Development Partner: Pawnee Waste LLC
Specialized Solid Waste Disposal Facility
Case Study Summary
Pawnee Waste LLC partnered with Stellar Programming & Consulting, Inc. to improve efficiency of their scale house operations through the collaborate development of a custom web app, Stellar ScaleTech.
Company Overview: PAWNEE WASTE LLC
Located in northeastern Colorado, Pawnee Waste is an innovative solid waste landfill exclusively designed to provide responsible waste management that meets various industry needs while protecting the environment.
Pawnee Waste is the only solid waste landfill to carry a Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (TENORM) permit in Weld County, and one of only three disposal sites permitted in the State of Colorado to accept TENORM E&P waste above CDPHE administrative limits.
As a pioneer in the waste industry, Pawnee Waste’s state-of-the-art facility is equipped with advanced environmental protection features and operating controls that exceed regulatory standards. The multi-layer lining system shields against groundwater contamination and provides enhanced safeguards for the highest level of long-term security for customers and the public.
Pawnee Waste supports the region’s ongoing energy development by providing waste management solutions that are both affordable and convenient, while minimizing the impact on the environment. They are committed to serving the wide-ranging needs of the region’s commercial and industrial segments, from natural gas and oil exploration and production (E&P) activities, onto industrial manufacturing and production as well as commercial construction and demolition.
Positioned in a strategic location, Pawnee Waste offers around-the-clock operations 365 days a year, serving industry needs and protecting the environment.
Challenges
Pawnee Waste encountered substantial difficulties with an out-of-the-box software solution that did not meet the requirements to fit their specialized operations. A modern, cloud-based solution to process scale tickets and invoices more accurately and efficiently was needed.
The new Scale House software required a comprehensive and organized approach for tracking both E&P exempt and non-hazardous solid and liquid waste materials. Scale tickets needed the ability to attach manifest forms, plus record customers, haulers, vehicles, jobs and materials for each load brought into the landfill.
Another major requirement for the new, flexible software system was accurate data collection and precise calculations for use in environmental reporting to state and federal agencies, including taxes.
The primary goals for the Pawnee team were to streamline scale ticket input with minimal clicks and to generate invoices efficiently and automatically. It was important to create accurate and detailed job tracking due to the high quantity of jobs generated for customers and include multi-level rate schedule management for gate, customer, and job rates.
The previous software was outdated, inefficient, and lacked crucial functionality. To ensure continued success as an industry leader in the waste management sector, Pawnee required a customizable and reliable web-based solution that would adapt to their evolving needs.
Solution
Pawnee Waste and Stellar embarked on a collaborative journey to build a custom web app tailored specifically to their needs. This development would later be coined “Stellar ScaleTech”, and it was not just about creating software; it was about understanding and addressing the unique demands of Pawnee Waste’s specialized waste disposal facility.
Our journey began with numerous meetings involving key stakeholders from Pawnee Waste and Stellar. These discussions were essential in identifying the pain points in Pawnee’s current processes and specific requirements that the new system needed to address. From tracking non-hazardous waste manifest forms and streamlining data entry to reduce human error, every aspect of their scale house operations was carefully considered.
Through this collaborative effort, Stellar’s design team developed a system architecture that was both robust and customized to meet Pawnee’s goals. This cloud-based solution could handle the complexities of scale tickets and invoicing while being easy to use.
Stellar focused on a simplified user experience and smooth functionality. The intuitive dashboard interface reduced the number of clicks to create or find data records. Feedback from the Pawnee Waste team was invaluable during the design phase to create quick and seamless data entry processes. Stellar also incorporated data management features like exporting filtered and sorted data to Excel spreadsheets. This allows Pawnee Waste to generate charts and graphs with current data and to upload financial information into accounting software.
For their financial team, Stellar streamlined the invoicing process with an easy-to-use batch invoicing system. The batch process automatically combines each invoice, related scale tickets, manifests, and other documents into a single PDF. Then each invoice can be automatically emailed to the customer. This simple billing process saves money by decreasing work hours, reducing paper usage, and increasing accuracy.
Simplified data maintenance and corrections and secured through multiple levels of user permissions. Users with proper permissions can generate credit memos, void records, and copy scale tickets.
Throughout the development process, Stellar was in close communication with Pawnee Waste, ensuring the solution was designed according to their specific needs. Stellar’s scalable, cloud-based solution is designed to grow with their business.
implementation
Training was a critical component of the implementation. Stellar provided training sessions for all user groups, including scale house attendants, managers, and bookkeepers. These sessions were designed to ensure each user was comfortable with Stellar ScaleTech and could leverage its features effectively.
The Pawnee team adapted to the software quickly, and would later say that “within two weeks, people are up to speed and highly functional with Stellar ScaleTech software versus months on previous software.”
After rigorous testing determined all functionalities were working as intended, Stellar ScaleTech went live on January 1, 2022. The Stellar team was on call during the initial rollout to promptly address any questions.
This proactive approach of customized features, user training, and initial onboarding support facilitated a smooth transition to the new system.
Stellar’s team provides ongoing system security updates, feature additions, and regular check-ins to ensure the Stellar ScaleTech web app remains tailored to Pawnee Waste’s evolving needs.
Results
Stellar ScaleTech’s advanced features and dependable functionality offers Pawnee Waste a reliable, efficient, and long-term solution. With enterprise-grade Microsoft Azure cloud hosting, the new web app provides the highest level of data protection and reliability.
By partnering with Stellar Programming to develop Stellar ScaleTech, Pawnee Waste now utilizes an intuitive scale house software with quick user training, a friendly user experience, efficient billing, and streamlined custom processes.
Since going live with Stellar ScaleTech in 2022, Pawnee Waste incorporated an additional scale. To address this operational change, Stellar ScaleTech upgraded to support automatic weight readings from multiple scales. Development of enhanced features like this demonstrate Stellar’s commitment to accommodate new business strategies.
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