Every individual needs to mail envelopes and packages eventually, right? Obviously, some people visit the USPS or FedEx store locations and drop boxes more frequently than others, but still — we all go there eventually.
Businesses, on the other hand, ship a lot of envelopes and packages. Companies heavily rely on postal services, and many businesses would not be as efficient as they are without mailing services.
With the growth of eCommerce and online shopping, fulfillment centers are as common as retail stores, and these centers require accurate and reliable shipping scales. Fortunately, at Arlyn Scales, we design our weighing platforms to ensure that your operations can run as efficiently as possible.
How to Find the Best Industrial Shipping Scales for Your Operations
Online retail has become a massive business that brings in billions of dollars annually at the moment. Over time, this number is expected to continue to grow.
That means your company is going to be up against many other firms that are all going to be attempting to attract the same segment of the market. Naturally, you don’t want to be left behind.
Therefore, it’s vital that you find the perfect type of weighing solution for your needs. Moreover, there are a few different facets that you’re going to want to keep in mind while you’re shopping.
1. Consider Your Daily Shipping Requirements
When searching for the ideal shipping scale for your business, first you must consider your company’s daily shipping requirements. Start by considering what mailing services you use.
Do you plan to keep using these services in the future? If you are not satisfied with the shipping services your company uses right now, then now is a great time to research other major shipping services, including USPS, UPS, FedEx, and DHL.
Most mail services have specific standards that their service must meet.
For example, mail services measure and price their packages differently. It is a good idea for business owners to have a general sense of how mailing services function.
This way you can foresee what kind of shipping scale would best suit your company and make the shipping process more convenient and efficient.
Consider what is defined as “mail” from a legal standpoint.
The USPS, or United States Post Office, is legally recognized as the mail system within the US and there are other postal providers throughout the world. These constitute mail, which is more or less tied to certain governmental authorities.
Even though this provides certain advantages, it also ensures that you have a specific set of rules to follow when working with them. Among other things, you’re going to need to proceed with caution because some objects can’t legally be mailed with the post office.
If you have to deal with certain types of products on a regular basis, then you’re certainly going to want to go with a weighing solution that is suitable for a more wide array of shipping services. On the other hand, the post office has set out a number of rules that specify exactly what a postal scale has to do.
Not all scales are authorized to weigh mail and postage.
If you’ve ever looked at an older diet scale and seen a warning on it that instructed you not to try to use it for shipping packages, then that’s what the warning was talking about. The post office would reweigh packages and possibly charge you more than you think in this sort of situation.
Should they find any discrepancy between what you thought you should be paying and what you have paid, you could get a rude awakening with a nasty little note about postage being due. Fortunately, Arlyn carries a complete line of industrial scales designed for those who need to deal with postal requirements and various other unusual regulations.
You’ll just want to think about what kind of packages you’re dealing with while shopping.
2. Account for the Sizes & Weights of the Packages You Handle
Consider the sizes and weights of the packages you will measure in the future. Understanding what you need to weigh and how you need to weigh it will help guide your search for the perfect scale for your business.
If your business only ships small packages, then it’s not in your best interest to purchase a giant pallet scale. A scale like this would take up a lot of space that could be used for other practical purposes.
On the other hand, if you purchase a small shipping scale and you need to weigh a particularly cumbersome package, then it will be difficult to do so with the wrong-sized scale.
Small scales typically cannot accurately weigh oversized packages.
Ensure the scale you buy is designed to accommodate the weights of the packages you plan on measuring. Be sure to overestimate the sizes and weights of packages you plan on weighing instead of underestimating.
You should purchase a scale that can handle at least 20 percent more than your average capacity. Depending on the type of business you run and how often you mail things out, you may want to consider actually going with even more capacity than that.
As long as you pay close attention to the resolution of the scale’s display, there’s nothing wrong with having a little extra capacity. In fact, there are a number of special options on the market now, like special scale display indicators, that can help assuage any concerns you might have had over this.
