Imagine trying to live in a world where palletized shipping never became a thing. Consider that shipping pallets have greatly altered the way that almost every single type of commodity is transported. It would be almost unthinkable to live in a world that lacked this vital technology. That is why pallet scales for industrial applications are important.
Pallet Scales for Industrial Application
People outside of the world of certain types of logistics workflows wouldn’t normally give this technology much thought. Despite that, it’s obvious that everyone enjoys the selection of products that comes with living in a modern economy. They all take advantage of it in one way or another.
Many people don’t know how to weigh a pallet and will try to get around using pallets during shipping and receiving. Fortunately, you don’t have to worry about forgoing shipping pallets. There are great weighing tools out there that can help you get the job done.
At Arlyn Scales, we sell affordable, durable, and highly accurate industrial pallet floor scales. Standard pallets can easily be rolled onto them and weighed. Pallets are commonly used in many manufacturing, industrial and shipping facilities to transport heavy loads within the worksite.
The nature of this type of business means that there must be a convenient way to weigh heavy products loaded onto a pallet each day. Many products are bought, sold, and shipped by weight. Thus, an accurate, well-built and easy-to-use floor scale directly impacts the bottom line of many industry concerns.
In some cases, you might be weighing pallets of goods that are fragile or perhaps perishable. In other situations, you may have to deal with ones that are exceptionally heavy or awkward. Regardless of what your company’s specific concerns might look like, there are a collection of floor scales that can address the ones that are the most challenging to you. Then you’ll be able to get your pallets weighed and shipping costs calculated in no time.
A few of our products might even help you to streamline your company’s workflows. First, though, it might help to take a look at the ways that various business ventures have put this kind of equipment to use.
Even if you work in harsh, outdoor environments, we have you covered. Our stainless steel Platform Scales are ideal outdoor pallet scales. These durable floor scales are constructed from stainless steel and also have stainless steel load cells embedded in the welded frame for remarkable ruggedness. The load cells have great shock and abuse resistance, and the molded display enclosure has a rubber gasket for water resistance. These scales have an internal resolution to 1 part in 500,000, and some models have weight resolution up to 0.1 lbs, so you know your floor scale is just as accurate as it is tough.
What Are Pallet Scales Used For?
Pallet scales and platform scales have proven to be indispensable assets in most industrial operations. These include weighing trolleys, vats and other heavy containers of product. Pallet scales are also known as a floor scale, and are used for many used in addition to weighing pallets.
A reliable floor scale will eliminate assumptions, guesswork, or margin for error when it comes to weight calculations. These calculations are needed to verify imported and exported goods. Arlyn Scales supplies a large range of quality platform and pallet scales to accommodate weighing a variety of weighing applications.
Pallet scales are usually configured with a predetermined weighing capacity and measurements that can readily accept standard size pallets. However, Arlyn Scales can custom build weighing platforms to suit your operations. They come in several designs, including those which feature a low height profile. Our pallet scale and floor scale options are available painted, epoxy-coated, and in stainless steel.
Traditional platform scales are used in everything from airline travel to commercial laundry operations. If you ever take a trip to the local junkyard, then you more than likely are used to seeing them there as well. They measure amounts of scrap metal. Consumers, of course, are paid by the pound for the metal they return to these centers.
Assuming you know how to operate this kind of equipment, you should have no difficulty at all operating any of the pallet scales that you’re likely to see in other situations. That gives you the freedom to share tools with every member of your personnel. They can take accurate measures on a regular basis.
Our digital floor scale indicators make the process even easier.
Features To Look For In Industrial Platform Scales
As soon as you’ve decided to get an industrial pallet floor scale for your place of business, you’ll want to keep the following features in mind during the shopping process. While not everyone will need exactly the same type of equipment, these should represent a fairly good collection. The features should prove useful to a wide variety of technicians and workshops.
Weight Accuracy
In the shipping industry, the capacity of the land, air, or sea container is of high importance to those who must transport goods long distances. Suppose you are traveling via truck, cargo plane, or shipping vessel. The maximum transport load weight cannot be exceeded due to legal safety reasons.
Many floor scales on the market are not truly equipped to handle the abuse that comes with factory floor use while maintaining their accuracy. They are typically expensive items and because they are integral to the daily operations at most plants. You don’t want to spend valuable time re-calibrating constantly. We take pride in supplying our clients with high-quality scales that weigh with consistently high-accuracy, which is ideal for industrial facilities.
Depending on the type of industry you’re in and how you’re shipping products, you might need to ensure the use of specifically certified scales. Those who find this to be a problem may want to consider a postal scale as well for smaller shipments.
Corrosion-Resistant
You want to purchase a scale with a durable stainless steel scale platform. Stainless steel is naturally more resistant to the effects of spills. It should also be easy to clean since stainless steel can be washed down without fear of rusting easily.
Corrosive liquids such as chlorine, liquefied carbon dioxide or hydrogen, sodium hydroxide, phosphate, and caustic liquids are vital to many industrial facilities. Do you routinely deal with more caustic substances? Our Corrosion-Resistant Scales feature a special 3-part epoxy coating on stainless steel to provide excelling corrosion resistance. The scale itself is constructed from durable, welded stainless steel to withstand harsh industrial environments, and garnet particles mixed with the epoxy add extra scratch and abrasion resistance. The load cells are made from heat-treated stainless steel alloy, offering years of trouble-free use.
Even those scales from Arlyn that aren’t corrosion coated, however, should be able to stand up to a fair amount of abuse. They’re made from genuine stainless steel with chromium in an alloy that helps to provide an inherent level of protection.
Other durability features could potentially be important to you, again depending on how you plan on using your scale.
