Waste Trail and other Corbus Systems

Prepared by:
Corbus (A division of Compliance Management Systems Inc.)

Prepared for:
Public purchase

Application:
Financial analysis:
Environmental impact analysis: ---
Waste management/P2:
Environmental cost listing/database: ---
Cost estimation: ---
Alternative product/process comparison: ---

Environmental and safety management. The system has some fields where cost information can be entered. A limited number of environmental costs can be entered, though not detailed. There is no feature for maintaining historical cost records. As yet, the system has no components for project management.

Elements of control:
Cost control ---
Resource control ---
Estimating control ---
Schedule control ---
Scope control ---
Risk control ---

Development date and updates:
Introduced in 1994

Public availability:
Available

Purpose and current use:
TERMS is targeted to the manufacturing industry. Prolab (and Plus) is designed mainly for laboratories. Corbus has clients in many different companies including Proctor and Gamble, Westinghouse, and GTE.

Cost information:
The prices (effective September 1994) are as follows:

Software PC LAN
TERMS $3,500 $8,000
PROLAB PLUS $5,000 $8,000
MSDS Standard $1,195 $2,000
WASTE TRAIL $995 $1,900

The multiuser price for TERMS is $5,900. These prices are subject to change.

System requirements:
System requirements for Prolab are:

System requirements for TERMS are:


The Windows version of TERMS is to be released in the fall of 1995.

Software summary

Size and complexity of projects:
Not applicable; the system is not designed for project management. It is meant to manage and control areas of regular company activities. Corbus sells families of products; these have a moderate amount of breakdown. Users can integrate most of them. The products differ in the amount of customization possible, information sharing, and comprehensiveness; thus, they cannot handle all operation uniqueness and complexities.

Other compatible systems offered:
Corbus offers software systems called Prolab Plus and TERMS that can be integrated with Waste Trail. They also bring out a program called MSDS Standard.

Nonquantifiable information:
Not applicable; the system is not designed for project management. No note writing capability.

The other software systems-PROLAB Plus, TERMS, MSDS Standard, and Waste Trail-cover the following areas:

The Environmental Regulation Management System (TERMS) assists plants with MSDS management, including indexing MSDS by name, part number, synonyms, department, location, hazardous ingredients, and suppliers. It automates SARA Title III reporting and Clean Air Requirements. It includes HAZCOM for MSDS management and archiving, worker training, and hazardous materials checklist; a complete reference database (Federal and State regulations) and chemical information; and inventory management.

MSDS Standard deals only with storing MSDS records. Its features include ANSI Z400.1 format for all MSDSs, selector index to retrieve specific sections of MSDS, an emergency hot key, MSDS archiving that complies with the OSHA30-year rule, and a written hazard communication plan. It has a multiple data entry option and options include direct input and electronic data transfer. MSDSs can be organized into specific categories according to user requirements. It also has multiple security levels.

Prolab Plus (and Prolab) has been designed for chemical inventory management in a laboratory setting. Prolab only has inventory, container labeling, and MSDS management modules.

Prolab Plus additionally has features that include bar coding, a regulatory database (with pre-programmed chemical lists with pertinent information),requisition and purchasing, incident reporting, and a custom report writer. It also includes a free-form database manager.

Waste Trail is designed to track hazardous waste and includes cradle-to-grave container tracking, generation of waste manifests and profiles, and various pre-programmed waste tracking reports. Waste definitions can be added or edited including CAS#, EPA hazard #, and Hazard class. Cost breakdowns for waste removal can be tracked by department.

Life-cycle stages covered

Raw material acquisition ---
Manufacturing stage ---
Use/reuse/maintenance
Recycle/waste management

Life-cycle stages covered may vary by module. Waste Trail allows cradle-to-grave container tracking (from moment of generation in facility to final disposal). Prolab Plus (and Prolab) has been designed for chemical inventory management in a laboratory setting, which covers the use/reuse stage of the life cycle. All materials and outputs are not tracked. There is no quantitative linkage between the quantities and types of material used or type of production process and waste generated. Thus, users cannot simulate changes in waste quantities and costs as a result of process changes or source reduction.

