subject: Three Tips For Selecting Industrial Floor Scales [print this page] There are three main things you'll need to look at when selecting an industrial floor scale. You will need to consider the weight capacity your company needs, the environment your scale will be operating in, and your company's budgetary needs.
Weighing Environment
Every industry and every operation requires differing amounts of ruggedness and protection against rough treatment. Often, equipment in a warehouse needs to be designed to take some abuse, such as having things dropped on it occasionally, or having a forklift accidentally bump into the floor scale platform. Your environment may include corrosive chemicals that can erode surfaces, cords, and display equipment. Or perhaps your environment is a biomedical clean room, and though well treated, you need a scale that can be sanitized regularly.
Optimal Weight Capacity
It can be tricky to find the best industrial floor scale for your application. The key is to match the scale's specifications with the needs you anticipate having in the next ten years. So, if you currently only ship 700 pound pallets of product, you will want to buy a little more weight capacity than you currently need. Getting a scale that has a 1500-pound capacity would be a good idea, since the average weight of product shipments may vary in the next 10 to fifteen years. However, going for a 6,000 pound capacity scale may be an unnecessary expense unless your current business plan includes expansion that would necessitate such an investment.
Budgetary Concerns
It's no secret that with all types of industrial equipment, you get what you pay for. And in tight economic times, we all want to make every purchase last as long as possible. However, there are still some ways you can save money. You may be able to you're your company money by getting a floor scale that offers only the features and benefits that you will be using (as opposed to a model that is loaded with all of the newest features).
You may also be able to reuse some of your current equipment from a broken floor scale you are replacing (such as a digital display panel), and not buy everything used. If your company has tight budgetary constraints, you may want to consider buying a used scale (as long as you can ensure that it's in good working order, and that it won't end up costing you more in the long run to keep it running than to buy a new one today). In today's marketplace of bankruptcies and foreclosures, you can sometimes find deals on used floor scales that have been put up for auction by companies that have gone out of business.