Reliable And Durable Industrial Pallet Scales with Optional Ramp
At Arlyn Scales, we also take pride in designing and manufacturing scales to meet the highest quality standards that will give you a valuable, long-lasting piece of equipment. The stainless steel construction also extends to the load cells for maximum durability. Therefore, you can roll pallet after pallet onto our industrial floor scales without worrying if it will become damaged. There are numerous advantages to buying our pallet scales such as:
- You can dump a heavy load, even one beyond the floor scale’s capacity. Never worry that the load sensors that you depend on for accurate measurements will become permanently warped and ruined.
- You can get optional ramps for either side of your floor scale. Negate the need to ever raise your pallets off the ground.
- Your digital display can be made wireless, increasing safety at your plant by being able to read your pallet scale without being near to the load.
Our floor scale display has a net/gross function to easily subtract the weight of the pallet from the actual load among many others.
Wireless displays are a special concern for many technicians. These allow data logging as well as other sophisticated features. They can help to automate certain industrial processes to a degree.
Those who need these can connect their indicators via several different technologies. Some even have all relevant information dumped into a spreadsheet, or can send email alerts when appropriate.
Once everything has been properly stored in a cloud-based repository, it’s possible for users to recall it on almost any networked device. In fact, connecting a floor scale to a computer isn’t anywhere as difficult as it sounds. This makes this an attractive option for smaller businesses that might not otherwise have had the opportunity to take advantage of integrated equipment.
If this sounds good, then you might want to take a look at some of our other pieces of gear.
Pallet Scale Calibration
When it comes to pallet scales, accuracy and durability are two of the most important factors. You need a floor scale that will not only give you a precise measurement but will also withstand the harsh conditions of warehouses and other industrial environments. You need to be aware of calibration to ensure your industrial pallet scale is able to produce the most accurate reading at all times. Even a small inaccuracy can come with serious consequences.
The good news is that Arlyn has made the calibration process vastly different from our competitors. With decades of industry experience behind us, we were able to create a calibration process that works better for you, our customers. Other manufacturers will require you to take your scale out of service to be calibrated, which can halt production and cost time and money. Many of our floor scales require little to no calibration, and if you do have to recalibrate, you can do it in the field without taking your scale out of service. The most common times you might need to calibrate your scale again are if you moved it to a new location or if you notice inaccurate readings.
To recalibrate your industrial pallet scale, enter calibration mode, enter test weight value, make sure any other objects have been removed from the platform, press “Calibrate”, and place the test weight on the platform. Your scale should be working properly now.
Interested In Learning More About Pallet Scales For Industrial Applications?
- Arlyn Series 5200 Floor Scales is our pallet solution of choice. These floor scales use best of class components, including stainless steel load cells, advanced digital algorithms, and welded construction coated with a special zinc-rich epoxy for superior rust resistance.
- Arlyn Series 5200 Stainless Steel Floor Scales are for difficult environments that call for easy-to-use solutions. These floor scales use best of class components, including stainless steel construction and load cells, advanced digital algorithms and welded construction coated with a special zinc-rich epoxy for superior rust resistance.
- Arlyn Industrial Drum Scales with a Ramp and Stainless Steel Sensors are perfect for heavier or oversized loads thanks to their ease of loading. These low-profile scales feature a rail-less ramp that makes it easy to load and unload the materials you are trying to weigh. These industrial drum scales allow the load to overhang, so you don’t need to worry about it fitting the surface perfectly. Simply roll drums, canisters, pails, and other items onto the platform to load and let the scale give you an accurate reading.
Weighing Pallets is Easy Using Industrial Floor Scales
While an industrial process is taking place, the measurements of materials being consumed and produced, or the measurements of material remaining to be processed, must be logged for future analysis. There are sophisticated and expensive systems available to do these kinds of things.
For example, the most common method is to run a communication cable from a central computer to each industrial scale in use. A standard communication protocol, like an RS-232, can transfer weight data from scales to computers easily.
This method isn’t always suitable for every industrial application though. For example, the computer and scale need to be close together and in the same room.
It costs a lot to run cables from industrial equipment too. There are a number of electrical codes that must be followed. The wiring may have to be routed through existing ceilings, walls, or other obstructions.
Computer Compatibility & Digital Capabilities
One way to reduce the cost is to network a number of scales and have them all connect to one computer. A multi-drop protocol, like RS-485, may be employed to do this. 1 cable is routed from scale to scale and continues on to the central data collection device. An adaptor is used to convert the RS-485 data into a standard that the computer can accept, like a USB. It is not always necessary to monitor the weight in real-time.
All Arlyn Scales are available with a wide variety of industry-standard communication options including Ethernet, Wi-Fi, USB, and RS-232. That means you’ll be able to hook them up to a wide variety of different devices even if you lack a dedicated IT department and have to do all of the work in-house. If you can hook up USB pointing devices like a mouse, then you can hook up one of these scales.
Intrinsically Safe Versions Available
For hazardous or classified environments, see Arlyn’s Intrinsically Safe ArlynGuard F Series Floor Scales. They are equipped with FM Approved display indicators and load cell sensors. The scales are designed to hold up against hazardous, explosive and flammable environments.
Regardless of the type of pallets currently in use to sort individual shipments, they will maintain consistent measurements. In fact, you could theoretically use them without any particular type of container. If this were a concern in your particular manufacturing setup, you can address it.
The Arlyn Scales Difference
Arlyn Scales has over 35 years of experience in meeting customer demands. Our products deliver on price, functionality, quality, reliability, safety, durability and performance.
Learn more about pallet scales for industrial applications by contacting Arlyn Scales. Use our online contact form with any questions or concerns about custom-made scales for your business.