A queue at the counter
It is Saturday morning. The queue at the weighbridge counter is out of the door: vans with copper pipe, a man with a car full of old radiators, a builder with lead flashing. For each one, the counter staff check ID, photocopy it, write the details on the ticket, weigh, and set up a payment.
Regular sellers show their ID every time, because nobody can quickly find their last copy. The photocopier jams. At the end of the day, the copies are filed in a box by date. When someone later needs to find every transaction with a particular seller, a person spends an afternoon going through boxes.
Why seller records stay on paper
Scrap metal dealers work to their own record-keeping obligations, and most counters meet them with paper because that is how it has always been done.
- ID is photocopied separately from the ticket.
- Regular sellers are not recognised, so ID is copied every visit.
- Payment by bank transfer is set up in a separate system from the ticket.
- Records are filed by date, not by seller.
- Finding a seller's history means searching boxes.
What records you must keep, and for how long, is for your business and its advisers. We deal with how those records are captured and found.
What paper records cost
Every photocopy slows the counter, and on a busy morning slow counters mean sellers leave and take their metal elsewhere. Paper records get lost, damaged or misfiled, and gaps are a problem your business does not want.
Searching paper is slow. When you need to find every transaction for a seller, or every sale of a particular metal on a particular day, the answer takes hours or days.
The office pays for it at the end of the day too. Bank transfers are keyed in from the paper tickets, sort codes are misread, and a seller who was paid into the wrong account rings on Monday asking where his money is.
How we build digital seller records
What we build captures the seller, ID, ticket, material and payment in one record at the counter.
- At the counter, the seller's ID is scanned or photographed on a tablet, and the details are read and checked by the counter staff.
- Returning sellers are recognised by name or ID, so their record comes up and only changes need to be captured.
- Photos of the material and the vehicle, where your process requires them, are taken on the same tablet.
- The weighbridge ticket is linked to the seller's record, with grade, weight and price.
- Payment is set up by bank transfer from the same record, with the seller's bank details stored securely.
- All records are searchable by seller, date, vehicle, material or ticket number, and can be exported when needed.
| Record part | Captured |
|---|---|
| Seller identity | ID image and details |
| Vehicle | Registration and photo if required |
| Material | Grade, weight, photos |
| Payment | Bank transfer reference |
| Ticket | Linked to all of the above |
Saturday morning with digital records
A regular builder arrives with lead flashing. The counter staff type his name, his record comes up with his ID already on file, and they only need to confirm it is him. The lead is weighed, photographed and paid by bank transfer from the same screen.
A new seller's ID is scanned in seconds. The queue moves faster. When someone later asks for every transaction with a particular seller, the search takes moments.
Are your seller records still in boxes?
- ID is photocopied at every visit.
- Records are filed by date in boxes.
- Finding a seller's history takes hours.
- Payments are set up separately from the ticket.
- The counter slows down on busy days because of paperwork.