SMC Uses ICS685 Scale to Improve Efficiencies

98% Less Walking due to Mobile Counting

Imagine walking the length of the United States. A group of about 12 employees at SMC’s Indiana site did just that. They walked more than 3,500 miles each year throughout the manufacturing facility during its cycle counting process. That was before the Japan-based manufacturer of pneumatic and electric automation equipment turned to METTLER TOLEDO to integrate a mobile weighing station that would both increase efficiency and save the company money.

With all of its scales located in one central area near the shipping and receiving dock, employees collected parts from the factory and brought them to the scale area for weighing and then walked back with them.

“We had miles and miles of walking,” says Jason Ricketts, SMC manufacturing engineer. “So we looked to METTLER TOLEDO for a more efficient way to carry out this process.”

The solution included using mobile scale stations and laptops with wireless Internet access so that employees now could bring the scales to where they needed to weigh, instead of walking the product to the scale to be weighed. “We gained a ton of efficiency this way,” Ricketts says.

“If the average person walks about 2 miles per hour before that was 1,778 hours walking per year; now it’s just 18 hours! That was a task with no added value,” says Ricketts. This straightforward process change, implemented with METTLER TOLEDO’s help, represents a major saving in labor costs. Now the team walks just under 37 miles a year, instead of 3.500 during the cycle counting process.

In addition to the increased efficiency, Ricketts says SMC has seen greater accuracy in its cycle-counting process as a result of the new mobile weighing station. “If the computer says there are parts there, we know there are,” he says. The only downside of this new process with METTLER TOLEDO technology is that employees are going to need to find another way to get their exercise.

Fast mobile cycle-counting

The new ICS685 counting scale helps manufacturers like SMC not only deliver error-free, high-quality products but also to accurately take stock.

• Easy-to-read results thanks to a large, bright full-color TFT display
• Colored indication if weight or count is below, in, or above the target
• Fast input of article data or average piece weights with a large alpha-numeric keypad
• Fast access to key functions through configurable soft keys
• Up to 15 hours of mobile operation with a rechargeable, removable battery

Robust and flexible:

• High durability and flexibility with rugged die-cast aluminum housing, robust foil keypad, and dustproof IP65-protected terminals
• Scale embedded or central (host) database for up to 30,000 articles
• Transaction memory for all weighing and counting results
• Import / Export of data with USB memory stick or directly via Ethernet
• Calibration log file storing all your calibration data

 
To learn more about how your business can benefit from the ICS685: