Daishowa-Marubeni International — Alberta

Background

Daishowa-Marubeni International Ltd. (DMI), Peace River Pulp Division (PRPD) operates a pulp mill 16 km north of the town of Peace River, Alberta. The mill produces approximately 400,000 air dry metric tonnes of bleached Kraft pulp annually from approximately 1.3 million cubic meters of hardwood fiber and 600,000 cubic meters of softwood fiber. Hardwood and softwood fiber arrive at the mill in the form of logs or chips from internal company sources or external purchased sources.

Challenge

DMI needs to replace its existing system with one that can be easily upgraded, and for which skilled support staff are available. Current system is not scaleable and there is no support available for the system.

The required system must have the ability to manage log and chip procurement, and track all the costs.

DMI needs to implement an integrated weigh scale system with the capacity of manned and unmanned modes.

Solution

LIMS offers excellent scalability by using the power of an Oracle database. The system's programming is completed in Delphi.

LIMS allows area supervisors to track logs and chips. Rates for full phase logging (stump-to-dump), shipments of chips, or logs from external woodlots can be entered. Dropdown menus simplify data entry, and provide flexibility for complexities such as log quality entry and adjustments. LIMS then prints the contract for signature entry. Bonuses and pay periods can also be managed as needed.

WeighScale allows manned and unmanned WeighScale data to be effectively transmitted to the LIMS system. Overweight calculation is conducted instantly, with payment adjustments applied to the transporter’s account.

Project

All the LIMS required features were successfully implemented and the project was completed for DMI in less than 4 months.

Results

LIMS is a modern enterprise solution, which will provide DMI personnel with the tools to do the job and to adapt as business changes, with more security and control. LIMS will provide user definable rule-based software, and it will easily validate and import data for quick user defined reporting.


LIMS will also allow variable approaches in rate application, which has the facility to define new and unique contract relationships. The system will be capable of managing bundled and loose inventory and inventory movements.

Benefits

The new LIMS system provides security and backup capabilities that were absent from the previous system.

The WeighScale software has advanced features, such as tracking the time each particular truck has been in the yard, and prompting for explanations on exit when a truck has been in the yard an excessive length of time. Also, WeighScale has the ability to track a pool of contracted drivers, even if actual truck resources are shared.