Integrated IT system provides a complete, up-to-date overview and reduces operational risks

If you want to completely digitalize and automate metal, paper, and plastic recycling, then the AMCS Recycling Software is the solution you’ve been looking for. It is an integrated IT system that streamlines all operational processes throughout your company, increasing both efficiency and margins. Time-consuming paperwork will also become a thing of the past, and the reduction in the paperwork mountain will, in turn, contribute to reducing transport requirements and therefore_CO2 emissions. Primarily due to the decrease in environmental impact, this end-to-end solution contributes to sustainability and the circular economy.

Extra work due to paper-based administration and lack of overview

Everything was on paper, including contracts, price lists, overviews of incoming orders and trip lists, as well as route planning and stocks of recycled materials. Information was not available centrally but instead was communicated on a one-to-one basis with suppliers, customers, and drivers. Ralph Wager, CEO of Germany’s Kaatsch Recycling, outlines the way the company operated during the paper-based era. “That would be unthinkable nowadays,” he says in a video at the company filmed by AMCS.

The disadvantages of paper-based administration are only too clear for recyclers of metal, paper, and plastics. For example, the amount of paper involved creates extra work for the administration and archiving, costing companies money. Information is never up to date, and there is no current data available for sales and purchasing, the margins, and stocks at different locations. Without a current overview, recycling companies find it difficult to effectively monitor operational processes and to adjust them where necessary in order to achieve the predicted turnover and margins, thus guaranteeing their continuity.

Recyclers benefit from integrated solution with automatic information exchange

Metal, paper, and plastic recyclers that have digitalized and automated their operational processes no longer suffer from the disadvantages of using paper-based documentation and processes. Instead, the AMCS Recycling Software enables them to manage the entire process in a streamlined manner for one or more locations. This covers everything: establishing contracts and price agreements, processing orders, purchasing and selling collected waste fractions, individually weighing partial loads at scale level, checking and accepting material types, tracking shipments, including customs documents and containers, and administrative processing to send out credit notes and invoices.

The AMCS Recycling Software is an end-to-end solution specially developed for waste collectors and processors of metal, plastic and paper waste, both for SMEs and large companies. Data is entered once and is always up to date and available centrally. Information registered on-site, for example by means of barcodes, or by accepting incoming shipments with an app, is automatically exchanged with the system. This enables photos of the weighing of incoming shipments to be directly linked to the correct transaction in the system.

After weighing, the data is shared directly with the back office, which means that the digital weighing slip is immediately available. The paper version goes to the customer. With just a couple of clicks, the system generates the credit note that is then sent to the customer by email. Thanks to the automatic exchange of information, up-to-date information is always available throughout the organization on the current status of a transaction, which material has been weighed, its quality, and the quantities involved.

Recycling software gives Kaatsch Recycling a 360° overview

Kaatsch Recycling uses the integrated system in its office for all of its administration, including contract and transaction management, purchasing metals for sorting and sending invoices, and on-site for assessing, accepting, and weighing incoming fractions, and registering the stocks of recycled materials.

‘This gives us a 360-degree view of the entire organization and enables us to make constant adjustments,’ says Wager. ‘Scrap metal is not a standard product. Its composition varies each time, and prices are subject to daily fluctuations. In order to minimize risks, metal recyclers need a total system for complete contract management, transaction administration, and to adjust prices on a daily basis in accordance with the metal exchanges.

Adjusting prices daily based on the metal exchanges

The AMCS Recycling Software also provides a completely integrated system for automatically processing purchasing and sales orders and can capture hundreds of types of metals. A price can be applied to each fraction, which means a customer can be sent a credit note directly from the system for the delivered fractions. One of the major benefits of the system is contract management. Because flexible price agreements can also be made, the system is specifically suited to trading activities. Prices can be adjusted automatically on a daily basis, based on the prices on the London Metal Exchange, for example.

According to an interview with Majid Arai from Holland Recycling, the advantage of the AMCS Recycling Software is that purchasing and sales contracts can be created per transaction, based on the framework agreements. ‘This means that a truck can be carrying 30 partial loads with 30 contracts. As soon as a transaction is created, the contract also goes to the customer. This ensures clarity about matters such as the fraction, prices, and packaging, thus avoiding potential conflicts. It also prevents errors,’ he says.

‘Another plus is that the system indicates when a contract is “full”; that is, for example, when the 150 tonnes agreed upon have been reached. We then contact the customer to arrange a new contract. This is a very important feature of the AMCS Recycling Software,’ emphasizes Arai. ‘This is at the heart of Holland Recycling and is essential for our company’s continuity.’

A total overview means fewer business and operational risks

The AMCS Recycling Software contributes to digitalizing the operational processes of metal, paper, and plastic recyclers. This saves on both work and time, so they can work more efficiently and save costs, which in turn means they can increase their margins while deploying the same staff and resources. Because the integrated system automatically exchanges data, the AMCS Recycling Software streamlines operational processes and provides a continual 360° overview.

This gives recycling companies a complete picture of the incoming streams, the recycling, and the sale of raw materials, enabling them to reduce their business and operational risks. In addition, the use of digital processes means that less paper is required, reducing environmental impact. This allows recyclers to contribute to sustainability and the circular economy.