Category Archives: General

Bakery Reduces Ingredient Waste and Bad Batch Costs by Over $39,000

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A large national baking company realized that improving the performance of their minor ingredient scaling could lead to a significant impact on their profitability. Additionally they were averaging one bad batch a week due to errors in the minor ingredient hand adds. They looked to Doran Scales to provide the solution to reduce costs from wasted ingredients and bad batches.

THE SOLUTION was a Doran FC6200 Formula Control Scale. A Doran FC6200 is installed at the ingredient scaling station. Ingredient batching is automated, stepping the user through the formula and ensuring the correct ingredients are accurately scaled every time. Formula Loader software is installed on a PC. This recipe software is used to create and maintain minor ingredient batches. Recipes, formulas and production schedules are then uploaded to the FC6200 through USB flash drive or through an Ethernet connection. Increase accuracy is achieved through user programmable ingredient target weights and tolerances giving management effective control of the batching operation. Multi-tasking Operators who are distracted by other production responsibilities can now return to the partially scaled formula assured that the scale will pick up right where they left off, prompting them through the remainder of the formula without error. Ingredient Lot Numbers are automatically recorded for traceability during formula scaling while ensuring each ingredient meets the desired weight tolerance.

Happy Thanksgiving

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We hope all of you have a great Thanksgiving and enjoy the time with your family and friends and think about all the wonderful things we all have to be thankful for.  We appreciate your business and look forward to serving you.

Ways To Avoid Airline Baggage Fees

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These days everyone is looking to cut costs and find ways to raise additional revenue. One way the airlines can do this is by charging customers an additional fee if their bags weigh more than a certain weight. Unfortunately, many passengers have no real accurate way to measure the weight of their bag until they get to the airport. However, a standard bathroom scale can usually give you a pretty good idea if your bag is going to be close to the maximum weight. The link provides additional information on this story.

During the last inspection in March, Butler’s team check almost 100 scales. Thirteen failed inspection – one was 2 whole pounds off. The previous year, Butler said, ten scales had problems.

With overweight baggage fees topping out around $200, a scale’s accuracy could mean the difference between a hassle-free flight and a costly mess-up.

Butler said Burke has the right idea by weighing her luggage at home. He said anyone who believes their bag is underweight should ask to use a second scale if the bag comes up over.

“Just ask them. There are two scales side by side. If you’re over 50 pounds on that scale, ask them, ‘Do you mind checking on another scale?'” he said. “It’s your right to know because it’s big money. It’s big money.”

A couple of points that were made in this video are worth repeating. As a passenger, make sure when you place your luggage onto the weighing platform that the scale display shows 0.00 and if you are facing an overweight charge be sure to ask if you can place your bag on a different scale. Typically the baggage scales that are placed at airports are very accurate and reliable scales that are designed to meet certain standards, like NTEP approval. However, they can get out of calibration sometimes for various reasons and that is why it is a good idea for airlines to check the scales on a regular basis and have companies like ours calibrate the scales with certified test weights.

Scale Repair & Calibration

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For over 3 decades, Central Carolina Scale has provided our clients with outstanding scale repair services and calibration. Over the years we have worked hard to become one of the most dependable sources of scale repair and scale calibration in the state of North Carolina. Our customer’s depend on our accurate testing and knowledgeable service department.

Our areas of expertise include Heavy Capacity Rice Lake Truck Scales, Hopper Scales, Intercomp Crane Scales, and Cardinal Axle Scales. We also have extensive experience working on Detecto Medical Scales, Pennsylvania Floor Scales and Avery Weigh-Tronix Forklift Scales. We also regularly work on Doran Wash Down Check Weighers, A&D Laboratory Balances, Digi Bench Scales, and Ohaus Analytical Balances. The majority of our scale repair and service is provided on the customers job site. Our team of factory trained scale technicians has the experience and the knowledge to fix the problem right the first time.

If you are looking to have your weighing equipment checked on a regular basis, you’ve come to the right place. Our scale service agreements reduce the overall cost of scale checks and calibration. In the long run, this saves you both time and money. In addition, these service agreements include regularly scheduled scale calibration, preventative maintenance, and NIST traceable certificates of calibration.

If you are one of our valued customers, thank you, we sincerely appreciate your business. If you aren’t currently one of our customers, we ask you to give us a chance by calling us at (919) 776-7737 or send us an email.

Mushroom Grower Increases Production Output By 5000 lbs a Day

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A large Mushroom grower needed a way to ensure that the tills of mushrooms were being filled to the proper weight and a means to verify the productivity of each employee. Since whole mushrooms vary in weight and size, the tills of mushrooms were filled by hand. They knew the weight of the bulk mushrooms and the total weight of all the mushrooms packaged that day and they realized that almost 4% of product was lost or unaccounted for during the packaging process. This needed to be improved to keep a healthy profit margin for this company.

THE SOLUTION involved the Doran 2200CW Checkweigh Scale with Ethernet and Excelerator Data Collection.

