Networking a digital scale can bring great benefits to your business. How to make this connection depends on the type of device you have. Scales with the ability to be connected to a PC the solutions can, in fact, be of two types:
- The scale already has a network (Ethernet) socket and is able to connect directly to the corporate network.
- The scale has a serial-type connection.
These two types depend essentially on how "old" the scale is; the connection via serial is the oldest but also the most widely used, and moreover, it is an industry standard that is still maintained on the devices. Unfortunately, today's PCs lack the serial socket so, the only way to collect the signal from these scales will be to convert it and intercept it according to appropriate parameters.
Scales with Ethernet connection
In the case of an Ethernet scale you will simply have to connect the network cable and assign an IP address to the scale (possibly fixed). Having done this you will already be able to talk, with the appropriate software, directly with the scale and intercept data according to the appropriate parameters.
This is certainly the easiest case to handle, and any system-integrator with a minimum of skill will be able to help you with this solution.
Serial connection
We come to the somewhat more complex (and undoubtedly more common) case: your scale does not have an Ethernet output but simply a serial connection.
How to go about digitizing the signal? In this scenario we have several possibilities:
- The scale will be connected through the serial cable directly to a physical location (PC) present in weighing.
- The scale must be connected to a server: the obligatory step is to convert the serial signal to an Ethernet signal with an appropriate device.
- The scale is to be shared among several weighing stations/terminals: again, as in the previous case, we will have to convert the signal with a device.
Direct connection with serial/Usb converter
If the weighing device you are using does not have a serial (RS-232) socket like most of today's PCs, the only viable solution to connect the scale is to equip yourself with an RS-232/USB converter. This will allow you to unify the signals (should you need to digitize multiple scales) and the software will be able to interact directly on the USB that to date has become a "standard" port for these integrations. The cost of these special cables is inside 15 € and it is definitely a reliable solution managed by various software. The main drawback is to create a direct connection between scale and workstation so it is not possible to share the data directly to the company server or other workstations. If you "crash" the workstation, which also contains all the weighing management software, you will need to have technicians come in to restore and connect.
Connection via serial/ethernet converter
In this case we need to equip ourselves with a more complex conversion device than in the previous case. In our experience we have obtained excellent results with converters from MOXA and in particular the NPort 5110 model. To achieve the desired result you will need to connect a serial cable between the scale and the Moxa and a network cable from the Moxa to the company switch; by configuring this appropriately you will achieve weighing sharing within the company network.
The only cons of the solution is that you will have to configure both the sending of data from the scale to the converter and the "remitting" of data from the converter device to the corporate network thus performing a dual configuration. This solution will allow you to share the signal so that you are independent of the device being used and send the data directly to the enterprise server or directly to the cloud.
By doing so, weighing operators will be able to use a variety of devices (whether PCs, notebooks, tablets, etc.), choosing which one is most appropriate for your reality and making you, in effect, untethered in the choice of terminals that will use the data.
Sending signal
There are two types of sending data from the scale to other systems. The two types are:
- Continuous sending of the read data
- Sending by pressing a key.
You will usually be able to configure continuous sending or sending based on pressing a physical key on the scale via the configuration parameters. The setting procedure is relatively simple and listed in the manuals. If you were unable to retrieve the information, the scale vendor will surely be able to help you.
When to use the two types of sending?
The first method (continuous sending) is very convenient if you intend to automate the weighing with software while the second is convenient if you simply want to send a signal to a device that will allow you to print, for example, a label. This is a technical decision and is related to the "consumer" of the data, so your trusted technician will determine the type of data exchange.
Once the methodology has been established, all you need to do is start the systems and begin to intercept the necessary and required data for digitizing the data. With this data in hand you will surely be able to record various statistics such as:
- Average weighing time of individual raw material
- Average quantity, by type of matter weighed
- Timing of each individual weighing
- Timing and weighing divided by operator
Many of these statistics can help you understand which weighing solutions are most effective and how to set up the whole weighing department.
Signal from the scales
Unfortunately, each scale "SENDS" a weighing-related signal according to its own format. That format will certainly be a text-type signal (readable even to a human eye) but in a "proprietary" format. It will be up to your programmers/system integrators to retrieve the data, process it and extrapolate the values thus managing within the company database the weighing. Unfortunately, there is no defined standard in this area and each scale can send data in various ways. This will be the only customization to be implemented on the weighing software.
