Weighing Systems for Industrial Sector
New technology is making it easier every decade to produce goods quicker and more efficiently. Production systems are becoming more automated, requiring less manpower and allowing for fewer possible errors. If an industrial company does not invest in the best and newest technology then it can fall behind the competition. This is as true for industrial weighing systems as it is for all other tools that are used in industry. Digital bench scales, floor scales, platform scales, drum scales, and crane scales are used from the paint industry to the computer processor industry to the aerospace industry. The best industrial scale technology keeps these industries running smoothly and quickly.
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Some industrial processes may require one electronic scale that is loaded, unloaded, and operated by human operators. When there is low or no headroom and little space for large industrial platform scales or floor scales, digital crane scales are very useful. Crane scales are hooked onto the end of a crane cable. Heavy and loads that are awkward in size and shape can be loaded onto the scale and the weight is displayed on a LCD screen built directly into the scale for easy weighing. Parts counting scales are useful for keeping inventory or for separating parts, such as metal fasteners or stampings, into kits. Electronic parts counting scales come in many sizes from bench scales to platform scales. A few pieces are placed on the scale to determine each piece weight. In counting mode, the scale uses this piece weight to calculate the total number of pieces on the electronic scale. Some parts counting scales, like the Arlyn Scales line, even include up to 500 memory slots to program piece weights for future use.
Most industrial processes require much more complicated systems than one simple, human-operated industrial scale. Complex production lines may rely on the use of several scales. These scales often are wired to communicate with each other, with other pieces of processing equipment, and with computers. Due to the multitude of uses for electronic scales during industrial manufacturing, it may be necessary to create a customized industrial weighing system. Companies such as Arlyn Scales specialize in custom weighing systems and work with manufacturers to produce efficient, cost-effective, and organized systems. For example, while one parts counting scale may be useful when keeping inventory of a few parts, many manufacturing plants may require hundreds of different parts that are used in dozens of different products. Arlyn Scales developed a bin inventory system in which many electronic parts counting scales are networked together allowing one user to view the entire inventory of a stockroom.
This bin system is only practical if the digital scales can be wired to a computer. Protocols such as RS-485 and USB can be used to link scales to nearby computers. It is even more practical to use Ethernet to connect the electronic scales to a Local Area Network or to even link them into a wireless network. Using remote indicator software, the inventory of each bin can be monitored by the manufacturing organization or even by a parts distributor over the internet.
Customization is not only limited to the physical industrial scales themselves. Often, the development of custom computer programming is even more important when using industrial weighing systems. In a chemical mixing plant, there may be several different filling stations, and each station may have its own electronic drum scale that is connected, by Ethernet, to a Local Area Network. In addition, each station may have a VGA indicator. A computer program allows operators in a central location away from the plant floor to enter work orders for various mixtures of chemicals into the system as orders come in. Operators on the plant floor select one work order for their work station. They place a drum on the drum scale and begin the automatic filling process. The drum scale communicates with relays and valves which fill the chemical drums with measured amounts of each chemical, based on a stored memory. As the chemicals are used, the scale sends back data on the total amount of chemical used to a central database to keep accurate records. Once the automatic filling is completed, a label printer connected to the industrial scale prints out a label with the contents of the drum and a bar code that can be placed on the drum.
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