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WEIGHING TECHNOLOGY Five mistakes to avoid when fitting a bin weighing system Bin weighing systems are not very sexy but they are necessary – a vital piece of kit that attach to waste management fleets. Here, Julian Glasspole gives guidance on how to avoid some common pitfalls when purchasing a bin-weighing system. n my opinion, you need to be clear on what you need from your bin weighing system before you choose what system to buy. Do you just want to identify heavy bins or do you want to offer a pay by weight service? The latter of these two options is a much more complex area and you will need a weights and measures approved system. 1 . Return on Investment. Cost is important. You need to aim for pay- back in less than 30 months. With some systems you can break even after 20 weeks but 30 months must be your maximum payback period, and don't forget to factor in mainte- nance, servicing and calibration to your budget. This is usually 7-10% of the cost of sale. And choose the right funding option for your busi- ness, making sure your costs are fixed each month for your cash flow. 2 . Support and back-up. Don't forget you will need long-term, speedy, after-sales support from your sup- plier. You don't want to be in a situ- ation where you can't bill your cus- tomers because your bin-weighing systems aren't working and there is no available engineer. Choose a supplier that offers nationwide coverage and plenty of service engi- neers. Bin weighing systems can get damaged during reversing accidents and bumps so it's advisable to get your repairs and service taken care of by one company in one place. N.B. It is a legal requirement for your bin hoist to have a LOLER (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations) test each year. To minimise vehicle downtime it is advisable to have the annual bin weigh service and calibration car- ried out at the same time so the vehicle is only off the road once. 3 . Consider RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags especially if you have lots of bins to collect that are close in proximity. This will make the process much quicker and easier than if drivers/operators have to note the weights on a route sheet or spreadsheet. The RFID tags act like a bar code or address linking the bin to the weight when the soft- ware processes the data. And don't necessarily opt for the cheapest options, as these tags are an impor- tant piece of equipment – choose one of the bigger manufacturers. 4 . Software compatibility and report- ing. Make sure that your bin-weigh- er can talk to your waste collection management software. At first you may just want to identify heavy bins and store this to an SD card. A low cost and simple but effective solu- tion that can pay quick dividends. Your bin weighing data can be sent to a server via a modem so you have a simple excel spreadsheet of weights, tags and time or you can opt for a Palmtop computer (PDA) in the cab. These simple analysis tools are inexpensive and can really help to increase efficiency. 22 Local Authority Waste & Recycling February 2015 I Norfolk-based waste management specialist Norse Waste Solutions (a subsidiary of Norse Commercial Services) has equipped its fleet of refuse collection vehicles with the ENVIROWEIGH bin-weigher from Vehicle Weighing Solutions (VWS) and tagged its bins with RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) chips to closely monitor collections and help its customers improve their recycling efficiency. The RFID tags enable the bin-weighing system sensor to identify what is being collected and from whom. The data is then taken from the vehicle via SD card or can be transmitted over a telephone network and the files dropped into a report for environmental analysis. Organisations are able to determine the precise weight outputs for different areas or departments, as well as those with the best recycling rates. VWS is a vehicle weighing supplier for many local authorities and private contractors in the UK. It designs and manufactures its own load cells and weighing systems here in the UK. Norse gets a helping hand from VWS

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