A Weighty Proposition

Properly managing inventory and billing in warehouse and distribution center (DC) environments often depends upon documenting and weighing freight upon arrival and before shipping. Material handling charges are frequently determined by the weight of the transported load; thus, high-accuracy weighing processes are required to optimize revenue in these applications. Precise weighing can also help ensure customers are invoiced for the exact amount of materials purchased or shipped, maintaining a satisfied customer base and improving inventory management. By enhancing productivity and billing accuracy, a reliable, user-friendly scale system can save companies a significant amount of money every year.

To ensure the weighing process helps rather than hinders operations, the scale system selected should provide efficient results and legal-for-trade accuracy as well as facilitate simple documentation and billing. The most common solutions used in these applications—floor scales, lift truck scales and truck scales—offer unique advantages and should be selected based upon the type, value and amount of commodities handled.

Floor Scales

With a 1-pound graduation, floor scales weigh commodities of moderate value per pound with high accuracy, yielding less potential for revenue loss. They are particularly suited for heavy or bulky boxes and cartons weighing tens to hundreds of pounds with +/- 0.5-pound accuracy.

Floor scales consist of a low-profile, aboveground or pit-mounted rectangular platform featuring integrated electronic weight sensors with no flexures, hydraulics or springs prone to wear. This scale system can be placed at a central location within a warehouse or DC, and it is used in two ways: Personnel can wheel lighter loads onto the scale for weighing, or, for heavier loads, operators can drive lift trucks carrying bundled or palletized commodities directly onto the scale.

For simple lift truck access and to accommodate varying travel patterns, above-ground floor scales may feature ramps on each of the four sides. The scales are also offered in a wide range of sizes and capacities—from a 30-x30-inch scale suitable for 2,000-pound loads to a 96-x-72-inch scale with a capacity of 20,000 pounds.

A floor scale is paired with a digital scale indicator that collects, stores and communicates weight data. This indicator can serve as a local display for manual operations, where operators document readings by hand, or for applications where only the most basic weight data must be gathered.

More advanced indicators automate the weighing process with barcode scanners, incorporated to obtain product identification data for each bundle or pallet. The indicator then uses wireless communications to transmit freight identification and weight data to management’s primary data collection software system, helping to improve productivity and producing instant, accurate invoices for all materials weighed. These data management capabilities, paired with the scales’ high accuracy and ease of operation, make floor scales a common selection in warehouse and DC areas.

One common concern about integrating a floor scale into these fast-paced environments is that the weighing process can prove inconvenient. After receiving a load upon arrival, rather than taking the pallet to its designated storage location, the lift truck driver must divert his or her course to stop past the floor scale, interrupting operational flow. On particularly busy days, weighing becomes even more timeconsuming, as a single floor scale is often used for dozens of lift truck operators. This process may result in measurable productivity loss when multiple drivers must wait for access to the scale.

Lift Truck Scales

An en-route weighing system can help enhance productivity as well as optimize revenue. A lift truck scale, consisting of multiple metal plates and electronic weight sensors, allows drivers to lift, weigh and move loads while recording pertinent material and weight data. The scale installs by attaching to an existing lift truck carriage, and it can be removed from one lift truck and attached to another within minutes.

Rather than a traditional scale indicator, weight data is recorded by an in-cab instrument and displayed and transmitted wirelessly from the lift truck to a back-office collection system. This allows supervisors to monitor and manage freight arrival and shipments in real time, facilitating more efficient, accurate inventory and billing records.