Data Trail

At The Speed of Commerce

The following article appeared in Recycling Today.  www.recyclingtoday.com.

Data Trail

Data. Scrap metal recyclers have plenty of it to track during a typical business day, from inventories to freight charges and even rolling stock. The data trail starts at the scale house with incoming scrap material and grows in complexity as the material travels through the yard for processing and then into outgoing trucks and gondola cars for delivery to various end users. If all goes well, the information is distilled into various tidy reports that managers find useful.

Computer software can help recyclers manage this diversity of information accurately and easily, allowing a single entry at the scale house to filter through the software’s various components and into the reports recyclers count on to manage their businesses successfully.

WISH LIST. It’s this type of point-of-scale-entry system that recyclers find beneficial. George Kane of 21st Century Programming, Long Beach, Calif., says recyclers are interested in transporting all of the information associated with a scale weight in one entry step, eliminating data entry redundancies and reducing the possibility for error.

"It cuts down on your overhead, and it provides data that is not available in a rapid view when you have to do things manually," Kane adds.

Recyclers also are concerned with transaction speed. "One of the primary things that they are looking for is a rapid means to handle retail and/or industrial purchases," Joe Floam of ScrapWare Corp., Rockville, Md., says. "They want to be able to get that scale transaction done very quickly."

But speed means little without accuracy; therefore, recyclers also seek information on un-invoiced shipments and weight discrepancies from their software, Floam says.

All of this data can be delivered neatly using various reporting functions. John Underwood, president of Systems Alternatives International LLC (SAI), Maumee, Ohio, notes that recyclers demand a high degree of sophistication from these reports and their business systems.

"They want to see integrated freight through their shipment processes. If they are an exporter, they want to see multiple freight costs that can be prorated against multiple items on a shipload," Underwood says. Recyclers are also after sophisticated inventories that detail multiple-production layers and shrinkage, he adds.

For some recyclers, the Internet is growing increasingly popular as a means of interfacing with data and generating reports, because it allows management to access reports without having extensive knowledge of the business systems themselves, Underwood says.

The Internet also enables recyclers to communicate information to their trading partners. Using software from Holland, Ohio-based Shared Logic, a recycler’s trading partners can look at the status of their accounts, shipments and related data.

This same software also enables recyclers to capture documents produced by the system, storing them for future reference. "For example," Shared Logic’s Larry Smith says, "if you ship material to a customer, you are going to produce a bill of lading, a shipper and an invoice. You may want those three documents associated with the sales contract that you’re shipping against. Your customer might fax you a notification that they have received the shipment and weighed it. You may want to be able to scan that document into the system and have all of them associated together so you can look them up at some time in the future."

In addition to tracking crucial business transactions, recyclers also appreciate flexibility in their software.

Greg Williams of Williams Software, Los Angeles, is also president of Williams Recycling, a scrap yard in south central Los Angeles. Williams says he designed his software with the "anytime, anywhere, anything" philosophy, giving him and the other Williams Software users the ability to manage their businesses while away from their yards.

"The software is built for me. I don’t want to be tied to a seat," Williams says. "If I am away from the yard and I want to listen to or see our facility, I can come up on one of 20 different cameras and see any part of our facility," he says. "I can come up on any transaction and see exactly what they purchased, when they purchased it and how they purchased it." Williams Software also incorporates picture-recognition software, capturing the image of every driver who rolls across the scale.

Software, with its practicality and versatility, appeals to large and small scrap yards alike. Although they track the same essential business data, the systems grow more complex in direct relation to the company’s size.

SYSTEM SCALE. "It’s important to know if you are making money on the items that you’re buying or selling," Smith says.

Although small companies buy software with the intention of managing their scale purchasing and shipping functions, Smith says, "they still take advantage of the fact that our software has all of that inventory tracking capability, and they use it."

"I think it makes sense for everybody to track their inventory," Underwood says. "With the fluctuation in this industry, you have to know what you have, what the value is and what you’re paying for it."

Kane says small companies might derive more benefits from knowing their inventories than large companies, "because the smaller company doesn’t have as much money to utilize."

