transaction process, which can improve truck flow. It also can tell if the truck meets highway weight limits to more efficiently handle the transactions.
Safety. “We’re always looking for ways to improve the safety around our plants and there’s significant value in safety, efficiency, and accuracy that SmartTruck provides.”
For example, Clausen said, because SmartTruck allows drivers to remain in their trucks, that means they don’t have to cross traffic to get their receipt from the office.