With industrial scale suppliers Autotech Weighing Systems successfully attained trade approval legal rights for scales and weighing information systems manufacturer Tamtron’s on-board reach stacker scale, containers can be weighed according to the international convention of Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) requirements without interrupting regular loading operations.

The requirements in the International Maritime Organisation’s SOLAS, which came into force in July last year, require that all containers have a verified gross mass before being loaded onto a ship, for improved weight distribution on the ship and safety at sea.

The trade approval process involved testing of the scale’s accuracy and compliance by Department of Trade and Industry entity the National Regulator for Compulsory Specification.

The system proved to be well within the required tolerances for all tests carried out in terms of the regulations.

With the reach stacker scale being approved, containers can be weighed according to SOLAS, as well as the regulations of the International Organization of Legal Metrology and the South African National Accreditation System.

The scale can be installed on all types of container stackers, without having to make structural changes and it can be integrated with an on-board computer.

“Weighing takes place during normal operations without interrupting or slowing down the workflow at seaports or container depots,” says Autotech sales manager Charlie Pelser.

The system can also transfer weighing information to Tamtron’s WNexus cloud service in real time. This online service offers tools for versatile weighing information management, reporting, analysis, and integration enterprise resource planning, warehouse management or terminal operating system.

Pelser notes that weighing information management is now, in the era of digitalisation, a more relevant topic than ever.

“Growing demands for efficiency, traceability, safety and the ecological responsibility of companies and operators make accurate, accessible and reportable weighing information an essential part of their competitive advantage.”

The Tamtron reach stacker scale forms part of Autotech’s range of approved weighing equipment which already includes on-board wheel loader scales, high-speed in-motion rail weighbridges and materials handling equipment.

Autotech is the sole Southern Africa agent for Tramtron.