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Brazilton KS | We have been struggling with the same issues here. Each year we have got a little better, then this year we changed our system at the scale and sort of fell back a step. Just yesterday we had a discussion on how to improve for next year. In the past, we have used an axle scale with a printer at the bins. It provides a ticket with time stamp whenever it is crossed. These weights were recorded on a simple ledger sheet in the scale house, along with truck number, driver, field, and time/date. We had that system down to where it worked pretty well. This year we installed a full truck scale, with displays which could be read from the cab. We put ledger sheets in the trucks for each field, and the load could be recorded without getting out of the cab. The problems we encountered: No handy source of time in the cab. Chance of lost sheets. Proper sheets not getting printed and in the trucks in time when plans changed midday. Records becoming too old before they were handled, makin it difficult to mentally reconstruct situations which were questionable. Lack of a well established, concrete field name system. All these issues need to be considered and addressed prior to our next harvest season. I'm sure we can take what we have now and improve on it. One simple thing that I think would have nipped all of our problems in the bud is if we had established a regular routine which processed the information in a timely manner. If the sheets were handed in daily, and processed into EXCEL at that time, anything which didn't look right could be easily figured out by simply asking the people involved. When you start processing the information 20 days later, it's not so easy to do that.
I have talked to several friends who have dealt with similar problems. One, who handles a considerably more complex operation then ours, told me of his procedure. He is always in the field, so he is the first step. He records every truck unit number, time, and source when it leaves the field. Their grain cart operators have scales and record weight and origin when they put it on the truck. Their trucks weigh at the bins, and generate a ticket there with time/weight/farm/destination etc. I would think with the redundancy in his system, coupled with the timestamps and identifications on everything, he should be able to go through at the end and figure out any mistakes without too much trouble. The problem is that he generates excess paperwork which could be percieved to be "unnecessary" and lead to problems, however I am thinking that we will go to more of a double-entry system similar to his. Another friend who also has several factors adding complexity, such as multiple ownerships being run by the same operating entity, and multiple bin sites, uses a system similar to ours, however they turn in all tickets each morning, and have a full time office manager who takes care of the information immediately. I don't think they have much trouble.
So summarizing, I think the most important things to make the system work well will be 1)accountability through name, initials, or number identifying the driver. 2) prompt handling of the information. 3)Established system of identification for fields, available to anyone who needs it at any time. 4) This may be the most important.....,absolute commitment of management to the goal of following protocol. I should note that my experience indicates that the likelihood of an information problem seems to be directly proportional to the "rank" of the person involved. The employee who is driving every day and who has been given clear instructions will be able to produce documentation which is as good as his instructions. A lot of problems seem to arise when someone not normally driving trucks dumps one, and either is not adequately familiar with protocol, or thinks he knows what is "really needed" and what is "unnecessary" and does not complete the forms properly. I've been guilty of this myself, but as the one who ends up ultimately having to figure out the riddles in the end, I learned the first year that I best follow the procedure as layed out. | |
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grain records...delivery reciept... tracking system???
