Westco Bilancia supply four vital Weighbridge Systems.

• 
• 7th January 2008
• Materials Handling
 

Four driver-operated weighbridge systems supplied to CORMAC by Taunton based Westco Bilanciai are playing a vital role in ensuring roads in Cornwall are kept free of ice and snow during the winter months. CORMAC is Cornwall County Council's direct labour organisation, which carries out a wide range of civil engineering and highway maintenance work, ranging from minor repairs to roads and footways, through to multi-million pound road building schemes.

The 9 metre, 50 tonne Eurodeck pit mounted weighbridges, which are located at Highway Depots in the Bodmin, Redruth, Saltash and Launceston areas, are used to weigh the gritting vehicles as they arrive and leave the sites, to record the amount of salt being used. The gritting operation, involving over 40 vehicles, is shared between CORMAC and their partner AccordMP, a new company equally owned by Accord and Mouchel Parkman.

Most gritting is done throughout the night so the swipe card initiated Self800 driver-operated systems, together with the additional security cameras, allow 24-7 secure access for drivers, without the need for constant supervision. When a vehicle arrives on the weighbridge, the driver swipes his card and the terminal records the inbound vehicle weight. After loading has taken place, the driver returns to the weighbridge and having swiped the card again, the net weight of salt leaving site is automatically recorded against the vehicle's details. The Self800's large touch control back-lit LCD display provides clear information, which is easy to use by the drivers.

Data from the weighbridges is downloaded weekly to a central PC at Bodmin operating Westco Connect software. This versatile package allows data to be collected from up to ten sites or weighbridges and the transactions from four weighbridges can be viewed on screen at any one time. Transaction data is stored in .CSV format, allowing it to be imported into spreadsheets including Access and Excel. One of the key features of the Connect software is the remote user file maintenance capability, which allows authorised personnel to manage key weighbridge operational features from a central location.

CORMAC's Supply Manager Tim Hack is very pleased with the overall operation of the system and as he concludes: "Ice and snow can be unpredictable so when the gritting vehicles are required on the roads, things can get hectic at the depots. Drivers can collect salt from any of the four sites and the Westco driver-operated system ensures weighing is carried out efficiently and quickly. The recorded data provides us with accurate weight versus vehicle information relating to salt leaving our depots, without the need for manual recording. This data is used to manage our salt stocks and raise invoices for our partner against the salt they use. It can also be used in conjunction with the GPS tracking data from the vehicles to provide a complete history of where and when the salt has been distributed. The file maintenance feature is extremely useful, allowing us to issue or delete vehicle access cards and update the system without having to visit individual depots."

Westco Bilanciai Ltd
Broadgauge House
Broadgauge Business Park
Bishops Lydeard
Taunton
Somerset
TA4 3RU
Tel: 01823 433411 
Fax: 01823 433334