Monday morning prices
Metal prices moved over the weekend. The yard manager decides new prices for copper, brass, aluminium, lead, stainless and the steel grades. He writes them on the whiteboard behind the counter. The weighbridge operator updates some of them in the weighbridge software. The office updates the spreadsheet that the trade customers' rates are based on.
By lunchtime, a regular electrician is paid last week's copper price because the weighbridge software was not updated. A demolition contractor on an agreed rate is paid the counter price because nobody remembered his arrangement. The whiteboard shows a price for clean aluminium the yard manager changed his mind about.
Why prices drift apart
The price is a single decision, but it is recorded in several places, and each place is updated by a different person.
- The price list lives on a whiteboard, a spreadsheet and the weighbridge software.
- Trade customer rates are agreed verbally or by email, often as a margin over the counter price.
- Price changes are not dated, so disputes about what was agreed are hard to settle.
- Grades are named differently at the counter, on the ticket and in accounts.
- Nobody checks that prices paid leave a margin against what buyers are offering.
What drifting prices cost
Overpaying on a grade by a small amount across many tickets adds up to real money over a week. Underpaying a trade customer damages a relationship that brings you steady volume. Disputes about which price applied take time and trust.
Worst of all is not knowing your margin. If the price you pay for a grade creeps above what your buyers will pay, you find out when you sell, not when you buy.
How we build one price list for the yard
What we build puts the yard's prices in one place with a history, and prices every ticket from it.
- The yard manager sets prices per grade on a simple screen, from a phone or the office. Each change is dated and recorded.
- The weighbridge software's prices are updated from this list through its import or API, and the counter display, if you use a screen, shows the same list.
- Trade customer arrangements are recorded as rules: a fixed rate, or a set amount over the counter price, per grade.
- Every ticket is priced from the list and the customer's arrangement at the time of weighing, and the price used is stored with the ticket.
- Buyer prices, from your offtake contracts or latest offers, are recorded per grade, and the screen shows the margin between buying and selling.
- An alert shows when a grade's margin falls below a level you set, so the yard manager can review prices.
| Grade | Counter price | Trade rule | Buyer price | Margin shown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bright copper | Set by manager | Counter plus agreed amount | Latest offer | Yes |
| Clean aluminium | Set by manager | Fixed rate | Contract price | Yes |
| Heavy steel | Set by manager | Counter price | Contract price | Yes |
Your prices and margins are your commercial decisions. We make sure the prices you decide are the prices used.
Monday morning with one price list
The yard manager sets the new prices on his phone at seven. By opening time, the weighbridge software, the counter screen and the trade customer rates all reflect them. The electrician is paid today's copper price. The demolition contractor is paid his agreed margin over it, automatically.
At midday a buyer drops their offer for clean aluminium. The office records it, and the screen shows the margin on aluminium has narrowed. The yard manager adjusts the counter price before the afternoon rush.
Are your scrap prices in step?
- Prices are written on a whiteboard and typed into software separately.
- Trade customers have been paid the wrong rate.
- Price changes are not dated or recorded.
- You cannot see the margin per grade until you sell.
- Grade names differ between the counter, tickets and accounts.