Wide range of industrial weighing services frees up customer resources

Tamtron is not only an equipment manufacturer but a full-service weighing solutions provider. Its offering relies on decades of experience, diligent development work and cutting-edge digitalization.
This is further strengthened by an understanding of customer processes on a larger scale than simply through Tamtron’s own solutions – which is especially significant in industry.

When the same provider can offer everything from supplying fully compliant equipment and comprehensive solutions to lifecycle services and modernization, the key benefits for the customer are peace of mind and the ability to free up resources for their core business.

In his article, Jari Brandt, Vice President of Industrial Weighing Services at Tamtron, explains more about how the company supports the success of its customers with its extensive services that are available both separately and on a contractual basis.

Compliant industrial weighing solutions straight from the manufacturer

Many design companies can purchase components and compile scales but are often relatively unfamiliar with weighing-related norms. Tamtron stands out from its domestic competitors in that no other equipment manufacturer has as extensive inspection rights. They include initial verification, which is necessary for scales in commercial use, and sealing in accordance with the Measuring Instruments Directive, meaning that we are an approved service workshop. Additionally, Tamtron is a calibration laboratory accredited by FINAS accrediting service.

For our customers, this means that by purchasing a particular device or hardware configuration from us, they get all the services related to its compliance from under the same roof. This way, the solution can be commissioned according to standards and regulations, but the customer can also rely on Tamtron with all the equipment’s inspection, certification, and calibration needs throughout its life cycle. Additionally, we service and calibrate weighing equipment from other manufacturers.

Installation and commissioning services enable industrial weighing the best possible grounds

Tamtron offers high-quality installation and commissioning services. Our role in these cases largely depends on the scope of delivery. If basic mechanics, such as conveyors, are emphasized, it may be most cost-effective for the customer to handle the installation themselves or through the local subcontracting chain. However, if a scale is being added to the conveyor, the installation tolerances become much more precise. To summarize, whenever expertise related to weighing and measurement is involved, the equipment is intended for commercial use, or there is a need for tasks such as dosing, Tamtron’s involvement in the installation and commissioning is required.

Because we are able to take measuring into account from the point of view of the whole process, the customer often benefits the more the earlier stage Tamtron is included in the project. When we take part as an expert in determining the solutions and planning the installation, the weighing and measuring requirements can be considered during the planning stage, and the whole process becomes more controlled.

This ensures that the solutions can be smoothly implemented and used exactly as intended.
Sure-handed installation, proper inspection and expert implementation provide a customer with a great reference point for the equipment’s best performance and a starting point for monitoring its life cycle.

Maintenance and inspection guarantee reliability and prolong life cycle

Tamtron’s maintenance services are fully capable of taking care of different disturbances or breakages, although the more significant part of our maintenance operations consists of functional maintenance. Conversely, even high-quality equipment needs to be maintained, at least regarding the wearing parts, and, when measuring devices are in question, their readings must be inspected regularly. Proper and regular maintenance and inspection guarantee reliability and greatly reduce production stoppages and economic and quality shortcomings resulting from measuring errors.

The more specific requirements of the measures are based on the customer’s own quality criteria, legislation or other criteria – but also very much on the operating conditions. For some equipment, maintenance is sufficient every three years as part of a periodic inspection, while most equipment requires at least annual maintenance. Generally speaking, the heavier the use of the equipment, the greater the need for maintenance. It is also very much influenced by different mechanical solutions and designs.

This goes to show that there can be many defining factors of which some of our most important products, the truck and railway scales, are a great example. First, they are almost always in commercial use, and second, in heavy use outdoors, where they must withstand large material quantities and fluctuating weather conditions.

Truck and railway scales are naturally even more critical to their users due to the accuracy and efficiency they bring to the process, which is evident by their large quantity at the gates of different factories and installations but also by the fact that our customers are active in commissioning annual maintenance and periodic verification for their equipment.

Contract ensures regularity and enhances predictability

Tamtron sells spare parts and offers its services also outside contracts. However, if one wishes to be sure that maintenance procedures and periodic verifications occur in statutory and reliability-ensuring regularity, a contract is a smart option. Then we, as an active party, take care that everything contractual takes place in a timely fashion, enabling the customer peace of mind and concentrating their resources on their core operations.

A maintenance contract, as the name implies, primarily covers the servicing and maintenance of equipment. In higher service leves, however, we take responsibility for maintaining the customer’s equipment and, at an agreed level, are even accountable for their availability and lifecycle.

For the better part of our products, such as the truck and railway scales, predetermined service packages exist, and a large percentage of our customers also have one. Inside factories, the needs concerning the maintenance of individual solutions, such as dosing and big bagging equipment, differ a lot according to the criticality of the application requirements. Because in this sector, we are, in addition to being an equipment manufacturer, a provider of dosing and weighing systems, and thus design the functionalities of the equipment according to, for example, a customer’s conveyor, also the maintenance is tailor-made.

No matter the type of equipment or application, thanks to its predictability, a maintenance contract is a mutual benefit. When a particular provider executes the maintenance procedures regularly, they gather a precise image of the equipment’s life cycle. This prevents situations during a maintenance visit where something is found broken, but no replacement part is available at that moment. When a replacement need can instead be predicted, it can also be considered in the spare parts and component availability.  This way, our maintenance operations occur not only in an annual cycle but also constantly in the background.

Here it’s good to remember that equipment within the scope of a contract also requires the kind of upkeep, such as cleaning from the operating personnel, so that the conditions enable the equipment’s functionality to begin with. During maintenance visits, we are happy to provide guidance on upkeep and deliver a report detailing the equipment’s current condition and its lifecycle status.

Investment in Tamtron’s weighing solutions is an investment in the future and digitalization

Just like the predictability of maintenance and repair needs, a service agreement is also beneficial when it comes to updating solutions. When we take care of the status of the equipment’s life cycle on our customer’s behalf, we can offer modernization at the right time. In case the procedures are minor, they are executed during maintenance, and if more significant, they are advanced through our sales and design departments.

Modernization is closely connected with digitalization, which we at Tamtron look at from two different angles. From one point of view, our mScales weighing service digitizes weighing systems and scales, but it also has the ability to provide different kinds of solutions with the scale.

One of the most remarkable benefits is our ability to provide our customers support through a remote connection, which, in a way, gives us eyes to location. Thanks to this, situational information is now significantly more accurate than before when the only option was to enquire what information the terminal was showing. Our customers are not scale experts, and they shouldn’t have to be, so good remote diagnostics streamlines the assessment and planning of necessary procedures while also saving the customer’s time.

We are currently developing the utilization of remote connections even further. A paid contractual service that sends prompts enabling Tamtron to react directly is just around the corner. This feature is gradually making us a more proactive party that can offer its help even before the customer is aware of needing it. The benefits are highlighted, especially in locations where the customer doesn’t have a particular scale operator or is completely unmanned.

The possibilities of a remote connection are an excellent example of Tamtron’s key strength as a total service provider: by commissioning our solution, our customers can benefit from its continuous development. The more efficient the maintaining of weighing solutions becomes, the more it frees up the customer’s hands for their own core business.