The Leicester-based firm recently received accreditation from SAFEcontractor, a programme which recognises very high standards of health and safety practise amongst UK contractors.
Employing 10 people, Betterweigh is principally involved in the production, sales and maintenance of weighing equipment for the food, pharmaceutical and chemical industries.

The company’s application for SAFEcontractor accreditation was driven by the need for a uniform standard across the business.

Andrew Clarke, Technical Director at Betterweigh said:

“accreditation to the SAFEcontractor scheme shows our dedication to health and safety requirements of our customers and employees.”

SAFEcontractor accreditation is expected to enhance the company’s ability to attract new contracts and its commitment to safety will be viewed positively by its insurers when the company liability policy is up for renewal.

SAFEcontractor is applicable to most sectors although it is particularly relevant to food manufacture, property, facilities management, retail and leisure sectors, all of which are big users of contract services.

John Kinge, Head of Risk at SAFEcontractor said,

“Major organisations can no longer run the risk of employing contractors who are not able to prove that they have sound health and safety policies.

He continued,

“More companies need to understand the importance of adopting good risk management in the way that Betterweigh has done. The firm’s high standard has set an example, which hopefully will be followed by other companies within the sector.”

Under the SAFEcontractor system, businesses undergo a vetting process, which examines health and safety procedures and their track record for safe practice. Those companies meeting the high standard are included on a database, which is accessible to registered users only via a website, www.safecontractor.com

Employer-organisations who sign up to the scheme can access the database, enabling them to vet potential contractors before they even set foot on site. These employers agree that, as users of the scheme, they will engage only those who have received accreditation.

Over one hundred and fifty major nation-wide businesses, from several key sectors, have signed up to use the scheme when selecting contractors for services such as building, cleaning, maintenance, refurbishment or electrical and mechanical work.

<img title=”Safe Contractor” src=”http://www.betterweigh.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/safe.jpg” alt=”" width=”205″ height=”205″ />Betterweigh is one of the latest group of successful companies to join <strong>SAFEcontractor</strong>, a leading edge scheme designed to help industry improve its safety record.
The Leicester-based firm recently received <strong>accreditation </strong>from SAFEcontractor, a programme which recognises very high standards of health and safety practise amongst UK contractors.Employing 10 people, Betterweigh is principally involved in the production, sales and maintenance of weighing equipment for the food, pharmaceutical and chemical industries.
The company’s application for <strong>SAFEcontractor accreditation</strong> was driven by the need for a uniform standard across the business.
<strong>Andrew Clarke, Technical Director at Betterweigh said:</strong><blockquote>”accreditation to the SAFEcontractor scheme shows our dedication to health and safety requirements of our customers and employees.”</blockquote>SAFEcontractor accreditation is expected to enhance the company’s ability to attract new contracts and its commitment to safety will be viewed positively by its insurers when the company liability policy is up for renewal.
SAFEcontractor is applicable to most sectors although it is particularly relevant to food manufacture, property, facilities management, retail and leisure sectors, all of which are big users of contract services.
<strong>John Kinge, Head of Risk at SAFEcontractor said,</strong><blockquote>”Major organisations can no longer run the risk of employing contractors who are not able to prove that they have sound health and safety policies.</blockquote><strong>He continued,</strong><blockquote>”More companies need to understand the importance of adopting good risk management in the way that Betterweigh has done. The firm’s high standard has set an example, which hopefully will be followed by other companies within the sector.”</blockquote>Under the SAFEcontractor system, businesses undergo a vetting process, which examines health and safety procedures and their track record for safe practice. Those companies meeting the high standard are included on a database, which is accessible to registered users only via a website, <a href=”http://www.safecontractor.com”>www.safecontractor.com</a>
Employer-organisations who sign up to the scheme can access the database, enabling them to vet potential contractors before they even set foot on site. These employers agree that, as users of the scheme, they will engage only those who have received accreditation.
Over one hundred and fifty major nation-wide businesses, from several key sectors, have signed up to use the scheme when selecting contractors for services such as building, cleaning, maintenance, refurbishment or electrical and mechanical work.

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Dini Argeo has a fantastic programmable indicator called the 3590e, the “e” is for Enterprise, a more functional model that the standard 3590. This Indicator has a range of programs from recipe weighing to statistical analysis, however in this post I will be focussing on the AF02 Counting Program, the product code for this option is 3590EXP02CC.

