Check Weigh Scale Works Well for Warehouse Club

Of course nobody here is surprised to hear this but recently the warehouse club Costco used some Avery Weigh-Tronix ZQ375 checkweighers in the bakery. The results were impressive with great marks for wash down capability and weighing accuracy. Below is a case study provided by Avery Weigh-Tronix the maker of the ZQ375.

Costco, the national Cash & Carry Membership Warehouse Club that produces and stocks a wide range of food products, has upgraded its scales to Avery Weigh Tronix’s new ZQ375 Checkweigher to achieve more accurate weighing for its bakery and confectionary ingredients. Costco has installed six ZQ375-30kg units at each of its newest warehouses at Leicester, Southampton and Farnborough and one larger, floor standing 90kg capacity ZQ375 for bulk weighing in the Butchery Departments. The equipment must meet stringent hygiene standards and must also precisely weigh a wide range of ingredients, from custard to food dye, to ensure a high quality final product.

Says Wayne Parsons, Regional Bakery Manager for Costco: “At Costco we take a lot of pride in the fact that we freshly bake a lot of our products in the bakeries at our warehouses. To do this, it’s important that the scales we use are consistently accurate, convenient to use, and have an easy to read indicator. This allows our bakers to meet their daily quota of produce and deliver a high quality end product.”

“Another particularly useful feature of the ZQ375 Checkweigher is that it is capable of five gram divisions and a capacity of 30kg, whereas the old scales we used were only capable of divisions by ten grams. When we are dealing with ingredients such as food dye, this feature is particularly useful as it allows a much greater level of accuracy when dealing with smaller quantities.” The flat scale pan on the ZQ375 Checkweigher makes it easy to place different shaped products on the scales and still get an accurate weight. In the Costco warehouse bakeries where weighed ingredients come in a range of different shapes and sizes, this ensures production remains efficient. Parsons concludes, “As a business, our bottom line is affected by whether or not we can deliver the high quality food products that our customers expect. Investing in this type of equipment helps us to achieve that.”

Featuring food-grade, fully stainless steel construction, the ZQ375 Checkweigher is a highly efficient solution for the food industry and beyond. From complete visibility of weighing data and statistics to fast, effective, simple checkweighing, the ZQ375 Checkweigher can help you to maximize performance and profitability while meeting strict legislative requirements. The ZQ375 is available from Central Carolina Scale located in Sanford, NC.

Stretch Wrap Machine With Scale

If you’re shipping pallets loaded with smaller boxes then the chances are you’re using some type of shrink wrap or stretch wrap to keep the smaller boxes on the pallet. Some smaller companies use a stretch wrap roll and manually walk around the pallet themselves. However, many larger companies or organizations that ship out quite a few pallets typically use a stretch wrap machine to accomplish this task.

One issue that can take place during this process is obtaining a pallet weight. Often the pallet has to be wrapped with stretch wrap and then moved over to the floor scale to obtain a weight. Now you can imagine if this happens multiple times each day, the lost time and inefficiency can really add up.

strech wrap machine scale

A great solution for this is to add one of our large floor scales to your stretch wrap area. As you can see from the picture, the stretch wrapper sits on top of the platform scale and makes securing the pallet and obtaining a pallet weight a simple process. Custom floor scales for under stretch wrappers are available from Central Carolina Scale. Custom sizes no problem; standard pricing and scale is typically delivered within 4 weeks. Give us a call at 919-776-7737. Low profile and high capacity are standard features along with easy zero reset (on the Pennsylvania 7500/7600 indicators) for the dead load easily preserves full capacity and calibration.

We Rent Test Weights For Checking Elevators

If you check elevators for safety and weight capacity limits then you probably need large calibrated test weights to do the test. We have those weights available for rental in the state of North Carolina. If you need 1000 pound weights we can provide those or 2500 pound weights are also available. Call us at 919-776-7737 or fill out our online form for additional information. We are located in the triangle area near Raleigh, Durham, Fayetteville and Sanford, NC area.

Dimensional Weighing and Measuring of Boxes At Shipping Table

Some companies ship lots of parcels and boxes every single day. Others ship quite a few boxes occasionally and light amounts otherwise. Meanwhile, some companies have hundreds of boxes that ship out to their customers via FedEx or UPS everyday.

At Central Carolina Scale, we ship out quite a few boxes every week and recently noticed a change that you are probably going to start noticing as well if you own a business that ships out packages via UPS Ground.

We’ll focus mostly on UPS since that is our primary carrier but you can probably expect FedEx to do something similar if they’re not already. You see in the past UPS mostly focused dimensional weight rates, aka… dim weight on their expedited services like UPS Red (Next Day Air) or UPS Blue (2nd Day Air). Well, starting in 2015 dim weights apply to the standard UPS Ground charges as well. You can see more at the UPS rates website.

