A major US company specializing in the development, design and manufacturing of fluidic system equipment that produces pharmaceuticals, food production and fluid and metering always puts safety first. With seven different divisions each providing equipment to specific industries this company has several main distribution centers throughout the United States and Canada. These distribution centers house and ship all the necessary equipment and parts to keep the fluidic production machines running in the manufacturing plants. The parts necessary can weigh anywhere from less than a pound to over a thousand pounds for a valve assembly. With product on both skids and crates this means loads can be anywhere from 150 pounds to 11,000 lbs. With this type of weight range the distribution center has forklifts ranging from 4500lb walkies to 15,500lb indoor cushion tire lift trucks. With several different storage areas and different racking support depending on the weight of the intended product - Overloading is not Something to RISK.

When it comes to overloading the implications are numerous. Working with their forklift dealer specifically the aftermarket parts and service rep they decided to come up with a solution. The main issue with overloading is the risk it creates for both the operator of the material handling equipment as well as pedestrians that are in the active area. If a load surpasses the capacity of the lifting equipment at what height will the equipment fail? When it does will the load and vehicle tip forward and or roll? Overhead guards are designed to protect from falling objects. However, when a forklift is no longer within its stability base, wheels on the ground, the operator can get thrown from the vehicle. That creates the chance that the overhead guard attached to the vehicle weighing more than 10,000lbs can pin and sever the operator. Also, of importance what about the damage to the equipment and inventory? What about product that is misplaced on racking not rated for that weight? It will damage the racking and even more serious create the potential for a collapse. In all situations not just the operator but pedestrians in the area are at risk.

Reaching out to us because of our long history in manufacturing forklift scales we had a chance to work with the dealer and the end user. This situation is a common concern that impacts almost all businesses that operate lift trucks. It is not specific to any one industry or any type of vehicle. It is simply the elimination of oversight and human error. The good news is that it is PREVENTABLE. We have seen an uptick in the last 10 years in safety due diligence and have designed our next generation lift truck scales, the SC series to include overloading standard. All five configurations of the SC series come standard with overload notification which means you can set the notification threshold to the capacity of the vehicle, the capacity of the racking or the weight of the load. With no buttons to press, the system will notify the operator automatically when that threshold is surpassed and as soon as the forks are off the ground, an inch not 10 feet. This avoids catastrophe and damage. This introduction was successful as it provided assurances on their main concern. But also included in the SC2 was the (AT) Accumulative Totaling function which allowed them to add multiple loads at the push of a button to gain confidence in not just the weight of one load but all loads. Helpful in both loading trucks and performing inventory. The SC system installs in 2 hours is available to all material handling dealers and ships next day.