In Forkliftaction.com’s first report on weighing systems for forklifts on October 14 (Forkliftaction.com News #179), we revealed how mobile weighing systems are revolutionising modern warehousing for companies around the world. In this final report, chief reporter DAMIEN TOMLINSON went onto the warehouse floor to garner the impressions and opinions of end users who have opted for the system that meets a particular need.
Most people who use forklifts, and are considering the addition of a mobile weighing system, fall into two categories: those for whom accuracy is paramount and price is no consideration; and those who want a quality weighing system for the least amount of money.
It is not surprising that end users want the best product for their dollar, but often when safety, efficiency and cost effectiveness are the guiding principles, cost may not be the paramount consideration. Forkliftaction.com News has found that the weighing systems industry is catering for both types of customer – the cost conscious and the quality conscious. Manufacturers are slowly striking the price/quality balance to provide the best of both worlds.
An example of lower cost units is the Weighsafe line of mobile weighing systems. Chris Meeson, business development manager for Scalequip, which distributes the Weighsafe product line, said safety was a major buying incentive for his customers.
"Overloading is a huge safety issue throughout the world, so for customers who don’t need legal for trade (LFT) accuracy, the market needs to offer affordable solutions that will increase safety, and possibly saves lives," he said.
The Weighsafe Matrix system, is an entry-level hydraulic scale with digital display and aggregate weight totalling, and is proving very popular in the Australian market, where Scalequip mainly operates, according to Meeson.
"The major factor adversely affecting the penetration of weighing scales is price, so we concentrated on producing a system that provides accuracy at an affordable price," Meeson said.
A safe weighing system that provides value-for-money was also how Brisweigh, a weighing specialist supplying all manner of products for various weighing applications, regards Weighsafe systems. Director Col Belbin said he took the product on after trialling it in his own operation.
"We’ve been doing onboard weighing systems for 13 years, and finally this company has come to us with a product that can provide the accuracy of the higher-end systems at a reasonable cost," he said.
 Amazon.com's Rusty Parker |
While not dismissing safety, there are some end users who want efficiency first. Rusty Parker, fleet manager at the Campbellsville, Kentucky USA distribution centre (DC) of internet marketplace Amazon.com, runs a fleet of more than 200 Crown forklifts, including 36 4500lb reach trucks. Some of the reach trucks are fitted with Crown’s optional, factory-fitted load sensor.
Parker is preparing for the Christmas season, and is bracing for what is the busiest time of the year at his facility. Amazon.com is an online marketplace, where, as Parker puts it, "you can buy anything from chewing gum to jewellery to big-screen TVs".
"We’re a 24-7 operation from September to December 26," he said. "After that, we shut down a lot of our trucks, and the hot and humid conditions mean we need to cycle our trucks through the operation so their batteries don’t rust or otherwise deteriorate."
The range of products being handled at the Campbellsville operation means no two loads are the same weight, and care must be taken whenever operators are picking items from the extensive racking system.
The Kentucky facility is one of several Amazon.com DCs dotted across the USA. Customers place orders on the internet; the order is submitted to Amazon.com’s Seattle headquarters and forwarded to the DC closest to the customer to ensure the quickest possible delivery times.
Parker said weight sensors were installed on his reach trucks as a safety measure, to reduce the likelihood of forklifts tipping over due to overloading.
"In a busy operation like ours, where efficiency is paramount and everyone is working hard, something like an overload sensor can save lives and help the whole operation to run smoothly," he said.
The Crown on-board system is a sensor monitoring the hydraulic tilt cylinders. If the weight of the load exceeds the truck’s predefined limit, the lift mechanism halts, meaning the operator can only move the load downward toward the ground.
But no matter what gadgetry is protecting the operators for overloading and/or toppling the forklift, instinct played a huge role in the safe operation of forklifts, Parker said.
"Just this morning one of our most experienced operators asked for help because he got a feeling the truck was going to tilt forward when he lifted a load, but the sensor hadn’t warned him," he said.
"On inspection, we realised the product he was lifting, a food product, was too light, so there was no danger of overloading, but we commended the operator for double-checking – you can’t put all your faith in technology."
Other end users not only put their faith in technology but are willing to pay to get bottom line factory efficiency. Bruce Roberts, general manager at Sterling Transportation in Los Angeles, California, said the addition of weighing forks, manufactured by Keytroller, Inc in Tampa, Florida, although initially high cost items, had "greatly" boosted productivity at his warehouse.
Sterling Transportation is a freight forwarding company that receives, stores and forwards upwards of 5 million pounds (2268 tonnes) each month on behalf of mainly air carriers such as UPS Latin America, Aero Air and Tampa Airlines.
Before the addition of the weighing forks four months ago, Sterling drivers would take a cargo load from the receiving dock to one of several floor scales for measuring. Roberts said if several lifts were required for one shipment for a particular customer, the operator would "have to write down each weight on a scrap of paper and add them all up at the end".
"I had looked around for a weighing system about 10 or 15 years ago, but the products on offer back then were very sensitive and usually inaccurate," Roberts said.
"It was only this year that we decided to look around again, and the Keytroller product looked like it would do what we needed, and we soon realised the potential for a major increase in productivity and throughput."
Weighing scales are manufactured by several companies around the world, and are traditionally one of the most expensive mobile weighing systems available. Roberts said the price of the Keytroller system had at first surprised him.
"We thought the price was very expensive, for what we needed, but we soon realised that any costs were quickly cancelled out by the savings in time and space that this type of product can provide," he said.
By adding weighing forks to one of the four forklifts on the shipping dock, Roberts said, Sterling Transportation saved on the need for a "staging" area near the fixed floor scales.
"If we find we’re going to need another system fitted to a machine, we may do that, and the system hasn’t needed to be out of action so far. So we’re very happy we made the decision," he said.
The approach by end users to weighing systems generally confirms the old adage that you get what you pay for. But as the weighing systems products become more sophisticated and niche market focussed, end users are discovering they can find a precise solution for their particular situation. As Bruce Roberts of Sterling makes clear:
"Accurate weighing is very important in this business, and there’s no room for error. Fork scales, no matter how costly, have greatly enhanced our productivity, and that means more cargo, more lifts, more revenue."
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