Type of costs considered

Conventional
Potentially hidden
Contingent ---
External ---

Waste Trail allows users to track departmental cost breakdowns for waste removal. It is not clear how much the costs can be broken down. Information on contingent and external costs is not estimated or tracked. The costs entered cannot be collated to form a historical cost library. This feature could be useful for assisting in cost estimation for projects, because hidden cost estimates cannot be found in most (if any) commercial cost databases.

All conventional and hidden costs are not tracked and entered into the system. Conventional costs, such as labor, capital, and material costs, that companies would need to incur during the course of environmental management activities cannot be detailed. Thus, the full costs of using a material or product in a facility, including all these cost categories, cannot be estimated.

Method of cost estimation

The system is not designed for cost estimation.

Generation of financial indicators

Net present value (NPV) ---
Payback period ---
Internal rate of return (IRR) ---
Benefits cost ratio ---
Other ---

Ability to include environmental costs

User friendliness and flexibility

Waste Trail is menu driven and has many look-up tables. Corbus provides HAZREG, which is a chemical and regulatory database. Data export and import capabilities vary. TERMS can integrate data from other inventory control and purchasing software systems. It can also provide modem interface.

ProlabPlus has features for handling custom reporting (from inventory records, purchasing records and employee incident data) and unique regulatory requirements. Prolab has a menu-driven query system for referencing. It is compatible with TERMS for SARA reporting and with MIDAS for MSDS management.

User support

All software comes with documentation, toll-free technical support, updates(free for the first year), and on-site training ($750 per day). The price for maintenance options for TERMS and Prolab Plus are $800/year (PC) and $1,900/year(LAN), with $1,600 for multiuser support TERMS. Corbus also provides MSDS data entry services. Corbus provides training programs for groups (30 employees average) regarding the basic requirements on right-to-know ($1,000). The raining is customized to correlate with hazards specific to the company in question.

Corbus also has a team of experts who can provide environmental audit (for environmental and safety issues) services to companies. The price of the comprehensive site audit (one day) is $1,250. Corbus offers users the service to scan their MSDSs, with the option to store them on CDs. Scanned MSDSs are compatible with Corbus TERMSTM and ProlabTM Plus. Working demonstration disks are available.

Limitations

The amount of customization depends on the product. WasteTrail, for instance, does not have very many features for customization. TERMS does not have features for custom report writing. Displays, help screens, and work areas cannot be customized. The system is limited to hazardous materials and waste management and does not address the whole gamut of environmental issues that may face a company (multimedia emissions management, nonhazardous waste management, waste minimization, pollution control, etc.). All the modules cannot share information in a comprehensive manner. Cost information and cost management is not covered in all the products. All cost information related to environmental management (costs of permits, compliance, operating costs, etc.) in a company cannot be viewed.

The system considers only a limited variety of costs with some options for users to add additional fields. All conventional, contingent, or less-tangible costs cannot be estimated or detailed. There is no feature for maintaining historical cost records, as related to different activities, quantities, and types of materials managed. The system cannot integrate with company accounting systems, which can result in managing these costs separately, rather than integrating them with other company costs. The system is not designed for, and has no modules for, project management. Like most other waste management and tracking tools, the primary objective is to facilitate compliance, not to manage and minimize costs. However, if this area were developed, pollution prevention and other environmental initiatives would be encouraged as a result of better cost information.

Basis for evaluation:
Based on telephone communication with Corbus representative and information package received in March 1995. Additional information obtained from Rich (1995).

Contact information:
Commercially available

Corbus
206 Line Road
Kennett Square, PA 19348

Mary Smucker (Marketing Representative)
610-444-5691
610-444-6461 (FAX)

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