In addition to the announcement that UPS® Ground, Air and International rates will increase an average net 4.9% there is also a mention of dimensional weight pricing.

Dimensional weight pricing will apply to all UPS® Ground services and UPS® Standard to Canada packages. Dimensional weight pricing encourages reductions in excess packaging materials and overall package sizes, leading to reduced fuel use, vehicle emissions and transportation costs.

We should probably give you a quick overview of what dimensional weight is all about. Here is the way UPS describes it. Dimensional weight reflects package density, which is the amount of the space a package occupies in relation to its actual weight. Dimensional weight may apply to all UPS domestic and international package services. Determine the package dimensions in inches. For each dimension, measure at the longest point, rounding each measurement to the nearest whole number (for example, 1.00 to 1.49 will be considered 1, and 1.50 to 1.99 will be considered 2). Measure the length, width and height of the package at its extreme points. If the package has a bulge or is irregularly shaped, include the bulge or irregular aspects of the package. Multiply the package length by the width by the height. The result is the cubic size in inches.

UPS Air Services shipments in U.S.: Divide the cubic size in inches by 166 to determine dimensional weight in pounds. Increase any fraction to the next whole pound.

UPS Ground shipments in U.S.: If the cubic size of the package in inches is 5,184 or larger, divide the cubic size by 166 to determine dimensional weight in pounds. If the cubic size in inches is less than 5,184, use the actual weight of the package. Increase any fraction to the next whole pound.

Effective December 29, 2014, dimensional weight will be used to calculate the billable weight of all UPS Ground packages. For business and industry this creates quite a quandary since it can be very time consuming getting out the tape measure or the yard stick and measuring every single box. Below are a couple of tips that might help you out Continue reading

Solar Panels Power Scales For Up To Entire Year!

Over the years the idea of solar power and scales has been brought up before and in fact there are currently a few products in the marketplace that accommodate that type of technology. Well, you can add Intercomp Company into the same sentence now as well with their latest product innovation.

Intercomp, the manufacturer of portable wheel load scales that we know you’ve heard of such as the popular PT300, recently announced an exciting solar panel update to their most popular wheel load scale models. A solar charger built into the scale indicator allows the scales to operate continuously without requiring direct power charging. This solar boost makes Intercomp scales even more versatile, and virtually eliminates the need to recharge batteries in-between uses. This is a major upgrade since battery life is one of the most important considerations for customers of these products. Being able to operate your portable wheel weighers without having to manually recharge batteries makes weighing that much easier and reliable.

By building solar chargers into the Intercomp weight indicators, it offers you exceptional battery life and eliminates the need to manage charging and replacement of batteries; which not only benefits customers, but the environment as well. Now, the question you’re probably asking is, which Intercomp scales does this include? Well, at the time of this write-up the time saving, solar charging technology will be standard on all PT300™,PT300DW™, LP600 and LP600-15T™ Wheel Load Scales moving forward. Therefore, charging cables will no longer be included, but are still available to be ordered as options if you desire.

At Central Carolina Scale, we’re proud to offer our customers the quality and performance of Intercomp scales and to be an authorized Intercomp distributor. For more information or to obtain a price quote on Intercomp scales, please contact our sales department by phone (919) 776-7737 or complete our sales request for quote form on our website.

Avery Weigh-Tronix ZM305 Scale Indicator FAQ

We put together a top ten list of frequently asked questions on the Avery Weigh Tronix 305 and 305 GTN Inbound-Outbound Indicators. The ZM305 Standard weight indicator is ideal for floor scales, batching, vessels and for in motion conveyors. Meanwhile, the ZM305 GTN Inbound-Outbound model is ideal for use with Truck Scales and Weighbridges and offers users the ability to store Gross, Tare and Net weights against up to 1000 container/vehicle IDs, providing inbound/outbound weighing. This rugged indicator features a unique Harmonizer filtering system which corrects for environmental noise and vibration which commonly occur in these applications. Let’s take a look at the list below.

10.  The 305 series is comprised of 2 different products, what are they?
The first choice is the ZM305 Standard stainless steel IP69K desktop with multiple built-in weighing applications with IBN display. The second choice is the ZM305 GTN Inbound-Outbound stainless steel IP69K with IBN display (Great for truck scales)

9. What is an IBN display?
This display technology provides tremendous contrast between its illuminated digits and surrounding background. It is used within the automotive industry to improve viewing in both bright and dimly lit environments.

8. What power source is required?
These indicators can operate on 90-264 VAC (110-240 VAC nominal), 50 or 60 Hz, 12 to 36 VDC or from the optional external battery pack ZM-BAT.

