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Spectrum Batching Controls
Spectrum Batching Controls 
Concrete ready mix producers,
from small family run businesses to large multinationals, have long recognized
the benefits of automating batch operations. With typical margins of under 6%
and high costs in materials, automation is critical to profitability and the
ability to compete. Alkon is at the forefront in providing these revenue
enhancing capabilities to producers of every size.
Spectrum EZ-Cal is our latest product for the automation of concrete ready mix
batching. We believe that it is the most advanced, most reliable system
available anywhere in the world and delivers unmatched productivity and
profitability for its owners. Here are some of the
reasons why.
Digital Throughout
One plant operator came to us recently complaining that they were losing
thousands of dollars in mysteriously vanishing materials. The cause? Their
system, from a competitor, was part digital and part analog. As a result, the
scale readout and the computer readout had drifted apart over time (sort of like
the difference between a wind up and a quartz watch). The computer was adding
more material than was required! Spectrum EZ-Cal is digital throughout, making
drifting scale values next to impossible.
Load Cell Self Test
Are you sure that your load cells are working properly? What is your cost if
they aren't? Spectrum EZ-Cal is unique in being able to test automatically for
load cell failure, potentially saving you from bad loads, wasted material, and
unhappy customers.
Uses Standard PC Technology
Unlike other products, which require complicated add-on computer boards,
Spectrum EZ-Cal consists of a standard PC connected to the I/O system with just
one cable. Connections are reliable, repair, if needed, is fast, and the manual
station has been "future-proofed" to allow simple upgrades and the capacity for
advanced operating systems.
Multiple Users
Do you have more than one employee at your batch site? Spectrum EZ-Cal can
provide up to four additional users using low cost remote color terminals to
access and use inventory, mix designs, projects, customer records, maintenance,
and orders. Are others able to offer an inexpensive true multi-user system?
TCP/IP
Network protocols are a pain to deal with. Choosing anything other than the
world's most established standard, TCP/IP, is questionable, especially when it
comes to linking with other systems. Spectrum EZ-Cal is industry standard and
enterprise up-gradable, making connecting it to a dispatch system that much
easier.
WinLink
If you are a plant operations manager, this optional, pay for feature is
invaluable. Spectrum EZ-Cal's WinLink allows your Windows 95 or later PC to
access up to 50 plants and have complete administrative control of all their
Spectrum EZ-Cal files. You won' t be driving to every plant just to make some
minor changes or to look over batching information.
Reliability
With easy to replace, low voltage buttons, which can last up to 20 times as long
as the high voltage types used by other companies, and easily reassign able I/O
points, EZ-Cal is built for the long haul. Spectrum EZ-Cal has been designed
with simplicity, quality, and standardization in mind to make life easier for
you and your operations more reliable than ever before.
Advanced Self-Tuning
Some automation systems have simple self-tuning features. Spectrum tracks
batching results from thousands of material feed cycles. Using statistical
techniques to calculate free fall and other variables, Spectrum provides high
speed loads with fewer tolerance errors giving you higher productivity, less
waste, and higher quality small batches.
Unmatched Flexibility
Spectrum EZ-Cal allows materials to be introduced into the cycle with
flexibility unmatched by other systems. If your batch system uses timers to
introduce materials into the cycle, how is quality maintained from small to
large loads?
Dependent Flow Rate Batching
What kinds of problems occur when your aggregates slow down or hang up? You get
clouds of cement or you waste time trying to correct loads that have only
partially discharged, to name just two. With Spectrum EZ-Cal, the discharge
sequence is automatically based on your mix design. Furthermore, if your
aggregate slows down, so will your cement.
Freewheeling
Spectrum EZ-Cal begins to load materials for the next load that are
finished for the current load. This "freewheeling" maximizes productivity and
can result in throughput increases of up to 15%. This isn't an expensive
optional extra. With Alkon, it's a base feature of the system.
Remote Diagnostics
Do you find yourself spending a long time on the phone trying to explain a
problem? You don't have to with Spectrum because our trained technicians can
simply dial into your system via modem and take a look for themselves ? we see
exactly what the operator sees. This allows quick diagnosis of the problem and a
resumption of production as fast as possible.
96 I/O Points
With additions to your plant like ever more admixes, the number of valves and
gates you control can quickly run out. This can limit your product variety and
productivity and give the competition the edge. Spectrum EZ-Cal can be expanded
to 96 I/O points (further expandable to a whopping 192!), meeting the needs of
even the very largest of batch facilities.
In addition to all of these feature,
spectrum EZ-CAL offers the full range of standard function you demand for your
automated plant - detailed reports, potentially unlimited mix designs,
ingredient listings, projects and customer information, reliable and accurate
moisture measurement, the best moisture probe in the business, slurry mixing,
and much more.
Get the Spectrum Brochure here: Spectrum Brochure
Requires Adobe Acrobat:
Adobe
Related literature
Spectrum Flyer
EZ Cal Hardware Flyer
EZ Cal Hardware Specifications
Other Batching Control Systems
[Eagle Batching][Spectrum
Batching][AC2000 Batching][COMMANDbatch®]
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