Owners Dean and Melissa McBride explain how prioritising simplicity has helped them ensure technology has helped rather than hindered their operations.
Based near Bundaberg, McBride specialises in high quality sand materials with a focus on excellent, reliable service. Customers include concrete and asphalt plants, landscaping businesses, blockworks, and construction companies, with the options for delivered or ex-pit collection, as well as screened and unscreened product.
The company has utilised Topcon Loadmaster trade-approved loader scales for many years, serviced and supported by Australian distributor Aptella (formerly Position Partners).
Installed on two Hitachi wheel loaders, Loadmaster is a simple, user-friendly on-board weighing system that accurately measures the weight of every load. Customers and materials can be saved into the system to make recording loads for each job easy.
With a digital record of the weight and type of materials for each customer, McBride Sands finds it saves time and improves accuracy of information compared with paper-based records.
“Using the Loadmaster system keeps our trucks moving more efficiently,” Dean says. “Because the system is weighing during the load, there’s no delay so as soon as the truck’s full they can get going.”
McBride has now installed a printer box that enables drivers to pull up alongside it and tear off their docket without having to park up and go into the office. “It may seem like a small thing but removing the need for our drivers to stop and start to get paperwork really helps to keep everything moving,” he adds.
Operators are happy with the system and find it straightforward to use. “We don’t use all the bells and whistles that it’s capable of, for us it’s about keeping it simple and getting the fundamentals right consistently.”
Dean says using the loader scale technology gives him peace of mind for his trucks on the road. “You know the trucks aren’t going to be overloaded, so you’re minimising risk when travelling. If we get pulled up and inspected, or worst case one of our trucks was involved in an accident, we know we’re covered.”
From a business perspective, Loadmaster also helps to ensure that every load is optimised without being under- or over-loaded. “If you were loading a 27.5 tonne load by eye you might be under or over by half a tonne, which means you’d either have to tip off or you’d be running light,” Dean adds. “With the Loadmaster system, if you need 27.5 you know you’ll be accurate every time so you’re maximising your loads.”
The company gets the scales calibrated regularly to ensure they are working accurately. McBride Sands also has a weighbridge that they use periodically to compare weights and check for any discrepancies.
“The service we get from the Aptella team is spot on. We always get calibration certificates, which are required by all the concrete companies and are tracked by them over time. Our customers have always been happy and we’ve never had a problem in all the years we’ve been using the technology.”
Melissa McBride, who runs the company’s administrative work and invoicing, is excited to extend the benefits of the Loadmaster technology through to invoicing by integrating iWeigh software. Originally designed to integrate weighbridge data with accounting software, iWeigh is now compatible with Loadmaster solutions thanks to the company’s collaboration with Aptella.
For Melissa, it was crucial to find a straightforward software solution that would suit her workflow and the business requirements. “I was aware of systems designed for larger quarries, but they would be overkill for what we need and too complex to implement,” she says.
Having researched options with other similar-sized businesses, Melissa came across iWeigh and hoped that it could provide the perfect setup if it could be integrated with the loader scales. “We’ve had a longstanding business relationship with Chris from Aptella, so I reached out to see what was possible and now we’re ready to start implementing it,” she adds.
Once setup, data recorded by the Loadmaster loader scales, will feed directly into iWeigh’s platform via the Internet. From there, it will automatically convert into MYOB, the accounting software used by McBride Sands.
“I’m really excited about the potential for this solution, it will be so much more current and streamlined than our current setup where the invoicing is more manual.” The new setup will give Melissa access to the data almost instantly, eliminating the need to visit the office or the printer box for a hard copy.
“I will be able to process invoices quickly and it will make things easier for our customers too because I can email documents through straight away, so there’s no delay and it doesn’t matter if a driver loses a docket as I have a digital copy.”
Relieved to have found a straightforward solution, Melissa expects there to be a few teething issues as the new solution is rolled out, but feels confident with the level of support she’ll receive from Aptella and iWeigh.
“I think we’ve found the right fit for our business that won’t overwhelm our team with complex technology that would be overkill for our needs,” she adds. “Like the loader scales, we just need a simple solution that improves our efficiency.”
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