Cane Scales

IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING THE INSTALLATION OF A CANE SCALES COMPUTER SYSTEM IN YOUR SUGAR MILL, CONTACT US TO SEE HOW WE CAN HELP YOU.

This system is installed in 4 of the 6 Sugar Mills in Florida.

THE PROGRAM IS AVAILABLE IN SPANISH. 

Cane Scales is a program designed for Sugar Mills. It can run by itself (just perform its main function) or it can run as part of a broader system that incorporates the Laboratory and/or the Agriculture program.

What we offer is a “Generic Cane Scales Program” with functionality already built in but that can be modified to incorporate your Company or Mill’s special needs (as reports, nomenclature, units of measure for the cane weight, different destinations, non numeric Unit Number, and anything that will mimic the way you have your actual system organized).

Its main function is to process the trucks and trailers coming loaded from the cane fields to dump their load (sugarcane) in the Sugar Mill: 

1. Identify the Truck and the Trailer.
2. Weigh them (gross weight). 
3. Subtract their tares to get the cane weight. 
4. Identify their origin (cane field where they came from).  

The Cane Scale program can process all that information manually or totally automated. It does not have to be modified to incorporate different automation steps. If the resources exist, the program will use them.

Let’s start with the Ticket:

If the ticket has a barcode with its number and there is a barcode reader installed in the system, the program will read the ticket number from the barcode. If there is no barcode, the program operator can enter it manually. The ticket will be processed independently of the way it was input.

With the Ticket number the program can retrieve additional information linked to the Ticket Number as Unit Number, Cane Field, Ramp, cane cut type (burned cane or green cane) and the truck number for the first load and the last load.

If you design a way to match the ticket number with a cane field (giving different batches of tickets with different sequence numbers to the units, for example), the program provides a table (The Active Cane Fields table) that is searched for a match in sequence and retrieves additional information linked to that ticket sequence.

If your system has no way to link the ticket number with other information, the computer operator just enters them manually making sure to leave the Active Cane Fields table empty.

If you later decide to incorporate this automation step, fill the Active Cane Fields table with the corresponding information. The program provides means to fill that table.

So, you can go from entering all related ticket information manually or you can link that information in the Active Cane Fields Table with the Ticket Number Sequence.

The Weight:

The program is ready to process the weight from a Digital Scale capable of sending a stream of characters to a serial devise. The stream of characters includes the weight, and usually information not exclusively related to the weight, as the time, the units of measure, if the scale is moving, etc.

If the Scale Indicator is installed to send that information to the program (through a Serial Port), the program will process that information. If it is not installed, the computer operator has to input the weight read from the scale.

As there are many different Digital Scales and Scale Indicators, the program will have to be modified to interpret the stream of characters that your scale has, unless it is the same as the program default. This is usually a simple modification.

The Unit:

The program provides means to fill a Units Table that contains your Units (numeric in the design) together with data on the rate you want to sample (laboratory sample), the cane quota you have assigned to that unit (if any), etc. When the computer operator enters that number or it is retrieved from the Active Cane Fields Table when the Ticket Number is input, the system retrieves that additional data.

If the Units Table is empty, the program simply accepts the Unit Number as correct, without retrieving any further information.

The Ramp:

Same as for the units, there is a Ramps Table containing the Ramp Number and their distance to the Mill. Whether you fill that information or not, the program will still work, but if it is not filled, no additional information will be available.

The Truck and the Trailer Numbers:

The program requires the Trucks Table and the Trailers Table with the list of trucks and trailers with their tares in order to compute the cane weight. Additionally there are fields to classify the equipment and to store the radio frequency tag number.

If a Radio Frequency Reader (Amtech) is installed in your system and connected to the Scale Computer, and the trucks and trailers have Radio Frequency tags attached in the appropriate position, the program will automatically identify them as they are processed in the scale. If there is no installation, the program will simply get the tares from the tables when the computer operator enters their numbers.

Again, as the RF Tag Numbers (or Id’s) depend on the design you select, the program will have to be modified to recognize your tag numbers, unless it is the same as the default given by the program. This is usually a rather simple task. Therefore, if you have the Radio Frequency system installed, the program will retrieve the Tag ID from the RF Reader, search the truck and the trailer tables, identify them and retrieve their tares. If no Radio Frequency system is installed, the computer operator enters the truck and the trailer numbers and the program will retrieve their tares.

Link to other related programs as Laboratory Cane Juice Analyses, Dumpers Program:

The program creates a table that will be used if it is linked to the Laboratory Sampling Program and/or the Dumpers Program.

ADDITIONAL BUILT IN FEATURES:

The Messaging System

The program provides a messaging system. You can set messages for trucks, trailers, and units.

A message for a truck will pop up when the truck is identified in the scale.
A message for a trailer will pop up when the trailer is identified in the scale.
A message for a unit will pop up when the ticket number retrieves the unit from the Active Cane Fields table or when the computer operator manually enters it.

Once the message displays, you have the option of removing it from the messages file (click cancel) or let it to pop up again the next time the truck, the trailer, or de unit get back to the scale (click OK).

The Reports:

Report of Cane Hauled by Unit

Report of Trucks working by Unit:

Truck Performance Report

List of Trailers for Night Grinding

This report goes directly to the printer.

The Viewers:

Cane Status:

Cane Hauled by the Hour

The Files:

There is a screen to manage each database table.

The Database:

The program database is a MS Access 2000 database.

Related programs

Laboratory Sampling Program 
               To process cane juice analyses

Laboratory Reporting Program
               To produce daily and weekly laboratory reports

Agriculture System
              To manage the growers, farms, cane fields, varieties, etc. from the point of view of the Sugar Mill (hauling), not the planting.

Management System 
              On line access to Scale data, Laboratory Data, Dumpers Data, and Agricultural Data.

The Dumpers Program
              To display the position of each truckload on the conveyors as they move to the crusher.

 Remember the Taring Program and the Editor.