How it sounds if you could get the freedom of accessing any information from the database on your server while sitting in the comfort of your home? And that too without the need of a Personal Computer. Wouldn't that be simply superb? And not just information, what if we say that you can even control event execution while being stationed anywhere in the world? Great! Isn't it? That is exactly the latest offering from the team at Acme Softech Pvt. Ltd.

We have made this possible by incorporating the use of a mobile phone with a computer. All that you need to do is to connect a mobile phone to any computer on your network. Then, simply send a SMS to the connected mobile phone at any time to get the desired information in the form of an SMS. Of course the volume of information that you require will be governed by the limitation of SMS carrier provider.

The information that you could retrieve through this innovative technology could range from bonding & payment details of a sugarcane farmer in a Cane Management System or the closing balance of cash for the day from a Financial Management Software or the total employees present in any department on a given day from a Personnel Management System and the mill performance from MIS. The possibilities are endless. And so are the benefits, which are limited only to your imagination.

Innovations such as these are a habit for the people at Acme Softech because we staunchly believe that our clients deserve the best from us. And we can stay ahead only through such ideas.

Being in the IT business, we are well aware of the fact that in the ever-changing IT scenario, newer ideas and technological innovations which can help reduce overheads and increase productivity are always welcome. Keeping this in mind, we are constantly bringing time & cost saving technologies that keep us at the forefront. An excellent example is Automated Cane Weighment technology, which was pioneered by us and is running successfully at our client's sites.

This module is a part of our Cane Management Software titled "OraCane" which has been designed using Visual Basic 6.0 as Front-end and Oracle 8i as Back-end. In this document, we have summarized the main features of the Automated Cane Weighment module.

• Weighment performed through a Card Reader using Magnetic Card Technology results in an improvement in accuracy of the weighment and eliminates the requirement of a Weighment clerk at Gross & Tare.
• Remote surveillance of the weighment being performed through Digital cameras installed over the weighbridges.
• On-line Yard position is available at any node of the network.
• Auto-Voice announcement at the weighbridge for the transaction being performed.

As it is clearly evident, this technology will result in a considerable reduction of manpower (thereby saving on costs involved). The automated cane weighment using a card is an ultra fast process taking just 1 to 1.3 seconds to complete (excluding the time taken by a printer for printing a slip), as compared to the time taken by a clerk to enter the token/gross/tare number.

Moreover, it will also eliminate errors that are bound to occur when human intervention is involved.

The automation of the Cane-weighment procedure has been possible by incorporating the use of Magnetic Cards which will be associated with each transaction and which can be read by specially designed Magnetic Card Reading Machines (hereafter referred to as "Card-Readers"). This card can be re-used after each weighment transaction is completed.

The "Card-Readers" will be installed and attached to the computers at:

• Token point Gross node
• Unloading area (optional)
• Tare node
• Exit point (optional)

At the entry or Token, the weighment clerk will enter the Society Purchie No. and Code of the farmer for issuing a Token. After performing all the necessary data verifications, the system will prompt the clerk to insert a magnetic card into the Card-Reader. As soon as a card is inserted and the Save button on the form is clicked, the card will get associated with this particular weighment transaction until the vehicle makes an exit.

The card is again passed through the Card-Reader after assuring that the vehicle has been properly parked on the weighbridge. This is extremely simple and can be done by the Farmer himself or by the Guard present over there. The moment the Card-Reader reads the card, Gross weight is recorded and a Gross Purchie automatically printed without any human intervention.

The printing of Gross purchies is optional and depends on the requirement.

A Card-Reader can be installed at the unloading area for the purpose of added monitoring and this will also replace the register entry performed during unloading, again eliminating the requirement of a clerk at this point.

When the Farmer reaches the Tare area and parks his vehicle on the platform, the card will be again passed through the Card-Reader which will immediately record the Tare weight and a Tare-slip will be printed, the entire procedure taking just a second to complete.

If the factory does not want a Card-Reader installed at the exit point, the transaction will end after the Tare has been done and the card will be free for use for further transactions.

At the exit point, the farmer will be required to hand over the card to the person deputed to collect the cards. The cards collected here will again be reused for further weighment after passing them through a Card-Reader so as to mark the transactions associated with them as complete. If a farmer leaves the exit point without depositing his card, his payment will not be processed. The automated Card weighment procedure has been successfully tested and started during the crushing season 2002-03 at a sugar mill (Simbhaoli) and it is working properly since then.