What Is A Counting Scale?
A counting scale is a scale designed to count items placed on a weighing machine. These types of scales are legal for trade and a convenient option compared to manual counting. They usually have a small stainless steel deck, and will require lower weight for scale calibrations. Have you ever tried counting out two bolts or nuts at a hardware store? It is a part of a scale system that allows for one to quickly sort through inventory. Depending on the weighing application will determine how heavy your measurements will be. The process is very time consuming and mundane. Now imagine having to count over 1,000 bolts. That would take entirely too long and would take away from productivity. This is where counting scales come in. They are designed to keep you from spending all your time counting inventory.
HOW DOES A COUNTING SCALE WORK?
To understand how a counting scale works, is to also understand the layout of the scale. On most dedicated counting scales there will be three displays - 'Weight', 'Piece Part Weight' and 'Total Count’. Weight gives the total weight applied to the scale, piece part weight is the individual average weight of the items being counted and the magic resulting total number of pieces is on the last display.
In order to count accurately, counting scales will need to know what exactly they will be weighing. To do this we provide a weight sample to let the scale know what is being weighed. The scale is communicating with the junction box and scale indicator by signal from the electronic load cells. The sample gives the scale two pieces of information, the weight and how many pieces that weight is. So we counted a sample of say 30 bolts and placed them on the pan and the weight was 30g. So the scale knows that the individual weight is 1g, 30g divided by 30 items. Once the scale has this information you can now add more bolts to reach your desired number of pieces, and watch the total count.
WHY DO I NEED A COUNTING SCALE?
Imagine having to count out your inventory by hand, and you have thousands of items that will need to be counted. The amount of time needed to count out your entire inventory is way too long. Having a counting scale helps take out the manual aspect and helps speed up the entire process. Having a counting scale is essential to saving time
Selecting the right counting scale is also very important, as it would be unfortunate to find that the scale you purchased is not counting correctly and costing you time and money.
Keep in mind that just because an item looks the same does not mean it is the weight. Even load cells (analog or electronic) have differences amongst them. Even with calibration, the scale could have varying capacities. The items may have been made with different materials or even machining and operator tolerances. So just because they look the same they may not weigh the same. If you do not take into account the tolerances then the error can quickly multiply up when counting your bulk resulting in inaccurate counting.
3 STEPS TO FINDING THE BEST COUNTING SCALE
1) Determine the average piece part weight
Consider your application. If you are going to be counting lots of different items with various weights, first identify the lightest item you will be counting. This will determine the resolution required from the scale. So we have an item we wish to count, take 10 of those items and weigh each one on a precise scale and record the individual weight. Next add those weights together and divide by 10, the result gives you the mean average weight. This takes into account the variations in tolerance of the part. So we now have the average weight for the smallest item being weighed.
2) Determine the maximum weight
So we have an item that we know the average weight of, so how many are we going to count out. Are you bagging say 200 pieces to be sent to production? Or is there 5,000 pieces in a bin and you are checking for stock? Either way the maximum weight is literally the average piece part weight times the quantity.
3) Choose your scale
So we know the average weight and the maximum weight, 2.5g and 25.0kg. Now let's determine the capacity of the scale. Our example has an average weight of 2.5g. The counting scale needs to be able to measure this and allow for the variations in tolerance, so it is commonplace to either divide the average by 10 or half the average weight. In this case we will half the average weight to 1.25g. This means that I will need to look for a scale that will weigh in steps of 1.25g up to or over 25kg in capacity. I know in this case the CBC 32 has a resolution of 1g and a working capacity of 32kg, so this will cover my needs.
CLOSING WORDS
Counting scales are essential to operating in an efficient manner. Being able to weigh as well as count out the amount of items will greatly decrease time spent on the sorting/counting aspect and save the bottom line. Counting scales have definitely made sorting through smaller pieces a lot easier. They are easily customizable, one can even order different scale accessories for it like a remote display or scoreboard. Be sure to check out our counting scale page to see which scales we carry.
At American Scale we strive to bring you informed and useful content on all things scale related, including products from the top scale manufacturers. Be sure to check out our truck scale articles about truck scale foundation or how much do truck scales cost. We even have a guide to warranties. To learn more about bench scales, it would be good to check out our other articles such as “Bench Scale Basics'' and “How Much Does A Bench Scale Cost?”. These articles will help with the basics of bench scale ownership. Also, take a look at our“Common Problems With Bench Scales'', to help prolong the lifespan on your scale.