One of the most important metrics for any mining, aggregate and quarry business is payload weight. In a highly competitive environment, the best tool at your disposal to ensure accurate and efficient payload weighing are on-board loader scales, and here’s ten things you should know about them.

1. They fill a crucial need. Precise payload weighing isn’t a luxury. Even small errors in weight can translate to substantial financial losses down the road and on-board loader scales are the best way to ensure accuracy.

2. THEY’RE ACCURATE. SOME MODELS CAN GUARANTEE A MARGIN OF ERROR BELOW ONE PER CENT REGARDLESS OF VARIABLES SUCH AS TEMPERATURE AND OPERATOR TECHNIQUE.

3. THEY HAVE VALUABLE FEATURES. MODELS ABLE TO PROVIDE A MACHINE’S TOTAL PAYLOAD FOR THE DAY AND SPECIFY TARGET BUCKET WEIGHTS WILL INCREASE EFFICIENCY EVEN FURTHER.

4. THEY SUPPORT MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS. MANY LOADER SCALES OFFER POWERFUL DATA COLLECTION AND INTEGRATION OPTIONS, ALLOWING YOU TO TRACK PAYLOADS ALONG WITH FUEL CONSUMPTION AND MAINTENANCE HISTORY.

5. THEY’RE CONNECTED. WI-FI AND CELLULAR CONNECTIVITY ALLOW YOU TO MONITOR PRODUCTIVITY IN REAL TIME. THIS PROVIDES A NEW LEVEL OF CUSTOMER SERVICE AND EFFICIENCY AND THE ABILITY TO REMEDY UNDERPRODUCTION ISSUES IMMEDIATELY.

6. THEY’RE LOW-MAINTENANCE. MOST LOADER SCALES ONLY REQUIRE SIMPLE, REGULAR CHECKUPS. SETTING UP PRE-SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE APPOINTMENTS IS EASY AND WILL ENSURE YOUR FLEET’S SCALES ARE IN TOP SHAPE.

7. THEY’RE HARDY. THESE SCALES ARE BUILT TO WITHSTAND A RANGE OF TEMPERATURES AND THE ROUGH CONDITIONS OF A MINE OR QUARRY.

8. THEY’RE A SMART INVESTMENT. EQUIPPING YOUR FLEET WITH LOADER SCALES WILL LOWER YOUR OPERATING COSTS BY ELIMINATING THE NEED FOR CONSTANT TRIPS TO WEIGHING AREAS OR FLOOR SCALES. THIS WILL ALLOW YOU TO SAVE ON FUEL AND FLEET MAINTENANCE, AS YOUR MACHINES WILL HAVE TO COVER LESS GROUND IN THE COURSE OF NORMAL OPERATIONS.

9. THEY BOOST PRODUCTIVITY. SIMILARLY, FEWER WEIGHING TRIPS MEANS OPERATORS LOSE LESS TIME GOING BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN WEIGHING AND WORK AREAS.

10. THEY’RE FLEXIBLE. LOADER SCALES CAN BE INSTALLED ON ANY VEHICLE, SO THERE’S NO NEED TO GO THROUGH THE EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE PROCESS OF UPDATING YOUR ENTIRE FLEET.

COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL SCALE EXPERTS IN ALBERTA

If you’re interested in increasing your productivity and lowering your operating costs,contact us at Accurate/Western Scale today. In addition to helping you with loader scale installation, we provide full support and maintenance for all our products and we can also certify and inspect your scales.

Hopper scales and all other measuring equipment used in trade must be approved and inspected by a scale inspector accredited by Measurement Canada. This ensures fair business practices and is a requirement under the Weight and Measures Act. Keep reading to learn more about why inspections of hopper scales are important and what the inspection process involves.

Why are inspections needed?
In order for your hopper scale to be properly certified, it needs to pass an inspection from a certified scale inspector. This ensures, first and foremost, that businesses don’t short-sell customers. There are penalties for short-selling, even when it’s inadvertent. When this activity occurs, or when businesses otherwise fail to comply with Measurement Canada’s regulations, they can face the following consequences:

• Fines of up to $50,000
• Equipment being taken out of service until modifications or repairs are made, resulting in a loss of productivity and revenue
• Damage to the company’s reputation

How often are inspections required?

The timeframe for mandatory inspections varies between industries. For example, in grain elevators licensed by the Canadian Grain Commission, hopper scales need to be inspected yearly; in the mining industry, hopper scales need to be inspected every two years.

In certain industries, scale inspections are recommended, but not mandatory. The onus is therefore entirely on businesses to have their scales inspected and to ensure their accuracy.

Consult the Measurement Canada website for more precise information on the timeline for mandatory inspection or recommended inspection for your hopper scale.

What’s involved in a hopper scale inspection?

The inspection process for a hopper scale, as outlined by Measurement Canada, involves the following steps.

Visual examination of installation and location

The inspector ensures, among other things, that the device is installed in accordance with restrictions and conditions listed in the notice of approval and in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions.

Visual examination of marking

The inspector ensures that the device is properly marked.

Visual examination of indicating element and recording element

The indicating element (the display) and the recording element (the printer) are inspected for accuracy and readability.

Device configuration

The functionalities of the device, such as the tare mechanism and zero setting mechanism, are inspected.

Performance

Tests are conducted to evaluate the device’s performance

Hopper scale inspection in Calgary

Accurate/Western Scale is a Measurement Canada authorized service provider. Count on our professional technicians to perform a comprehensive inspection of your hopper scale and ensure that it’s legal for trade. For more information about scale inspections, reach out to our team today.

Precisions scales have a wide range of applications. Finding the right one is a matter of understanding which features meet your needs. Here’s what you should keep in mind when selecting a digital precision scale.

