Exploring a new inventory management strategy
Load volume scanners are available in portable, semi-portable and fixed gantry models to best suit an application. Photo courtesy of Loadscan
If your customers are purchasing crushed stone, sand, gravel or any other aggregate in bulk volumetric quantities, shouldn’t you be managing your inventory in the same way?
J. McKinnon Development, based in greater Central Florida, operates several sand pits and relies on a load volume scanner to accurately track every yard of sand that leaves its sites. J. McKinnon’s system, from Loadscan, utilizes laser scanning and RFID technologies, combined with software, to create 3-D model images of trucks to measure the exact volume of material loaded into a truck or trailer bin.
“With Loadscan, we’re getting an accurate volume and we can represent exactly what we’ve loaded on that truck, nothing more, nothing less,” says Lawson Lamar, vice president of J. McKinnon who enjoys the simplicity and convenience of the system. “We sell in volume, we should measure in volume. That’s exactly what we’re doing.”
Load volumes are traditionally computed from bulk densities (mass/volume ratios), but this method can be inaccurate, according to Lamar. It can also be labor-intensive and time-consuming for a contractor receiving product purchased by volume measure to manually level and check each truckload.
“Prior, we were counting carbon copy tickets, scanning and recording them into [Microsoft] Excel,” Lamar says. “This was an extremely time-consuming process. [We’ve] taken what used to be hours and streamlined it down to mere minutes.”
According to Lamar, its new system has become an essential tool in the operation.
“[It’s] as essential as the loaders that are loading our material,” he says. “It’s been an essential marketing tool. Our consumers know they’re paying for what they’re getting and nothing more or less.”
All of J. McKinnon’s load volume scanners are connected wirelessly to an overview software.
“I can be anywhere and see each one of our locations, what our load count is for the day and how we’re actually loading those trucks.” Lamar says.
Information for this article courtesy of Loadscan.
About the Author: Allison Kral
Allison Kral is the former senior digital media manager for North Coast Media (NCM). She completed her undergraduate degree at Ohio University where she received a Bachelor of Science in magazine journalism from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. She works across a number of digital platforms, which include creating e-newsletters, writing articles and posting across social media sites. She also creates content for NCM's Portable Plants magazine, GPS World magazine and Geospatial Solutions. Her understanding of the ever-changing digital media world allows her to quickly grasp what a target audience desires and create content that is appealing and relevant for any client across any platform.Subscribe to Pit & Quarry
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