Limestone Factories of Estonia is one of Estonia’s largest producers of limestone and aggregates. In addition to its core business, the company offers loading services, manages smaller quarries, and rents out heavy machinery, including for Rail Baltic construction projects. The production and delivery of stone materials is a seasonal business, with spring and summer being the busiest periods. This puts especially high demands on the speed of logistics and loading.
“Our goal has always been speed and accuracy: when a truck arrives at the quarry, it should get loaded and back on the road as quickly as possible,” explains Kuldar Õunapuu, Member of the Management Board at Limestone.
Before Implementing Waybiller
Previously, the company operated a stationary truck scale system, with 1–3 people working in the weigh house at any given time. Weighing the loads, printing waybills, and sharing information were all handled on paper and on-site. If loader scale data had to be entered manually or the truck scale broke down, delays and duplicate work would occur.
Implementing Waybiller
The Waybiller digital solution was introduced as part of the company’s innovation program, which aimed to make the entire loading process and waybill transmission digitally traceable. The implementation went smoothly, although integrating with the accounting software required some technical fine-tuning.
According to Kuldar Õunapuu, one decisive factor for choosing Waybiller was that it was a ready-made solution, not a prototype that still needed development:
“We considered other options as well, but Waybiller had a concrete and working solution available,” recalls Õunapuu.
Impact and Results
The biggest change brought by the digital solution was that responsibility for loading and weight information shifted from the weigh house directly to the loader operators. This sped up the entire process and reduced the need for double weighing.
Previously, a truck could spend up to 50 minutes at the quarry, first at the weigh house, then loading, and finally back at the weigh house. Now, everything happens much faster.
“The driver no longer needs to leave the truck. The waybill is handed over quickly through the window or sent digitally to the customer right away. This is a big plus for the carrier,” commented Õunapuu.
The need for error correction in the office has also decreased, whereas previously, the weigher had to manually adjust data. Now information is automated and, if necessary, corrected by office staff.
Customers and Carriers
Feedback from partners and carriers has been mostly positive. Younger drivers adapted quickly to the digital solution, though it took a bit more getting used to for some people. Most importantly, loading is now faster, and documents no longer get lost.
Next Steps in Digitalization
Limestone Factories of Estonia continues to see great potential in digitalization. The company is seeking solutions to make processes even faster, more accurate, and more transparent, from material and loading management to automating reporting and pricing. The goal is for the necessary information to flow smoothly with minimal manual work and time required.
Summary
Limestone Factories of Estonia has made its loading processes significantly faster and more accurate by adopting the Waybiller solution. Paperwork and duplicate work have been replaced by automated data exchange, responsibility has shifted from the weigh house to the loader operators, and truck turnaround time at the quarry has decreased significantly. The result is happier carriers, fewer errors, and smoother workflows, and the company sees even greater digital potential for the future.