Measurement units

The first thing to consider is whether you’ll need a scale that uses specialized units such as carats or grains. Determining which units you’ll need to use is a good starting point, as it’ll allow you to narrow down your selection. You should also factor in whether you’re likely to expand your scale’s applications in the long run.

Capacity

Determining the maximum weight the scale needs to handle is another way to narrow down your options. If you need to weigh bulk or large quantities — for instance, in commercial applications — you’ll need to select a scale with a higher capacity. It’s also important to consider the size of the materials you’ll be weighing, to make sure you select a scale with a large enough plate.

Accuracy and precision

Applications requiring high accuracy typically won’t need as much capacity. Weighing medical products or working in a laboratory setting will necessitate a highly accurate scale that can take exact measurements.

Some applications will also require a scale that’s highly precise. In this case, precision refers to how consistent a scale’s readout is, whereas accuracy refers to how closely the readout matches the actual weight of the object. Keep in mind that regulations apply to the accuracy of scales used for commercial applications.

Size and portability

Some scales need to be portable, especially when used for field work. However, since a host of environmental factors influence a scale’s accuracy, it’s important to make sure that portable models are recalibrated whenever they’re moved.

It’s also important to consider how the scale is powered. If you’ll need to use it in situations where you don’t have access to a power source, then selecting one with appropriate battery life is crucial.

Other features

Depending on the materials you work with and the measurements you need to perform, you may have to select a scale that can keep a record of measurements or enables recipe weighting or piece counting. Modern digital scales are versatile, but always keep in mind that there’s a trade-off between functionalities.

Scale experts in Calgary

Selecting the right precision scale is easier with the help of a professional. You can count on Accurate/Western Scale for reliable advice. Contact us today to get a free quote or to learn more about our services, including scale rental and repair.

A lift truck scale requires a substantial investment, but it’s a smart one. Despite higher upfront costs, they have numerous advantages over traditional floor scales. Here’s why your business might benefit from one.

You have limited floor space
If you’re a new or growing company, every bit of space is valuable. Even if you can dedicate some of your available footage to a floor scale, the traffic lanes used to access it will take up a lot more space than you may be able to truly afford. Switching to a lift truck scale will free up these lanes, allowing for more efficient use of your space.

You need to increase efficiency
Many businesses need to weigh materials and integrating the weighing step into the normal workflow instead of requiring the time-consuming diversions needed with floor scales can drastically improve efficiency. A material handling scale allows for weights to be taken during normal operations, which speeds up completion times.

You want a leaner operation
Because they reduce the number of steps involved in operations and reduce resource and space usage, lift truck scales are a smart investment for companies looking to streamline their operations. Increased efficiency and lower resource use translate to higher profit margins.

You want to reduce traffic
Heavy lift truck traffic reduces efficiency, increases costs and, most importantly, can pose serious safety issues. Floor scales directly contribute to this problem by requiring drivers to make unnecessary trips.

You want to keep your employees safe
Industries that use lift trucks often work with pallets. Equipping your trucks with scales will reduce the risk of overloaded pallet racking. Overloading the racking can compromise its structural integrity, leading to extremely costly accidents and severe or fatal injuries.

Equipping lift trucks with material handling scales ensures that workers know exactly how much weight is being put on the racking. It also eliminates the need for trips to the floor scale, which are time-consuming.

Industrial and commercial weighing solutions
Every business is different and choosing the right lift truck scale requires the help of an experienced professional. For all your industrial and commercial scale needs, trust Accurate/Western Scale. We’re accredited by Measurement Canada to perform regulation scale calibration and with 21 years of experience in the industry, you can rely on us to help with everything from installation to repairs. Contact us today to discuss your business’ needs or to learn more about the scales we offer.

Regularly weighing livestock has become an integral part of modern animal farming. It provides farmers with useful data for a number of key management decisions. Here are five advantages you enjoy when you use a high-quality animal scale on your farm.

1. Close monitoring of your animals health

When an animal falls sick, it can be a long time before you notice any outward changes in its appearance or behaviour. Weighing an animal is one of the most effective methods for verifying its health. As soon as you notice a drop in an animal’s wait, you should have it looked at by a veterinarian. In the case of illness or disease, early treatment can cure the animal and help eliminate the risk of the illness spreading.

2. Smart breeding decisions

There are optimal weights for animals to breed at. By regularly weighing your animals, you’ll be able to have a more precise indication of when the right time to breed is.

3. Optimal feeding portions

Monitoring weight gain allows you to calculate feed conversation rates, which lets you know if you should increase or reduce feed. This information can also be used to determine when a change of diet would be beneficial.

4. Improved breeding strategy

Weighing livestock on a regular basis gives you a precise idea of which breeds gain weight the fastest. This allows you to make the most well-informed decisions when it comes to genetic selection (for instance, underperforming animals can be pulled out and the strongest performing animals can be cross-bred).

5. Optimal weaning time for calves

Regularly weighing calves allows you to identify the best moment to wean them. Weaning calves at the right time is important to ensuring that they are properly integrated into the herd. Moreover, this weight information can help you predict future growth of your calf.

By using an livestock scale, you’re sure to improve productivity on your farm. Just be sure that it’s a high-quality scale. If your weighing equipment doesn’t provide accurate information, it can do more harm than good. If you’re looking to obtain an animal scale in the Calgary area, Accurate/Western Scale can provide you with the very best. We offer a wide range of state-of-the-art multi and single animal scales.

When it comes to scale equipment, there’s no better source than Accurate/Western Scale. We supply and install a wide range of scale equipment, including hopper, tank, truck, rail, axle and livestock scales. We’re based in Calgary, Alberta, and our service area extends across Western Canada. For more information, give us a call.