Floam also says software that addresses inventory, accounting and loss prevention may actually be more important for the small yard. "A loss—inventory loss, internal theft, external theft—can have a disproportionate affect at a smaller company than it would a larger company that is moving more volume," he says.

Williams stresses the advantage of knowing a business’s cash position. "The bottom line is where the money is," he says. "Any point of the day, you should know your cash position; part of that is what you have in inventory."

Mike Recalis of Mayer Information Technologies, Markham, Ontario, Canada, says inventory-tracking software is a worthwhile investment for smaller yards, though they might be put off by the cost initially. "Managing your inventory, scale receiving and shipment, peddler trade, invoicing and accounting are requirements of a daily operation in today’s competitive market."

Regardless of size, scrap recyclers perform the same fundamental functions and rely on the same critical information in order to successfully manage their businesses.

The trend among multiple-location companies is to centralize incoming data at one location, the software manufacturers note.

DATA MERGE. "More and more multiple-location companies are requiring their data to be transferred back to the central location in real or near real time," Jackie Barlow of Paradigm Software, Timonium, Md., says. "In addition, they are looking for the system to be able to operate seamlessly in case of an interruption in the connection between the remote sites and the central location."

Paradigm’s software allows the remote sites to run independently of the central location, automatically updating the central location when a connection is available. "If the connection is not available, the remote location continues to process transactions," Barlow says.

Companies also have different reporting requirements based on their coporate structures, Floam says. "A product like ScrapWare has the ability to look at the performance of each individual yard or unit, as well as put it together in aggregate."

Multiple-location companies’ technical needs vary from those of single-location companies. "Whether it is a single-location or a multi-location company, there is a common need to maintain accurate and up-to-date inventories, supplier performance, common coding standards for grading, account setup, invoicing, etc.," Recalis says. "This is achieved by centralizing or consolidating this information from a corporate level to and from each multi-location. The key here is that there is a technical architecture that can support this business requirement."

Mayer provides this architecture through Mayer Polling Manager, which takes information from the localized databases, replicates it and removes it to the corporate database.

INTERNET ENABLED. While the Internet is a popular tool that recyclers and their customers use to interface with data, recyclers are still warming to the idea of Web-based software.

Web-based software typically functions as a subscription service. Data is housed with the software provider, not on the scrap recyclers’ in-house servers.

"What we have seen out in the industry is that the Web-based applications are great for the very large players in the industry," Floam says. "The smaller to medium-sized companies don’t have the IT infrastructure to manage something like that."

Barlow says traditional software remains popular "because it utilizes a richer user interface and data redundancy without having to rely on a consistent Internet connection for daily operation."

"I believe that traditional software will serve the scrap business for some time," Mayer’s Recalis says. "It is not because it is the best, but rather the adoption rate of Web-based software is much slower in the scrap industry compared to other industry sectors."

Recalis says the Web will become more predominant, however, for reporting, contact and account management and e-commerce, such as contract delivery statuses, billing information, shipment documents and advance shipping notices.

Underwood says the Web complements traditional business systems, but traditional software prevails.

Smith finds that recyclers are reluctant to house their data at remote locations. "Customers have decided they already have their own computers and networks, they may as well control their own systems at their own locations."

However, Williams is confident when it comes to the Internet. "Essentially, if you’re not thinking Internet, you’re thinking incorrectly," he says.

While the role of the Internet-based software is debatable, the mutable nature of software is constant. It promises to continue adapting to recyclers’ needs, further refining reporting functionality and streamlining data entry.

The author is assistant editor of Recycling Today and can be contacted via e-mail at dtoto@RecyclingToday.com.
 

The following article appeared in Recycling Today.  www.recyclingtoday.com.

At The Speed of Commerce

Recyclers, like all business owners, are employing computer technology to get the job done more quickly.

Technology continues to move at the speed of light (pardon the cliché), and it is no different in the recycling industry. Recyclers are demanding more detailed data to be delivered more quickly so they can try to keep ahead of the competition, prompting software developers to increase the capabilities of software systems.

Speed and accuracy continue to play an enlarged role in the recycling industry, as they do throughout the business world. Those who do not do pursue these two qualities may be left behind as technology continues to surge ahead.
 

