Most scales that are used for inventory management solutions fall short in many ways. The successful implementation of scales for inventory management can only be done if care is taken to address all of the major pitfalls that scales have historically been plagued by in the industrial segment.
Scales are often designed around the sensitive nature of the components and science that inherently comes with measuring weights. Components like digital screens, buttons, load cells and other sensitive components need to be either eliminated, protected or re-designed for harsh environments. SecuraScales have put the environment first when it comes to design. No exposed sensitive components.
When we think of scales historically, we don't think of "set it and forget it". We think of terms like "tare" and "calibrate" or worse yet "re-calibrate". SecuraScales comes from the factory pre-calibrated and never has to be re-calibrated. Once the initial setup is complete, which involves assigning the scale to a particular SKU, the scale will function without the need for human interaction, unless the user wants to assign a new SKU, which would again require the one-time setup.
When you see weight based solutions being used for inventory management, they are often a one-off product or implemented in a very specific way. When managing inventory, you need to be able to apply the solution across a wide range of problems in order to effectively solve them. Why SecuraScales are so unique is that they can be deployed as part of their Point-of-Use industrial vending machines, they can be used in their Open-Access shelving arrangements, and they can be integrated into their Crib and Storeroom products. But, the biggest advantage is that they can be deployed in open shelf arrangements that the customer already owns. You can deploy hundreds and hundreds of scales onto any customer shelving or open space configuration. Truly something that is not widely available today.
Scales are inherently dumb. They weigh what you give them. But what if you need the scale to be "smart"? Meaning that you need the scale to be able to recognize if the item being placed on the scale or removed from the scale actually belongs there in the first place. SecuraScales recognizes when foreign objects are placed on SecuraStock's SmartBins. The algorithm will ignore the tiem, and the scales will continue to work as normal.
One of the biggest issues, not just in scales but in any inventory management hardware is that the software is not typically designed specifically for the hardware. Often times a hardware manufacturer will "bolt on" someone else's software. This usually means more bugs, longer development times and longer time between new feature releases. SecuraStock's software is done in-house and designed specifically to work with their entire suite of inventory management products.
If the scale isn't sensitive enough to discern between a quantity of one and a quantity of two then the scale is inherently incapable of accurate inventory management. SecuraScales are sensitive down to about 1g. This is small enough to discern between about 90% of the industrial VMI parts you will encounter.
In those instances where the parts are just simply too light to measure individually, you need a backup method to determine what inventory is on hand and when to order. This is where good software and smart engineering can come together to offer a bulk weight option. Most scales can't "switch modes" like this. But for very small parts you can approximate the count by total weight and set weight thresholds for re-ordering. Being able to operate in both modes means you can effectively manage any industrial MRO or VMI part.
Although not the most asked for feature, in certain situations being able to manage multiple SKUs on one scale can save space and help organize work cells and save time. SecuraScales can manage two SKUs per scale in many circumstances. Some items may not qualify for this feature depending on their weight relationship, but SecuraStock has developed a sophisticated algorithm that allows them to discern between two parts on one scale.
When you think of something being industrial tough, you don't often think of the alternative, which is; Is the scale gentle on the parts it contains? One of the most surprising things about SecuraScales is that they are made from a very luxurious silicone material that is never going to mar or damage any customer inventory.
As mentioned above about software and hardware synergy, the same goes for available feature sets. Being able to create custom reports, automatically re-order product, and tracking tools and other expiration driven inventory is something that lies at the heart of saving time and money in inventory management. Without these features, a large portion of the benefit that comes with properly managing inventory goes away.
One of the more rare things you see systems being able to do is directly integrate with the customers critical systems like ERP and EDI. SecuraSmart is the software that runs the scales and it comes out of the box ready to integrate into many of the common customer platforms.
If your industrial vending and inventory solutions have not yet integrated weight based inventory management solutions into their inventory management plans, then reach out to schedule a Free Live Demo today and allow our team to find the perfect solution for you.
SecuraStock has plenty of affordable, automated point-of-use vending solutions that make inventory management so much easier.