As the supply chain grows more and more globalized, scales and weighing equipment are becoming a more and more essential component of our operations and infrastructure. Grain from Oklahoma makes its way to the Ivory Coast. Scrap steel from South Dakota becomes a high-tech electronic in Shanghai. And at each stage of the transportation process, materials need to be weighed, measured and assessed.

Most companies, especially those in the waste industry, therefore understand that profit and efficiency are directly dependent on accurate equipment. However, when seeking a weights and measurements supplier, companies often know to look for a partner who can implement a solid solution, but they don’t often think to look for a partner who will engineer one.

Fairbanks Scales, a leading provider of top quality industrial weighing equipment and service, is a firm believer in the importance of innovation and engineering for industrial applications. “Experience and expertise are essential,” says John Bogott, project and sales manager at Fairbanks Scales, “but they have to be coordinated with a complete understanding of what a customer really needs, an emphasis on what will benefit them in the long term, and a real investigation of what unintended consequences any particular decision might entail. It’s a matter of making sure we ask the right questions and provide the right answers, bringing in all the right people from engineering, design and product knowledge perspectives.”

For example, when Fairbanks Scales was first contracted to work with Holcim US, one of the largest manufacturers of cements and related mineral components in the United States, the problem at hand seemed relatively straightforward. Holcim decided to update the weighing equipment at its Memphis, Tenn., facility, as part of its continual commitment to quality, and so they required a new, state-of-the-art scale.

However, Fairbanks went above and beyond, presenting eight different alternatives for the update and explaining the consequences and considerations behind each design. Armed with this knowledge, Holcim decided to place a new Tundra XLT scale in its existing pit.

“Pit-type designs are the best way to maximize the lifespan of your scale,” Bogott explains. “But pit environments pose unique challenges to equipment like scales. With a 6-inch field-poured concrete deck and a unique side-to-side and bumper checking system to allow a free-floating deck, the fully electronic Tundra is designed to significantly reduce the amount of real estate typically required for scale operations.”

Once the solution was chosen, Fairbanks and Holcim had to coordinate the installation. “This customer moves very large volumes of cement per week, so downtime was at a real premium,” Bogott explains.“We had to complete the installation in a very short four-day time window, during which they could divert operations to another terminal. That meant we had four days to rip out an old scale, clean out the existing pit, rebuild the new pit, and put a new scale in place. The customer was a little skeptical that we could do it.”

In order to facilitate a quick installation, Fairbanks utilized Holcim’s unique expertise. Holcim created a formula for custom cement that combined high-strength, high-speed chemistry with plasticizers, so that the construction team had extra hours to get the foundation poured and finished.

Despite rain and the demands of the job, the scale was complete and ready to work in four days. “This was a testament to the strong coordination between the manufacturing plant, the construction manager’s needs, the service manager, and the customer, keeping everybody very carefully in the loop and working out the timing very clearly,” Bogott says.

“Our truck scale is one of the most critical pieces of equipment we utilize,” says Ernie Lawrence, terminal manager for Holcim’s Memphis facility. “It is how we dispense our product, which is sold by weight. Therefore, it must be operational and accurate at all times. I continue to use Fairbanks because of their quality service, knowledgeable service techs, and dedication to reliability and keeping our facility running.”

Fairbanks also has created custom solutions for other unique situations. For example, when working with a customer that handles liquid oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen, Fairbanks engineers developed a custom solution to protect the scales from these volatile materials.

“When cryogenic elements hit mild steel or concrete, they can make them very brittle, or even cause them to break. Spillage of these materials therefore represents a real problem for scales that are made of mild steel or concrete,” Bogott says.

Holcim therefore installed a “hybrid scale” based on Fairbanks’ Talon scales. Two-thirds of the scale was a concrete truck scale, but the entry to the whole scale was composed of continuous weld stainless steel.

“While mild steel or concrete react poorly to liquid oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen, stainless steel can handle the cold shock without becoming brittle,” Bogott explains. “In addition, continuous weld steel construction leaves no small gaps for the super-cold liquid to flow through. This solution exceeded our customer’s original engineering specs, but it provided real long-term benefits, in terms of reliability, profit and decreasing downtime.”

Fairbanks has also put forth similar innovations for waste management facilities. Landfills and other waste facilities are high-volume operations, with long lines, a lot of debris and a constant flow of traffic.

Designing and installing an appropriate scale involves asking a variety of questions. They are the sorts of questions that a weighing equipment supplier should not only ask, but answer as well.

“Technical expertise at many, many levels, on a lot of different products, and in a lot of different environments, is definitely part of what we bring to the table,” Bogott says. “The success of the scale is as much about the ideas behind it as it is about the equipment itself.” m

Brad R. Grindstaff is the director of channel development for Fairbanks Scales. For more information, call 800-451-4107, or visit www.fairbanks.com.