10 Doran 2200CW Checkweigh scales with wired Ethernet were installed in each production line (Seven total lines). They were connected to a PC with Dorans CW Setup program which contained a library of all products with over and under tolerances. The scales require the operator to log in with an employee ID; this allows all of their packaging for the shift to be recorded. The line leader enters the product to be run in the CW Setup program which then uploads this information and over under tolerances to the 2200CW scales on that line. After the 2200CW scales are setup with the product information and tolerances the Doran Excelerator program starts to collect the data on each weighment from each scale and each packer.

Breakthrough Legal for Trade Onboard Scale Launch Announced

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A breakthrough new Legal for Trade onboard scale is getting plenty of attention in the trucking and transportation industries. From feed and grain to minerals, scrap steel, wood pellets, grease recovery and more, TradeRoute lets drivers bypass the truck scale and conduct business directly to and from their payload, printed ticket and all.

TradeRoute is one of very few Legal for Trade onboard scales available in North America. But what makes it most unique is that it operates solely from a parked position where hydraulics are used to engage the scale. Unlike all other onboard designs, TradeRoute’s load cells support the vehicle’s load only during the weigh cycle, eliminating the potential for premature load-cell wear from constant engagement.

TradeRoute from Rice Lake Weighing Systems is designed to install around the frame of many common straight-truck designs using a combination of frame-hugging weigh modules, a stainless steel junction box, and a weatherproof control center that houses Rice Lake’s 920i® Indicator/Controller and Epson TM-U295 Ticket Printer. The 920i software adds tremendous power and flexibility to each TradeRoute system, which can be customized to the unique needs of each customer.

The potential cost savings are huge with a system like this. Carriers can save an enormous amount of time and vehicle wear by not taking constant trips to a certified scale, and multiply that savings across their fleet. They get detailed numbers from each stop and are able to store and transmit those numbers back to their office electronically.  Avoid a few overload fines and this system pays for itself quickly.

Versatile Scale Indicator

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190 readout

Cardinal 190 Check Weigh Indicator

This was an interesting application that we thought would be nice to share with you.

We might not typically think of the Cardinal 190 STORM indicator and breast cancer awareness as directly related, but Cardinal recently sold five 190 STORM indicators to a breast cancer awareness foundation that requested a PINK display option. The brilliant LCD color display possibilities are impressive in the 190 STORM… and more color presets are now available!

Pink is now available as a LCD color option along with Blue, Red, Green, and Yellow. Five color preset options available add to the already-incredible features in this highly-popular IP69K wash down indicator with big, bold 1-inch-high digits and capacitive touch keys.

Comprehensive Truck Scale Warranty

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It doesn’t matter if we are looking to buy a television or a treadmill, we all want to buy a product that has a solid warranty. Often times that warranty will only cover the parts that might fail, leaving you to pay for the extra expenses like labor and travel mileage.

Avery Weigh-Tronix has now added an optional warranty which will be ideal for many truck scale customers. They call it the Blue Blanket truck scale warranty and for just a small investment, the optional 5-Year Blue Blanket Truck Scale Warranty (part number AWT97-501690) can be the perfect choice for a customer to protect their investment.

The new ‘blue blanket’ warranty option can really add another dimension of long-term value to your AWTX truck scales. If you were to add this additional protection to your truck scale, the customer now has an option to use scheduled preventative maintenance to extend their warranty. This is great since these days some bid specifications call for a 5-year comprehensive warranty and this option fulfills that requirement. This ‘blue blanket’ includes all weighbridge components and indicator plus travel and labor at standard rates.

New Harvester® Precast Concrete Agricultural TRUCK SCALES

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Cardinal’s new NTEP certified Harvester® precast concrete truck scales come with some eye-popping prices in terms of economic value for agricultural weighing. Engineered specifically for light-duty use on farms with less than 3,000 acres, the Harvester® truck scales feature patent-pending, factory-poured concrete decks with high tensile strength and optimal deck weights. The PSC series features Cardinal’s model CBC stainless steel compression load cells which are NTEP certified.

We think you’ll find that full-length truck scale pricing like this is exceptionally affordable for the farmer who might not have purchased a truck scale otherwise. Optional guide rails for the Harvester® are available as well.

Please note: Harvester® truck scales are not designed for applications outside of light-duty weighing use on farms with less than 3,000 acres. Other heavier-duty type applications outside of these parameters are not acceptable at this time.

New Type Of Load Cell Cable Available

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For scales requiring additional pest control, a uniquely coated load cell cable is now available. The EL147RP Plus load cell cable from Rice Lake Weighing Systems comes with an additional chemical layer that is distasteful to rodents.

load cell cable

A traditional braided copper exterior is a strong deterrent, but with the extra layer, appropriately named “NAW” chemical coating, users will receive the added benefit of a repellent. The chemical layer is not a poison, but rather a deterrent that protects the cable’s integrity from potentially damaging pests. If this is a common problem for your truck scale it might be worth trying some of this cable. Ideal for truck and railroad track scales.