A Comparison of Commercial and Industrial Solutions
The practice of weighing is ancient. History suggests that merchants in the region now known as Pakistan first introduced the idea around 4,000 years ago. Their purpose was to establish a selling price for irregularly sized items that were not suitable for counting.
They employed a simple beam balance consisting of two plates, placing the goods on one and adding stones to the other until the loads balanced. Today, there are thousands of applications for which weighing is crucial, and scales are among the most common items of commercial and industrial equipment.
Key Considerations When Selecting Commercial vs Industrial Scales
Most fresh produce is sold by weight, whether loose or pre-packed. Few homes are without a bathroom scale, and passengers can’t board an international flight without first having their suitcases weighed. Factories, farms and abattoirs all have a need to weigh things. To support such a diversity of applications calls for an equally broad range of scales. The most significant factor in determining which of these will be most suitable for a given task is the size of the items to be weighed. Generally, the retail trade deals mainly in smaller items, and the industrial-strength equipment is used primarily by wholesalers and manufacturers.
In addition to size, speed and precision are also factors to consider when selecting scales. Accurate weighing is generally more important in the commercial sector, where legislation relating to weights and measurements is often strict, and inaccuracy could result in penalties. By contrast, speed rather than accuracy is generally the more critical requirement for companies that produce large quantities of heavy goods. Frequently, an automated system is the only means to ensure a consistent and rapid flow on production lines. Consequently, industrial equipment for automatic weighing and dimensioning is always in high demand.
With such a wide range of scales to choose from, selecting the best one for your intended use can be confusing. You won’t have much luck attempting to weigh a T-bone steak on a carcass scale, and a point-of-sale device will be of little use on a busy production line. Retailers could spend far more than necessary when purchasing a scale, only to find it lacks the precision they need. There is a suitable instrument for every day-to-day weighing task and an extensive selection of commercial and industrial equipment from which to make your choice. For now, let’s focus on four types of scales commonly used by the latter sector.
Platform Scales
These are much larger than their commercial equivalents and are widely used by manufacturers, logistics companies and various service industries. They are also a convenient means for cattle farmers to weigh their livestock. Their underlying mechanism may be mechanical, utilising springs, levers and reference weights, or electronic, employing a strain gauge that will offer greater accuracy.
Carcass Scales
These are indispensable to wholesale butcheries and food processing plants and also an item of industrial equipment found in most abattoirs. Given the heavy loads involved, accuracy is less crucial than ease of handling. Integration with an overhead track allows users to move a carcass onto the scale with minimum effort, resulting in a faster and more efficient operation. Some models have a fold-down platform which can be conveniently folded away to save space when not in use.
Combined Weighing and Dimensioning Scales
It is often necessary to measure both the weight and the dimensions of an object. There is now a piece of industrial equipment that can perform both tasks simultaneously, combining them into a single operation. Exporters, distribution centres and online retailers rely on postal services and couriers who base their charges on the mass and size of the shipped items. Using a weighing and dimensioning scale will save time and, more importantly, its accuracy eliminates the risk of overpayment, also saving money. Different models are available for handling rectangular and irregularly-shaped packages and are suitable for producers or transporters.
Printing Scales
Manufacturers generally need to label their products. The printing scale is another form of industrial equipment that combines two operations: weighing and labelling, in this case. Top-end models offer advanced features like auto-sizing and cutting while allowing the operator to check a label’s content on a touch-screen.
Teraoka is the sole distributor of DIGI weighing systems in Southern Africa. We are proud to offer our clients an extensive range of superior commercial and industrial equipment, including a wide choice of scales, labelling devices and consumables. We invite you to explore our time- and money-saving solutions in more detail.