7. How long will the optional external battery pack power the scale?
The external optional battery pack ZM-BAT utilizes (4) D cell batteries. Fresh batteries will maintain operation of a single weight sensor system for six hours, or a four weight sensor system for four hours, and one hour with systems with eight weight sensors. The ZQ-BAT option with auto shut-off has selectable sleep mode choices in the Supervisor menu which will extend battery life if enabled.

6. Is the IP69K stainless steel a standard feature and what exactly is IP69K?
The ZM305 is enclosed in a stainless steel assembly with a IP69K certified rating. IP69K is a worldwide recognized standard which defines ingress protection of the enclosure. The ZM305 indicators are certified by a third party to meet this standard. Tip: Do not be misled by brands that claim their products are designed or equal to IP69K. Continue reading

Computer Scales on a 7″ Android™ Tablet

This is a pretty cool scale system. We are often asked about using a tablet computer to see scale weights but often it’s really not too practical for industrial situations. However, for racing scales it can actually be a great choice. Longacre Racing has developed an exciting new system that includes four scale pads and an android tablet which displays the scale weight info along with quite a bit of additional customized weight information. Take a look below.

Computerscales on a Tablet
This is the future of chassis setups. This tablet has many times the capacity of any dedicated scale control box. This scale was designed from the ground up as a tablet based system, not an add-on to an existing model. The wireless signal goes directly from the pads to the tablet without any bulky re-transmitter boxes needed. In the future we will have many more ‘apps’ for various setup functions.

Tablet Included
The tablet included is an Android™ based model and can support other ‘apps’. Computerscales XLi app is pre-installed and the entire system is ready to use. (Tablet brand / model may vary.)

DUAL Load Cell CNC Machined Pads (Single Cell Pads Also Available)
Dual cells give you a much more rigid platform than any single cell pads can. The lower deflection significantly improves accuracy and consistency, particularly for critical cross weight. These pads are fully CNC machined to a dead flat finish – within just .005″

Some of the features I like include the fact that all your partial weights & %’s can be seen. Scroll thru the options with your fingertip. The Tablet shows Memory weights and current weights AT THE SAME TIME so you can easily compare (50 memory storage). The Tabet features a customizable display – Easily tap your preferences in the order you want them displayed. You can even add a blank line if you want to separate %s. Select as many or few as you want. Up to 5 will be shown on the main display but you can access the others scrolling the list up or down. You can also change partial weight % resolution and weight units. Pad battery status shown on display for each corner. There’s even a Bright Sunlight screen mode for easier viewing outdoors. Contact Central Carolina Scale today at 919-776-7737 to place your order.

Website Makeover

We’re not exactly sure when we first went online many years ago with centralcarolinascale.com — probably sometime around 2000 is our best guess. Back then it was a 5 page website that stated who we are, what we do, and how to contact us. Of course, like most businesses we’ve grown over the years and so has our website which now has hundreds (maybe even thousands) of pages. Our current website was built starting back in 2003 which is kind of like 1980 in internet years — which means a lot has changed since that time.

So, we’re proud to announce that we are planning on launching our brand new website in the next few weeks! It has been a very long journey (almost a year to be exact) and we are very excited to show the website to our customers. It is built using a high quality content management system (CMS) which will allow us to easily keep it updated and fresh with the latest news and product information. So, stay tuned and check out the site which we hope to launch in the next couple of weeks.

Satellite Unattended Weighing Kiosk For Truck Scales

Have you ever wondered if it was possible to have a truck scale without anyone actually manning the scale? If so, take a look at the Cardinal Scale Manufacturing Satellite series unattended weighing kiosks.

These provide the ultimate experience in unmanned truck scale efficiency and streamlined data integration. The lockable, weather-proof enclosure features an articulating arm to retract the kiosk away from truck traffic when its not in use.

Select a Satellite model with the features you need including a high-speed thermal cutbar tape printer, proximity badge reader (AWID and HID), rainhood/sun deflector, and 240 x 64 pixel blue backlit LCD or 640 x 480 pixel backlit color touch screen LCD. The weatherproof QWERTY keyboard with navigation arrow keys and main soft keys provides driver input prompting controls.

Features
Articulating Arm Allows Kiosk to be Retracted
Data Integration with WinVRS Available
Easy to Refill Paper Rolls
High-Speed Thermal Cutbar Printer
Internal Heater with Thermostat in Printer
Cabinet Kiosk May be Pole or Wall-Mounted
Lockable Outdoor-Grade Enclosure
Main Soft Keys Provide Driver Input
Prompting Controls Reduces Risk Associated with Drivers Walking Across Platforms Weatherproof QWERTY Keyboard and Navigation Arrow Keys