Rethink Your Manufacturing Floor Workflows
It’s a common occurrence. You work at a company and perform the same tasks the same way “just because.” You might have been shown how to complete a particular procedure and took for granted that it’s just the way that it’s done. If it’s how it’s been for years—why change? But what could happen if you rethink a new way to do things? 
A new, uncomplicated piece of equipment—a tension link scale—might be all it takes to improve an entire process. This can evolve into revamped protocols, efficient workflows, and savings on resources and time. Think about how rewarding it would be to finally free up time and resources to complete projects you keep pushing off for when you can get to them.
We’re here to tell you that it is possible. Even in a well-established manufacturing facility that processes—literally—tons of material a day. We’d like to tell you about a customer we worked with to do just this.
Creating New Solutions
Our service technician was on-site calibrating some industrial scales. He was servicing a steel-framing construction system manufacturer’s 60,000-pound, 6’ x 6’ coil scale. While on-site, he noticed the process this particular manufacturer was using to receive, weigh, and inventory 10-ton coils. They process 15 to 20 coils a day in what was a very slow, tedious procedure. His curiosity at finding a better way to do this sparked a collaboration with our customer that resulted in creating a new solution, which also involved providing the manufacturer with an interim “fix” to see how this would impact the operation.
What Was …
The existing process entailed unloading each coil and individually lifting them on a gantry crane, slowly maneuvering them to a 30-ton (60,00 pound) scale, recording the weight, re-lifting them and returning them to the receiving area. Then each coil was moved again to take it to its final stocking spot in inventory. This was inefficient, to say the least.
We knew there was a better solution, and that a standard crane scale would not work here, as there was not enough head space for the gantry crane to navigate in. With more review and conversations with our customer about what their needs and wants were, we decided that installing a tension link with a remote display would help their workflow. It, in fact, recreated and improved the workflow, increasing overall efficiency and productivity.
The Solution
The final installation was a 30-ton Dynamometer, model OCSD-30t, with P380 handheld indicator/remote and BD 5 (five-inch digit wireless display). The customer wanted assurance that this would work, so we set up an interim solution—one they could “test drive.” We arranged a “loaner” for them and set up this temporary option, installing a smaller, low-profile tension link—an ANYLOAD “Tenslink®”—an eight-inch, 10-ton link.
Significant Savings
The time savings alone were significant—this solution reduced a formerly 30- to 40-minute task per coil to approximately 10 minutes. Part of the solution included a wireless option, which helped with more than ergonomics and efficiency. If we had chosen a crane and scoreboard that required wiring, it would have entailed a “reel-to-reel” set-up to allow for the raising and lowering of the crane. The expenses for wiring installation and voltage adjustment (which would have required a “step down”) would have been the responsibility of our customer. These costs could easily have ranged from $5,000 to 10,000.
The comprehensive impact of this solution saved them money, increased efficiency,
and promoted productivity, as the time savings allowed operators to focus on other work tasks. Given all these factors and the decreased steps in receiving, weighing, and inventorying coils, this translates to a 50-60% increase in overall productivity. In the customer’s words, “This was a home run for us. We have saved so much time receiving our stock, that even the truckers love it. We are in the process of getting the okay to purchase another system.”
What makes this project special to Alliance Scale is that we were able to see beyond what our customer thought was possible and show them a process that creates productivity and savings.
The Full Case Study
There are more details to this situation that you can read about in the case study: “Rethinking Workflows on the Manufacturing Floor.” Download it now! You may see your own business through this filter—and find out how a new scale can optimize an existing process and increase your efficiency and productivity.
