How to Choose the Best Industrial Counting Scale with Printer Compatibility

 

If you’re managing a lot of inventory, you’re already familiar with the pain of counting small parts—especially when speed matters. A good counting scale helps. It saves time, reduces errors, and keeps things moving.

But when you connect that scale to a printer? That’s where things really start to click. Now you’re not just counting — you’re printing labels, barcodes, and packing slips right then and there, without having to double-handle anything.

At Arlyn Scales, we build tough, accurate counting scales that are built to work with thermal and impact printers right out of the box. This guide walks through what to look for, how different models compare, and a few common questions we hear from folks in the field.

Why Purchase a Printer for an Industrial Counting Scale?

Counting scales are most often used to keep track of inventory. This is extremely important for organizations that stock and track large numbers of small parts or pieces, and a printer can help to ensure that a weight reading is properly affixed to a certain set of items. At Arlyn Scales, our counting scales support a variety of thermal and impact printers, depending on your unique needs.

While the printer that you choose is key, the features of the counting scale you purchase are likely even more important. You can always reach out to the Arlyn Scales team to learn more about the different types of printers that are available for our scales, but in this article we’ll also point out some of the key features that are important if you’re in the market for an industrial counting scale.

Key Features of Industrial Counting Scales

Aside from a thermal or impact printer, there are several other key features that many of our customers appreciate when it comes to our industrial counting scales. In our 30+ years in the business, we’ve received a wide array of feedback from our customers and used it to better our industrial scales. Below are just a few of the many features you’ll find when purchasing one of our industrial counting scales.

Arlyn Scales “Quick Count” Feature

Our Series 820 Parts Counting Scales offer a unique “Quick Count” feature that’s widely lauded by our customers. This feature allows you to count large numbers of pieces or parts quickly, by committing the weight of one item to the scale’s memory. Users can store the piece weight of a large number of different items so that the sampling process is not necessary when you need to weigh an item again. This helps to save companies both time and money when it comes to the inventory process.

Stainless Steel Load Cell

With a stainless steel load cell you’re ensuring that the most important component of your scale is manufactured out of a highly rugged material, that will ensure it stands up to the rigors of an industrial environment. Many scale manufacturers will manufacture their load cells out of inferior materials, such as aluminum, to cut costs, but we’re committed to investing in higher quality materials so that our scales can stay out in the field for longer. We understand that a scale that’s out of service can cause significant problems for you and your company, so we do all we can to ensure our scales are manufactured using materials that are extremely rugged. Because of our stainless steel load cells, our Series 820 Parts Counting Scales are able to offer capacities of up to 100 pounds with a resolution of 0.01 pounds.

Highly Accurate SAW Counting Scales

If you’re looking for more accuracy and higher capacities, we also offer our patented Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) technology that provides the highest possible accuracy for counting small parts or pieces. These scales are more precise than standard strain gage scales, and offer an increased precision of 5-10 times.

These SAW scales come in a variety of platform sizes with capacities and resolutions ranging from 10 pounds X 0.0001 pounds to 200 pounds X 0.002 pounds. This wide array of options gives you the ability to weigh all types of parts, regardless of their weight.

series-820-vs-ultra-precision-scales

Customer Service That’s Available When You Need it Most

While having a US based design and manufacturing team was once thought of as the norm, it now is more of an anomaly. At Arlyn Scales, we’re headquartered in Long Island, New York where both our design and manufacturing facilities are based. This has offered us a number of benefits compared to some of our competitors who’ve chosen to migrate their manufacturing facilities overseas.

Because we’re able to keep our entire team together in the US, we’re able to work more efficiently without any of the bottlenecks or breakdowns which can be common when dealing with a distributed manufacturing team. All of our employees work together in the design and manufacturing phases to ensure each of our scales meet the incredibly high standards set by our founder.

In addition to the highest quality industrial scales, we’re also able to offer a high level of customer support due to our unique business model. Each employee that works in one of our facilities brings years of scale expertise, which can all be put to good use whenever a customer calls in with an issue. At Arlyn Scales, we vow to always attempt to answer any questions or concerns you may have as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Highly Competitive Pricing

An additional benefit of our US based manufacturing is that we’re able to sell factory direct to our customers. This means that we have no complex distributor structure, which often drives up the prices of industrial scales. You can simply pick up the phone at any time and purchase one of our scales factory direct, often at prices that are much less than some of our competitors.

This factory direct approach also allows us to invest some of these cost savings into new scale features such as our SAW technology, our Arlyn UpScale Touchscreen Indicator and many others.

Frequently Asked Questions About Counting Scales with Printers

What type of printer works best with counting scales?
Thermal and impact printers are both commonly used with industrial scales. Thermal printers are ideal for labels and barcodes, while impact printers are better for multi-copy or carbon forms.
Can Arlyn counting scales print barcodes and labels automatically?
Yes. With the right configuration and supported printers, our scales can automatically generate barcodes and labels based on the counted quantities.
Do I need special software to connect a printer to the scale?
No special software is required for basic printing functions. However, for more advanced control and label design, optional software integration is available.
Can I use one printer with multiple scales?
Yes, depending on the connection method (e.g., Ethernet or USB hub), you can set up one printer to serve multiple scales within the same network.
What’s the difference between strain gauge and SAW counting scales?
Strain gauge scales are reliable for general use, while SAW-based scales offer far higher resolution—ideal for counting extremely small or valuable parts with tight tolerances.

Reach Out to Arlyn Scales Today for More Information on Our Industrial Counting Scales & Printers

Whether you’re in the market for an industrial counting scale, or scale printer, or both, we’re here and ready to help. We can be reached via phone at 800-645-4301 or through our online contact form. We look forward to assisting you in finding the ideal industrial scale based on your business needs.