THE TECHNOLOGY RACE

To Joel Erlichman, time is everything. The VP of marketing for Paradigm Software, with offices in Peoria, Ill., and Timonium, Md., says advances in technology are allowing solid waste and recycling companies to have more access to their data and to obtain it faster.

“I think it is very interesting that some of the larger waste hauling companies are getting their lunch eaten by some smaller up and coming companies,” he says. “The younger companies are more quick to rely on technology and implement technology. What it means is they get their numbers quicker and are a much more nimble company.”

Erlichman says software was once used only at landfills where the volume of materials made it necessary. But currently, material recovery facilities (MRFs) offer one of the fastest growing segments for growth in software use. “They are realizing that if they are doing 10 to 15 grades of materials and multiple trucks, why do multiple transactions? You can have one ticket at the end,” says Erlichman.

The shift in the demand for software has gone from the immediate need for a system, such as in the Y2K scare, to a more long-term and focused look at business and specific needs.

Streamlining the business process is one of these more long-term operations concerns for software used at recycling facilities. “We have a number of people who are implementing ‘stand and dump’ procedures where the truck never leaves the scale,” he says. “It is really automating systems. You could possibly double capacity just by automating”

Efficiency and streamlining operations can make a difference, although some may be skeptical of what technology can offer until they can see the results for themselves. This is true on the scrap metal side as well as on the solid waste/MRF side.

“Most companies believe they have a very efficient paper system,” says Rob Horan, president, Mayer Information Systems, Toronto. “But, they spend a lot of time building reports from multiple data sources, accounts, scale measurements. The thing that we have done is that we encompass all of those reporting requirements and can track almost every item of data you can imagine.”

The capability to track different types of data from multiple sources and locations can be accomplished by the appropriate software system for the particular company. Horan says he often finds the amount of work done being done offline at some companies is time consuming and massive.

In the scrap metals segment, the increasing number of materials and grades handled is making it necessary to keep accurate data records. Organization is the key to this task, something most likely pen and paper can not match against a functional software program.

Erlichman agrees. “Time and customers are changing,” he says. “Companies are processing more and more materials and the ability to handle an unlimited number of grades is needed.”

Previously, some software could handle about 50 different grades of materials. Currently, some programs can handle more than 32,000 different grades of materials. “Some of this technology is bringing us better ways to do things and better methods,” Erlichman says.
 

INTERNET INVASION

As the Internet continues to infiltrate almost every aspect of our daily lives, so it does the recycling industry. The Internet is making it possible to affordably link offices in different locations together so data can be shared by a variety of people.

“The technology has supported this type of Web-based interaction and it is now becoming more widespread,” says Jerry Martz, senior consultant with Systems Alternatives, Maumee, Ohio. “There is more use of the Internet and higher expectations about using it.”

Offering capabilities over the Internet is an option that many software companies are making available to recyclers. Web-based products are becoming more common as features and options continue to grow and develop.

“I see that the scrap industry has been a very low-tech industry for many years and I think it is just awakening,” Horan says. The explosion in e-commerce and B2B by recycling and brokerage companies is just one example of this.

Features now coming online include the ability for vendors to track and monitor data. The information, such as materials weight, can be immediately delivered via the Internet to vendors as soon as the truck rolls off of the scale. The information can also be fed into vendors’ systems so there is no manual data input.

The elimination of double data entry is one of the selling points of having data automatically sent to a specified location, such as a vendor, says Alissa Tilson, manager of product development for Custom Business Information Systems, Atlanta. “There is definitely the desire out there because it eliminates the double entry and someone having to do that.”

Integration can save time and make information instantly available to vendors, suppliers and mills, she says.

And just as in retail stores, hand-held scanners are now entering the scrap yard. Containers can be scanned and tracked for pick-ups and deliveries and data can instantaneously be input. “There is far more use of tag IDs and bar codes,” Paradigm’s Erlichman says. “A lot of our clients are taking advantage of those ways to track products better.”

Other features aiding recyclers include “added-value” features, such as producing maps of particular routing areas, says Larry Smith, executive vice president, Shared Logic, Holland, Ohio. The ability of software to handle graphics such as digital pictures is something else that can offer a driver more detail about a particular drop-off location.

