From the Lab: Abrupt Change Alarm | Blog

Many of our customers are managing remote inventories of valuable commodities. There are a number of challenges keeping inventory managers in the dark about what’s really happening to their remote tanks. One of them is abrupt changes that are either unauthorized or unexpected.

Abrupt changes can happen for a few reasons:

• • First, and easiest, is a tank refill or collection event. When a delivery/pick-up truck services a tank, the transfer of inventory can be difficult to track.

• • Second, and most difficult, a theft is difficult to swallow. Not knowing about it is adding insult to injury. Suddenly the inventory is missing when needed most. For collection services, an expensive trip to service the tank is wasted.

• • Third, unexpected use patterns throw a wrinkle into any inventory management operation. If you’re a distributor, knowing when your customer needs more product is incredibly important. It’s your chance to make a loyal repeat customer, instead of letting him shop around.

• Finally, a leak can go undetected for far too long. This is especially important with environmentally sensitive material, such as chemicals or oil.

Fortunately, we decided to tackle the issue, and provide an abrupt change alarm on our LOE ultrasonic sensor, part of our Tank Cloud remote monitoring system.

The alarm works by setting a level change window with a time limit (in minutes). If the level changes by the amount specified within the allotted time, the sensor initiates an abrupt change alarm. In addition, the alarm can activate a local action through the LOE’s optional relay outputs. For example, a security camera could start filming, or a valve could lock shut.

The alarm will send emails and text messages to whomever you need so the appropriate response can be as quick as possible. The abrupt change alarm is handy tool that has proven indispensable for several of our customers. We hope you find it useful too.

Contact us to learn more about the abrupt change alarm and remote monitoring. This important feature can save a lot of time and money for companies with remote inventories – helping them resolve issues faster, and better understand how to prevent unforeseen events.