Construction News

New from Command Alkon is the latest system for concrete batch plant automation.         
   
Are you ready for the next generation of batching controls? COMMANDbatch is a new batching system that incorporates the latest technologies into your batch plant. We have taken the best features from our Eagle, Spectrum and AC2000 line of batching controls and integrated them into a graphical interface driven by Microsoft Windows XP®.
 

Easy to read graphical design 

COMMANDbatch’s graphical interface gives the batch operator a means to determine plant status at a glance. On-screen icons representing your bins, scales, conveyors and other plant equipment are positioned similarly to the way your plant is laid out. Icons visually indicate whether the equipment is running, idling or stopped.
They are accompanied by added information such as target and actual batch weights. Through this unique graphical interface, the operator can quickly locate the plant area of interest and determine the status of the batching process.

 

Improved screen navigation 

No more digging into text driven menus and searching through the many rows and columns of text to obtain your information. COMMANDbatch has the ability to jump from one screen to the next and has configurable menu buttons that give the user a way to access commonly used screens with a single click of the mouse. An optional dual-monitor feature allows users to view plant status on one monitor, while entering orders and setting up batches on another.

The benefits of Windows®

Command Alkon has made the transition to a Windows based batching system for a number of reasons. Providing modern computing technologies to our industry is at the top of the list.
Windows and related technology provides major benefits in many areas - ease of use, familiarity and connectivity - to name a few. Windows is easier to use than text-based systems. An intuitive, graphical design makes training new employees easier and reduces job stress. Most producers already have a workforce familiar with Windows operation and maintenance; furthermore, features such as networking make it easy to add user workstations to the system and facilitate connection to other systems.

Flexibility

The use of programmable sequences to control interactions between batching steps gives COMMANDbatch the flexibility to handle almost any control situation.

The start of each step, such as the feed of a particular material or the discharge of a scale, can be defined in terms of the status of other steps in the process. For example, the aggregate scale can be programmed to discharge when a certain amount of water has been discharged (with or without regard for cement and admixes), or cement can be programmed to wait until a certain amount of water and aggregate have discharged.

Any number of separate sequences can be developed and saved for use with special situations such as grout mixes or trucks with unusual loading characteristics.

COMMANDbatch is designed with a superior security model that requires user access via encrypted passwords and allows configuration of Delete, Edit, Execute, Insert, Read, Update, and Bulk Update privileges.

All data modifications are time stamped with the user name, allowing for better auditing of changes to key information such as Mix Designs, Materials, Customer Files, Pricing, and Inventory Adjustments.
When manual batching occurs, each event is stored and can be retrieved showing time, date, material, amounts and which load was affected.
An independent real-time control processor maintains tight control of the plant during automatic batching and monitors manual activity regardless of the state of the Windows® computer.

Batching Accuracy and Speed

- Multiple Feed Types including fast, timed, and job cycles
- Historical trend monitoring to determine optimum feed rate and freefall compensation based on material, device and target amount parameters
- Self-adjusting timed feed and job time parameters
- Programmable discharge rates based on truck and batch sequence with live manual adjustments and overrides
- Unlimited number of batch sequences that can be tied to Mix Designs that require special plant functions
- Maximum single batch size per plant, per truck, per scale or admixture bottle capacity, or per mix design
- Allows manual control when they do not contend with weighing process
- Allows on-the-fly truck number and discharge rate adjustments, allowing for corrections while batching
- Integrated Ticket Stack on the Batch Setup form allows for the next batch to be prepared while batching and shows all active tickets at a glance
 

Order Entry

- Can't yet justify a full-blown dispatch system? The optional COMMANDbatch Order Entry system is designed for the small, growing producer or remote site that needs to automate both the plant and the order-taking function. More than just a ticket typing system, this is a full-featured Order Entry system with advanced features such as Projects and multi-tiered pricing.

 

COMMANDbatch's screens are designed so that a sole operator can efficiently enter orders and control batching from a single workstation. As your business grows, workstations can be added to accommodate additional order takers.

Converting to COMMANDbatch

Command Alkon values our long-term relationship with the loyal owners and operators of our Spectrum, Eagle and AC2000 systems. We understand the large investment that has been put into these systems and the importance of maintaining that investment.

It is also reasonable to expect that owners of existing systems would ultimately want to take advantage of the new features of COMMANDbatch. With this in mind we have established a way to preserve a major portion of the producer’s investment when converting to COMMANDbatch. The conversion kit makes use of the existing plant wiring box, and for most models, the manual panel. As a result, plant downtime during the conversion is minimized. Conversions are available for most existing Eagle, Spectrum and AC2000 product lines.

Optional Features

- Order Entry/Delivery Ticket Printing with Projects
- Additional Users - both local and remote connectivity available
- Remote Batching with integrated Soft Manual Station
- Additional monitors, any size available to allow for extra
- workspace
- Ticket Data Exports for automatic interface to accounting systems
- Truck Call Board Interface
- Dispatch Interface - bi-directional data transport including mix design download, ticket, incoming material receipt and batch weight upload
- Weighed water control
- Water holding tank with selectable holdback
- Weighed admixtures
- Additional weigh batchers for aggregate, cement and water
- Pre-wired plant control wiring harnesses
- Recycled “gray” water calculations 
- Automatic load status to dispatch