Key points ..

Weighing as a tool for inventory management has major advantages - high accuracy, immunity to the effects of product foaming or dust, insensitivity to rat-holing and varying angles of material repose.

By combining weighing with remote telemetry, Nova Weigh has created a solution for users needing to measure and record material levels at any distance.  This knowledge enables better control of replenishment with savings in inventory and delivery costs. 

Some of the benefits are: ..  

·       Suitable for all types of product, liquid and solid including flammable materials requiring ‘intrinsically safe’ solutions.

·       Stock data can be accessed either at set-times or on demand.

·       Indication of which vessels are at refill or priority replenishment levels

·       Uses Microsoft Excel to provide simple links to client’s IT systems.

·       Weight data can be ‘trended’ to predict optimal replenishment times.

·       A choice of cellular or land-line data links.

·       Multiple vessels on one site can be monitored using a number of instruments networked to a single modem.

·       Other variables, e.g. storage temperature,  can be processed to extend the system functionality and benefits.

Remote Inventory Measurement by Telemetry 

There are many situations where stock levels need to be accurately monitored and the data accessed remotely.  Typical examples are ..  

·       Stock held ‘on-consignment’ at a user’s plant.  Increasingly suppliers are taken responsibility for maintaining stock at their key customers’ sites and have taken over the responsibility of maintaining the inventory at an optimal level.  They need accurate and timely data to efficiently implement a replenishment strategy.

·       Centralised inventory control.  Many major manufacturers have a central material control centre for several manufacturing sites.  Access to accurate information from the remote plants is essential to plan future orders

 Overview

Each Nova Weigh remote inventory system consists of five elements ..  

1.     Load Cell vessel weighing systems.  Nova Weigh’s solution is compatible with most weighing systems currently in use.

2.     Nova Weigh Series 4000 weight transmitters for each weigh-point to be monitored.

3.     A high-speed remote data modem, either Radio Pad design for cellular communication or land-line type.

4.     A second modem at the monitoring station.

5.     A data collection and management program running under Windows 95. 

A Choice of Cellular and Land-line Communication  

Nova Weigh’s approach is to allow both techniques so that the optimum approach can be chosen for an application. 

Where storage silos and hoppers are located away from conventional telephone line access, then the Radio Pad system is ideal.  It operates across a cellular network designed specifically for reliable data communication.                            

Functionality of the Monitoring Program  

Because the communication and monitoring program has been designed as a Windows 95 application, it can run as a background task on a computer which is being used for other purposes, e.g. stock control and ordering.

 At installation, the user can select either automatic data interrogation (with selectable time interval) or ‘on-demand’.

 Each weigh station has user two user selectable alarm settings.  Normally these would alert the operator that ..

 ·       The level has reached the normal refill level, or ..

·       The level has reached a point which requires priority replenishment. 

The operator is alerted to alarms via a ‘pop-up’ message box and audible alarm.

Data is stored in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.  This enables easy transfer to clients’ stock control programs. Trending of weight data is possible to help predict the ideal replenishment point.