This is the first of  several articles looking at popular software in the recycling industry supplied by ISRI member companies. Answers were edited from those given by vendors throughout the industry and are listed in alphabetical order.

 

Helping manage inventory, shipping, compliance, theft prevention, and more, recycling software is a bigger and bigger part of the industry each year. 2022 is no exception. Whether you’re seeking a cloud-based solution free from having to keep local file servers or prefer the comfort of having your data on-premises, each of these ISRI member companies offers a different vision for their corner of the industry.

AMCS

Based in Limerick, Ireland, with its North American headquarters in Boston, AMCS has been in business since 2003. Organically and through acquisitions, the company has  grown to 700 people across 12 countries supporting over 3,000 customers in the recycling, waste, and resource industries. AMCS Platform is used by metal, fiber, plastics, and organic recyclers worldwide. They range from family-owned enterprises to large national and multinational operations. “We understand the specific and unique automation requirements of the scrap sector,” says Conor Dowd, product marketing manager. “This deep knowledge and heritage is matched by our commitment to the sector with over 120 developers working on the AMCS Platform.”

AMCS Platform offers many value-added differentiators but here are three critical ones.

  • Enterprise-wide automation with support for all business areas from transport management, scale, grading, invoicing, finance inventory management and valuation, product shifts, outbound sales, and exports.
  • A full suite of digital engagement tools to allow self-service by customers (materials suppliers) as well as automated interaction with subcontractors like haulers.
  • Cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) with all the benefits of increased security, agility, ease of adoption of new releases, and performance.

“For each customer, we can carry out a specific review of their ‘as-is’ situation as well as their ‘to be’ goal, and agree to some measurable improved business outcomes,” Dowd says. “This review document then becomes the basis for the successful deployment of our solution.”

In 2022, AMCS plans to extend features in areas such as digital engagements with customers and haulers, transport management, and finance. There are three feature releases planned for 2022. A key date in the calendar will be the March launch of the Spring Release of AMCS Platform for Scrap Metal at ISRI2022. AMCS keeps customers updated through its blog.

Diversys

Toronto-based Diversys has done a lot in three years—from developing patent-pending technology for a diverse North American customer base across multiple waste streams to growing a world-class team of industry experts with 200-plus years of combined expertise.

“Our vision is powering a world without waste, so we build solutions that help organizations transform their recycling or waste programs, giving them the one critical thing they’re currently missing: high-quality data,” states Ruth Massey, director of communications. “Everything from measuring performance to providing regulatory compliance relies on data—and for many reasons, high-quality data remains difficult for program managers to obtain.” One reason is ongoing reliance on paper forms or outdated software for material tracking, which introduce risk and compromise data by creating opportunities for error, fraud, and security breaches. They make analysis difficult, so it’s hard to find areas for improvement or prepare for routine auditing.

Diversys digitizes program management, providing visibility so users can see exactly what’s happening in their programs while remaining future-proofed should business or legislative requirements change. The platform offers a web portal for managing programs (for things like inventory and reporting) and an integrated mobile app for capturing activities in-the-field. The mobile app has built-in security-, fraud-, and error safeguards, so, those in the office can see in-field activities in real-time, and fully trust the information. These two components provide “audit-ready” data. “No other system can boast the same degree of highly accurate data, as no other solution digitizes the entire recycling or waste management process, not just part of it,” Massey says.

In 2022, Diversys will focus on supporting Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives and driving better data-backed visualization to help customers make daily tactical as well as long-term, strategic, decisions. The result: a flexible platform for customers’ changing requirements, offering a competitive edge.

ReMatter

Started by three Stanford students in March of 2020, Palo Alto, Calif.-based ReMatter is already serving recyclers across three countries. Its first product is a cloud-based logistics and bin management system that helps recyclers’ dispatchers manage both their internal fleet and their third-party haulers. Dispatchers can do this from their computers or phones, while their drivers receive and complete services on their Android or Apple devices. Making the system modern and easy to use for daily users and management was a top priority for the company.

“We provide dynamic options that go beyond traditional PDF reports (although we have those, too) in the form of intelligent data exports and dashboards that can provide insights into business KPIs,” CEO and Co-Founder Wyatt Pontius explains. “We’re always communicating with our users about the value they’re getting from the system and how we can increase it.”

ReMatter is launching its Full Suite product—which has been beta tested by their existing users—in January. The Full Suite includes customer relations management, purchasing, inventory, sales, payments, and yard management. The Full Suite tightly integrates with the existing dispatch product, creating a unified view of all operations. Operators in the yard can fulfill packing lists on their Android phones while buyers on the road generate and send quotes or buy contracts from their iPhones. With this system, recyclers have complete visibility from first contact with a potential customer through material purchase, freight pickup, processing, sale, and payment.

This series continues Friday, Jan. 7, with more software offerings from ISRI member companies.

Photo courtesy of Storyblocks.

 

Dan Hockensmith

Dan Hockensmith

I'm a native Ohioan who since 2014 has called Maryland home. My background includes print, broadcast, and digital journalism; government contracting; and marketing communications.