At the Speed of Commerce

Technology moves at the speed of light (pardon the cliché), and it is no different in the recycling industry. Recyclers are demanding more detailed data be delivered faster to keep ahead of the competition, prompting software developers to increase the capabilities of software systems.

Speed and accuracy play an important role in the recycling industry, as in the business world. Those who do not do pursue these two qualities may be left behind as technology surges ahead.

THE TECHNOLOGY RACE

To Joel Erlichman, time is everything. The VP of marketing for Paradigm Software, Peoria, Ill., and Timonium, Md., says advances in technology are giving solid waste and recycling companies more access to their data and to obtain it faster.

“I think it is very interesting that some of the larger waste hauling companies are getting their lunch eaten by some smaller up and coming companies,” he says. “The younger companies are more quick to rely on technology and implement technology. What it means is they get their numbers quicker and are a much more nimble company.”

Erlichman says software was once primarily used at landfills because of the volume of materials. But now MRFs offer one of the fastest growing segments in software use. “They are realizing that if they are doing 10 to 15 grades of materials and multiple trucks, why do multiple transactions? You can have one ticket at the end,” says Erlichman.

The shift in demand for software has gone from an immediate need, such as in the Y2K scare, to a more long-term and focused look at business and specific needs.

Streamlining the business process is a long-term operations concern for software used at recycling facilities. “We have a number of people who are implementing ‘stand and dump’ procedures where the truck never leaves the scale,” he says. “It is really automating systems. You could possibly double capacity just by automating”

Streamlining operations can make a difference, although some may be skeptical of what technology can offer until they can see the results for themselves. This is true on the scrap metal side as well as on the solid waste/MRF side.

“Most companies believe they have a very efficient paper system,” says Rob Horan, president, Mayer Information Systems, Toronto. “But, they spend a lot of time building reports from multiple data sources, accounts, scale measurements. The thing that we have done is that we encompass all of those reporting requirements and can track almost every item of data you can imagine.”

The capability to track different types of data from multiple sources and locations can be done by the appropriate software system for the particular company. Horan says he often finds the amount of work done being done offline can be time consuming and massive.

In the scrap metals segment, the increasing number of materials and grades handled is making it necessary to keep accurate data records. Organization is the key to this task, something most likely pen and paper can not match against a functional software program.

Erlichman agrees. “Time and customers are changing,” he says. “Companies are processing more and more materials and the ability to handle an unlimited number of grades is needed.”

Before, some programs handled about 50 material grades. Now, some programs can handle more than 32,000 different grades of materials. “Some of this technology is bringing us better ways to do things and better methods,” Erlichman says.

INTERNET INVASION

As the Internet continues to infiltrate our daily lives, so does it the recycling industry. The Internet is making it possible to affordably link offices in different locations together to share data.

“The technology has supported this type of Web-based interaction and it is now becoming more widespread,” says Jerry Martz, senior consultant with Systems Alternatives, Maumee, Ohio. “There is more use of the Internet and higher expectations about using it.”

Offering capabilities over the Internet is an option many software companies have available to recyclers. Web-based products are becoming more common as options continue to develop.

“I see that the scrap industry has been a very low-tech industry for many years and I think it is just awakening,” Horan says. The explosion in e-commerce and B2B by recycling and brokerage companies is just one example of this.

Features coming online include the ability for vendors to track and monitor data. The information, such as materials weight, can be immediately delivered via the Internet to vendors as soon as the truck rolls off of the scale. The information can also be fed into vendors’ systems so there is no manual data input.

The elimination of double data entry is one of the selling points of having data automatically sent to a specified location, such as a vendor, says Alissa Tilson, manager of product development for Custom Business Information Systems, Atlanta. “There is definitely the desire out there because it eliminates the double entry and someone having to do that.”

Integration can save time and make information instantly available to vendors, suppliers and mills, she says.

As in retail stores, hand-held scanners are entering scrap yards. Containers can be scanned and tracked for pick-ups and deliveries and data can instantaneously be input. “There is far more use of tag IDs and bar codes,” Paradigm’s Erlichman says. “A lot of our clients are taking advantage of those ways to track products better.”

Other features aiding recyclers include “added-value” features, such as producing maps of particular routing areas, says Larry Smith, executive vice president, Shared Logic, Holland, Ohio. The ability of software to handle graphics such as digital pictures is something else that can offer a driver more detail about a particular drop-off location.

An example of the integration of software and the Internet includes an alliance between PaperExchange, Boston, and MAJIQ Systems and Software, Redmond, Wash. Users of MAJIQ software can integrate it with the PaperExchange Web site.

PaperExchange registrants using MAJIQ software can integrate the features of both the software and PaperExchange.com to one program accessed online at the site. Recyclers seeking this feature must already have MAJIQ software installed and in use, although about 80% of registered PaperExchange users already use MAJIQ software.

Jordon Berley, business development, Elixer Group, MAJIQ Software, says he foresees “delivering a myriad of services to our mutual customers and continuing integration with PaperExchange.com. At this juncture, we are enabling users of our Elixer software the ability to offer for sales all grades and types of paper on the PaperExchange trading floor. Buyers of paper will then have ‘real-enough time’ and up-to-date access to the inventories offered.”

Integration between Web sites and software programs is an important factor with online access to data, says Joe Floam, president, ScrapWare Corp., Gaithersburg, Md. “What people want to is to be able to work with these exchanges without having to re-key everything in,” he says. “If it is going to be cumbersome to use these sites and they have limited integration with software, then I don’t think a particular Web site is going to have success.”

Streamlining use between both software applications and Web sites will be one of the key determining factors of success, Floam says. And while some may be worried that B2B Web sites may drive traditional brokers out of business, Floam says that will most likely not happen.

Other options for managing business transactions online include subscription-based services that allow both the vendor and customer to access information. Some of the advantages of these systems are that no on-site web servers are needed, as well as no firewalls or Internet databases are necessary to use the services. Access can include product and service information, contact status and position, delivery status and payment information and status. Mayer Information Technology has begun offering a subscription-based service called “e-materials.”

Systems Alternatives also offers a similar package that does not require the IT structure typically required. Application Service Providers (ASP) is configured so that brokers and recyclers can communicate through the Internet and can actually rent the system. Systems Alternatives hosts the server computer for clients and is configured for remote access. The Internet option includes software being made available to all licensed users across a network. All processing functions are handled by the SAI server. A dependable Internet connection is required, as with all packages offering similar features and functions.

Managing data online can be a more viable option for those businesses that do not have the capabilities to host a server locally and are looking for the option of accessing data from locations other than just the office.

Although accessing data online at multiple locations does have many advantages, there can also be security issues that could be overlooked in the name of speed and technology. “There are a lot of concerns that transactions across the Internet are not safe,” says Larry Galbraith, vice president, Klarmann & Partner, Audubon, Pa. “It is still a legit concern because even though the technology is there, [users] may not be aware of all of the things they need to make sure that their data is locked up. If you have a full-time system on the Internet there is always the chance that someone could hack into it.”

Exchanging security of data for speed and convenience may be a choice some recyclers have to make when it comes to using software via the Internet, though only time will tell.

NOT QUITE CONVINCED

Although the Internet and computers in general are now a part of practically every facet of life, some recyclers are still not convinced of the benefits of software applications.

Custom Business Information Systems’ Tilson says she has observed that while many recyclers are reaping benefits from software and the Internet, others still hesitate.

But Tilson says new people coming into the industry may bring a greater grasp of technology with them. “I think it will gradually get there, just a little slower than other industries.”

The author is the associate editor of Recycling Today. She can be reached via e-mail at mgoodrich@recyclingtoday.com.