By: Arthur Cooper
Submitted: 2010-11-30 13:11:52 | Word Count: 664
1. Cargo shippers can get large 4’x 4’ platforms, called floor scales, on which to place their massive loads. These floor scales are both sophisticated and durable, often being able to accurately weight loads of up to 20, 000 lbs. They usually come with a display device that is linked to the platform by a cable. Most scales of this type are digital format readers, providing highly accurate, easily readable results. This is important for cargo because the weight affects air and/or ship load capacities during transport.
2. Another type is the bench scale. These are much smaller. You can sit the device on top of something- a table or work surface. It has a ‘pan’ or surface area on which to place any item / product that needs to be weighed. The display is not usually a separate unit, but located merely beneath the pan (weighing surface) or on a swing arm. Some less common models have their display located above the pan, often mounted on a metal pole originating from the back of the unit. This puts the user at eye level with the display unit. A bench scale is appropriate if what you need to weigh is fairly light. Smaller items, (such as medicine) require much more accuracy from the unit, so bear that in mind when choosing one. The industry standard reading accuracy is 0.002 lbs, but there are ultra-precision models available for those who have greater accuracy requirements.
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3. If you need a postal scale for your office to keep your costs under control (not to mention trying to avoid multiple trips to the post office), then a postal shipping scale would be the right one for you. They are loaded with shipping rates from various carriers, (e.g. USPS, UPS, Fed-Ex) and can be updated in a number of ways when the rates change. The added benefit to most of these is that they are portable, so you don’t necessarily have to set up a permanent station for the device. They are often digital format, and the industry standard reading accuracy is more than adequate for this type of use.
4. By far the most common option are industrial platform scales. These are similar to the floor scales, but they are usually smaller in terms of surface area, and made of durable welded metal. Some platform scales do come as large as floor scales (4’x 4’), and some are even smaller than 20” x 27”, so they are useful in a multitude of business applications. The best feature of platform scales are that they can take a lot of abuse. Often, the best ones use load sensors that are fabricated from stainless steel. They are designed to be beat up by very heavy loads, such as carts or the hard-wheeled carriers commonly used to roll metal drums onto its surface. In addition, the good ones feature low platforms (under 2 inches) with ramps on either side to make transportation of the product easy. In addition, the display units that come with them can be loaded with various types of sophisticated software that help you manage your data.
Augmenting these most common varieties, there are many other specialty and custom scales available to suit your business. For a full list of industrial shipment scale options and their uses, check out our selection at ArlynScales.com.