An example of the integration of software and the Internet includes an alliance between PaperExchange, Boston, and MAJIQ Systems and Software, Redmond, Wash. Users of MAJIQ software can integrate it with the PaperExchange Web site. PaperExchange registrants using MAJIQ software can integrate the features of both the software and PaperExchange.com to one program accessed online at the site. Recyclers seeking this feature must already have MAJIQ software installed and in use, although about 80% of registered PaperExchange users already use MAJIQ software.

Jordon Berley, business development, Elixer Group, MAJIQ Software, says he foresees “delivering a myriad of services to our mutual customers and continuing integration with PaperExchange.com. At this juncture, we are enabling users of our Elixer software the ability to offer for sales all grades and types of paper on the PaperExchange trading floor. Buyers of paper will then have ‘real-enough time’ and up-to-date access to the inventories offered.”

Integration between Web sites and software programs is an important factor with online access to data, says Joe Floam, president, ScrapWare Corp., Gaithersburg, Md. “What people want to is to be able to work with these exchanges without having to re-key everything in,” he says. “If it is going to be cumbersome to use these sites and they have limited integration with software, then I don’t think a particular Web site is going to have success.”

Streamlining use between both software applications and Web sites will be one of the key determining factors of success, Floam says. And while some may be worried that B2B Web sites may drive traditional brokers out of business, Floam says that will most likely not happen.

Other options for managing business transactions online include subscription-based services that allow both the vendor and customer to access information. Some of the advantages of these systems are that no on-site web servers are needed, as well as no firewalls or Internet databases are necessary to use the services. Access can include product and service information, contact status and position, delivery status and payment information and status. Mayer Information Technology has begun offering a subscription-based service called “e-materials.”

Systems Alternatives also offers a similar package that does not require the IT structure typically required. Application Service Providers (ASP) is configured so that brokers and recyclers can communicate through the Internet and can actually rent the system. Systems Alternatives hosts the server computer for clients and is configured for remote access. The Internet option includes software being made available to all licensed users across a network. All processing functions are handled by the SAI server. A dependable Internet connection is required, as with all packages offering similar features and functions.

Managing data online can be a more viable option for those businesses that do not have the capabilities to host a server locally and are looking for the option of accessing data from locations other than just the office.

Although accessing data online at multiple locations does have many advantages, there can also be security issues that could be overlooked in the name of speed and technology. “There are a lot of concerns that transactions across the Internet are not safe,” says Larry Galbraith, vice president, Klarmann & Partner, Audubon, Pa. “It is still a legit concern because even though the technology is there, [users] may not be aware of all of the things they need to make sure that their data is locked up. If you have a full-time system on the Internet there is always the chance that someone could hack into it.”

Exchanging security of data for speed and convenience may be a choice some recyclers have to make when it comes to using software via the Internet. With using software applications through the Internet still in the infancy stage, only time will tell if the threat of hackers and the integrity of data are compromised by the Internet.
 

NOT QUITE CONVINCED

Although the Internet and computers in general are a part of practically every facet of life, from buying groceries online to purchasing a car, some recyclers are still not convinced of the benefits of software applications. Custom Business Information Systems’ Tilson says she has observed that while many recyclers are realizing that managing a business using software and often the Internet can be profitable, others still hesitate. “I think we have noticed that the Internet has not penetrated many recycling companies yet,” she says. “They are a little wary of relying on that technology. Issues such as security and reliability have come up.”

Although Tilson says the recycling industry may be slightly behind in implementing new computer technology in some cases, new people coming into the industry may bring it with them. “I think it will gradually get there, just a little slower than other industries.”

Features that are popular for recyclers such as e-mailing reports rather than faxing them are still met with skepticism by some. “They’re just a little hesitant because they are not sure,” Tilson says.

But as facilities handle a wider array of materials and the demand for accuracy and timeliness of information increases, software programs will continue to be a necessary tool for the recycler.  

 The author is the associate editor of Recycling Today. She can be reached at mgoodrich@recyclingtoday.com.