Industrial scales in production

The problem

Weight was read off the scale and typed into the system by hand. Besides being slow, every transcription is a chance to corrupt a figure that traceability later depends on.

The solution

Direct serial communication with the scale, interpreting its proprietary protocol and stable-weight signal so the reading enters the production process without anyone typing it. Part of the work was analysing older hardware to establish which protocols it offered and whether integration was viable at all.

What it includes

• Continuous weight reading with stable-weight detection
• Tare handling
• Weighing dialog opening automatically at the right moment
• Weight associated with the corresponding product and lot
• Behaviour configurable per product type
• Actual versus theoretical quantity control against the formula
• Production runs not strictly capped by the bill of materials, based on real lot availability

Outcome

Real weight travels from the scale into the production process with no manual transcription, removing a common source of traceability errors.