With the right equipment, you can essentially double-check your courier’s math.
Just as soon as you have everything worked out, you’ll be able to start calculating costs and figuring out just how much you owe the post office or whatever private third-party shipping entity you’re working with.
If you sell through one of the major online eCommerce retailers, then you’ll get an opportunity to check and see if they’ve been doing the math right or if they’ve been shortchanging you all of this time and making you pay a little more than you should have been for shipping.
3. Calculate Postage Costs with Shipping Scales
A variety of shipping scales are available for people who work primarily with the United States Postal Service. Many scales are designed to work with USPS postage and are set up to print postage for items weighed.
If you plan to ship with USPS, then having a weighing solution like this can save your business a lot of time. The math is taken out of weighing and calculating postage.
Arlyn Scales products support up to 15 different weight units, including pounds and kilograms. Tare weights can be specified for determining the amount of product in a container.
Other postal services do not currently offer this feature.
However, there is software available that allows you to use a standard digital shipping scale to calculate shipping costs for items. The scale you buy should have the ability to communicate with a computer via USB or Ethernet.
The RS-485 connection option allows up to 10 scales to interconnect. On the other hand, USB is compatible with a wide variety of personal computer hardware.
This includes a great deal that’s slowly gone obsolete.
If you have a selection of old machines lying around, then this could give you a chance to reuse it with your new weighing solution. Keep in mind that those who need a sophisticated data logger can also invest in this kind of technology if they would prefer.
4. Weighing Objects is Simplified by Extra Features
Consider the features your staff will find useful. For example, people who regularly use shipping scales appreciate features like automatic tare, large and easy-to-read digital numbers, and the ability to print lists of weight measurements.
The specific needs and wants of your employees may vary. Things might also differ depending on the specific industry you’re in, the kinds of goods you’ve been considering shipping, and what kinds of shipping options are available.
Consumers can upgrade their Arlyn Scales shipping scales with a variety of upgrades, including:
- UPSCALE-9 Digital Indicator
- Communication Options:
- USB Port
- Wi-Fi capabilities
- Ethernet
- RS-232 port for printer or computer connection
- Bluetooth
- Time & Date feature
- Set-Point Controller for filling operations
- Relay (AC/DC)
- Rechargeable Batteries for remote use
Don’t forget the rechargeable batteries for remote use.
Those who opt for a rechargeable battery pack are also able to look into several different methods of charging the batteries. This should help for shippers on the move who have to travel quite often while they’re dealing with different shipments going to different places.
The 3200 Platform Scales and the 5200 Floor Scales come with a large graphics display that quickly shows the necessary information. With over 100 memory locations and unit conversion you can easily ship across the world without having to compute conversions with a calculator or manually on paper.
Because of the easy to use display, you can quickly train someone to use one of our scales in a relatively short period of time. That makes them an absolutely ideal choice for those who have to deal with both metric and customary measurements on a simultaneous basis.
Finding a scale that meets your needs doesn’t have to be difficult.
When choosing shipping scales for your business, it is important to choose scales that are built to endure the rigors of constant loading and unloading. Additionally, it’s nice to have shipping scales that are capable of printing labels and scales that can endure the sizes and weights of the packages your company needs to weigh.
That can make it even easier to work with since you’d be dealing with equipment that you’ve already dealt with in the past. If you have any further questions, then we invite you to get in touch.
Find the Best Commercial Shipping Scales at Arlyn Scales
Arlyn Scales offers a variety of heavy-duty shipping scales that meet all of these requirements, and more. If none of the standard Arlyn Scales models meet your exact needs, then we work with you to design a custom solution.
Established shipping hubs will likely find this service invaluable for fitting custom scales into existing package handling or freight handling systems. View our entire selection of industrial shipping scales to learn more about how Arlyn Scales designs, manufactures, and ships our industrial scales.
Our experienced representatives are passionate, knowledgeable, and collaborative. To find the perfect industrial shipping scales for your commercial operations, reach out to our team today.
