Just like the feedstock industry, the livestock industry depends on fast, accurate weighing equipment that requires minimal repairs and is consistently accurate.
Puratone Corp., one of the largest hog producers in North America, has a long history of applying the best management practices and implementing operational efficiencies to stay at the top of its industry. This has allowed Puratone to blaze a trail as one of the most efficient and innovative hog producers in North America. It also has allowed the company to achieve significant market share, increased profitability and to remain as an acknowledged leader within the North American hog production industry.
Ahead of the curve
A big factor in staying ahead of the competition in any industry is making sure equipment is upgraded to maintain efficiency. When Puratone needed to upgrade its weighing systems, it went to Protech Scale in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, a dealer for Cardinal Scale Manufacturing Co. for more than 10 years.
Puratone “runs literally tens of thousands of livestock through their 65 weigh stations a year and wanted to make their weighing process more efficient,” said Norm Wallack, of Protech Scale. “Even a slight improvement by a small margin, adds up tremendously when you’re working with those kinds of numbers. The new Cardinal 190 Storm weight indicator was everything they were looking for. Over the course of 18 months, this stockyard will be upgrading every one of its 65 IQ-355 indicators to Cardinal 190 Storm’s.”
Saving service time, saving money
“Time plays a huge factor when moving live products, so the 190 Storm’s ColorZone LCD display keeps the scale operators moving at a quick pace because it’s so easy to read,” Wallack said. “It’s just like a traffic light; they love it. The operator sees that display light up and off they go.”
The 190 Storm’s vivid LCD display changes color automatically, giving the operator an immediate visual about whether the load is in the acceptable pre-assigned weight range. If the weight is under or above the target weight range, different colors display on the weight readout to alert the scale operator. This ease of use, combined with the 190 Storm indicator’s rugged polycarbonate IP69K-rated wash-down enclosure and capacitive touch keys, provide maximum protection from impacts for the ultimate durability in harsh environments. This keeps the scale operation moving rapidly with no work stoppages, since the 190 Storm can literally take a beating and keep working.
“Obviously, hogs have a less-than-clean reputation, so in this particular environment, an indicator not only has to perform reliably, but it also has to be able to stand up against some of the most extreme wear and tear cleanup operations around,” Wallack said. The 190 Storm’s watertight, highly-durable enclosure provides extreme pressure and temperature resistance, up to 176°F (80°C) and 1,450 psi; perfectly suited to the daily, scalding-hot high-pressure wash-downs of the stockyard.
“No other indicator on the market could be better suited to those conditions in that environment; they wouldn’t have lasted through the first day,” Wallack said.
Reducing error increases profitability
“The operators love that there are no buttons to push down and get jammed, or stuck or tear off; it’s just touch and go,” Wallack added about Cardinal Scale’s 190 Storm indicator. Since it doesn’t have any mechanical parts in the keypad, the 190 Storm’s capacitive keypad operates on the capacitance of the operator, which is the ability of a person to hold an electrical charge. The keypad of the indicator functions much like that of a smart phone. Capable of detecting this charge and reacting to it means no exposed electronics and the entire front plate is constructed from one solid piece, lending even more strength to an already-powerfully durable indicator.
“The possibility of a button being accidentally pressed by anything but a finger is really low; it won’t even react to anything without an electrical charge,” Wallack said.
Improving business with improved processes
Puratone was able to find success using the Cardinal 190 Storm indicator to improve its hog weighing processes and boost its operational efficiencies. To be the best in the industry requires the best tools possible. With new weight indicators, Puratone plans to keep its technologically-advanced edge on the competition in the hog production industry and continue to be one of the leading producers in North America.
Jonathan Sabo is the vice president of Marketing for Cardinal Scale Mfg., www.cardinalscale.com. You may contact him by e-mailing bpteditorial@woodwardbizmedia.com.
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