A settlement with a deduction
Two weeks after shipping a load of mixed paper to a mill, the settlement arrives. The load has been downgraded for contamination and moisture. The price is well below what you agreed. The mill's report includes a couple of blurry photos of a bale split open, showing plastic and wet paper.
Your sales manager asks the yard. The forklift driver remembers loading it, but not the bales. There are no photos from your side. There is no record of which bales went on that load or when they were made. The downgrade stands, and you absorb it.
The next month a different buyer claims on a load of aluminium cans for a high moisture reading. Again nobody can say what the load looked like when it left. Your sales manager starts to suspect some buyers use downgrades to lower the price when the market falls, but he has nothing to show it with.
Why downgrades go unchallenged
The buyer inspects on arrival and has the evidence. Your side has only the load's weight and the grade you called it.
- No photos of bales or the loaded trailer before departure.
- Bales are not linked to their production date, line or operator.
- Specifications agreed with the buyer are not checked at loading.
- Claims are handled by email and not logged, so patterns are invisible.
- Some buyers downgrade more than others, but nobody can show it.
What unchallenged claims cost
Every downgrade accepted without question is margin gone. Some claims are fair, and your quality needs work. Others are not, and without evidence you cannot tell which is which.
Over time, the pattern matters most. If one buyer downgrades far more often than others for the same material, that is commercial information you need. If one line or shift produces most of the problems, that is an operational fix you could make.
How we build a loading record and claims log
What we build captures evidence at loading and logs every claim against it.
- When a load is picked, bales are scanned onto it, linking each one to its grade, production time and line from the baler record.
- The loader takes photos of the bales and the loaded trailer, with time and trailer number, before it leaves.
- The buyer's specification for that contract is shown at loading, with a short checklist the loader confirms.
- When a claim or downgrade arrives, it is logged against the load with the buyer's report and photos.
- The claims screen shows your loading photos and bale records next to the buyer's evidence, so the sales manager can respond.
- A report shows claims by buyer, grade, line and shift, so patterns are visible.
| Your record | Useful for |
|---|---|
| Bales on load with production details | Tracing a problem to a line or shift |
| Loading photos | Showing condition at departure |
| Specification checklist | Showing what was checked |
| Claims log by buyer | Seeing which buyers claim most |
The next settlement with a deduction
The mill downgrades a load for moisture. The sales manager opens the load: photos show dry bales in a sheeted trailer, and all the bales were made in the two days before shipping. He replies with the photos and asks for a review. The mill reduces the deduction.
The monthly claims report shows most contamination claims come from bales made on the night shift on one line. The operations manager looks into the picking on that shift.
Do buyer claims always stand?
- You have no photos of loads before they leave.
- Bales are not linked to when and where they were made.
- Claims are handled by email and not logged.
- You cannot say which buyers downgrade most.
- Downgrades are usually accepted because you cannot show otherwise.