The great thing about the 3590e is he option to add up to 4 scale bases, this can be helpful when you are sampling small items but weighing in larger quantities.

Connectivity

The 3590e has a wealth of connectivity to printers or computers using RS232, RS485, Profibus, WiFi and/or Ethernet. Using Dini Tools the 3590e becomes easy and fast to program. The 3590e also allows takes inputs from barcode scanners and keyboards, more on this later.

A current project we are working on uses thirty 3590e indicators linked to software sat on a Server via Ethernet, when customers have a large product range that constantly changes it becomes time consuming to enter the data onto each scale individually. Linking the terminal via Ethernet is simple and extends the limited range that can be a problem using RS232, the Ethernet option uses a static IP that is set using PC based software.

WinCount

Companies that use barcodes in their production and stock will love the added option of barcode scanning, this will recall information from the database at the fire of a laser beam. When linked to the counting software WinCount the scales will ask for the information that is sent back t the scale in the blink of an eye. When setting up the scale you can set options within the menu structure to ask for other items on a job sheet, such as Job Numbers, ID codes, these can be entered using a keyboard or a scanner if in barcode format. When the weighing has been completed the data is sent back to WinCount and saved for reporting and traceability.

Labelling & Printing

The 3590e has formatting for both label printers and standard ticket printers, this can be modified and extra data added such as ID’s, descriptions and locations of stock. Using a labeller such as the one pictured adds around £ 1000.00, what you get is a long lasting well built printer ideal for industrial applications.

Pricing

With all these features packed into the 3590e one would assume that this unit would cost upwards of £ 1500.00. No where near! A standard 3590e and single scale base will cost roughly £ 650.00. Add a label printer in and it costs £ 1000.00, exceptional value for money.

As the main official UK distributor we are highly experienced and knowledgable about Dini Argeo products. If you would like to learn more about the 3590e and its functionality, please do not hesitate to call us and discuss how it can help your business.

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Following a successful trip to Italy, MWS Ltd is proud to announce that they are now the main authorised distributor for Dini Argeo in the UK. The deal allows us to offer Dini products at competitive rates to End Users, OEM and Trade Clients.

Dini Argeo manufacture a wide range of industrial weighing products in Maranello, Italy. Maranello is also home to the Ferrari car factory. Dini Argeos quality and attention to details bears some resemblance to its world famous neighbour.

Popular products from Dini Argeo include a range of Pallet Truck Scales, from low cost entry models to high end ATEX Pallet Scales. The TPWN09 pictured is our best selling pallet truck scale, it offers a high degree of accuracy compared to other models in its price range. Not only is it an extremely competitive price it is also manufactured in Europe. This is very unusual for a truck priced at this level.

Pallet Truck Scales are no stranger to the rough and tumble of a warehouse or production area, that is why we stock a full range of spares in the shelf ready to be dispatched at a moments notice. The TPWN09 is available ex-stock, these units literally fly off the shelf. They are boxed and ready to go within 24hrs on a next day service.

Dini Argeo also have an exciting range of weighing scale indicators that are packed full of features, this will enable us to develop high spec weighing scale systems linked to PCs and Printers at a low cost entry point. The ATEX Scale Indicator range offer a low cost alternative to manufacturers such as Mettler Toledo, Sartorius and Bizerba, the models are available for both Zone 1 and Zone 2 applications. Coupled with the MWS Ltd sales team  experience of developing ATEX Scale solutions it’s a winning formula.

Dini Argeo have a range of high quality vehicle weighing scales manufactured at their facility in Maranello, the vehicle pads are well made and built to endure the harshest of environments. Models available from weighing small cars and vans to weighing multi-axle articulated lorries.

MWS Ltd offer the full range of products from Dini Argeo and will support existing equipment with a comprehensive spares and technical department.

For more Information, Spare Parts or Trade / OEM account queries please contact us on sales@mws.ltd.uk

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The new office is located an hour south of Amsterdam in the town of Zaltbommel.

The new office will be serviced by trained staff who will be able to take enquiries and handle logistics. The warehouse gives us is 3000sq ft of space allowing us to hold stock of a wide range of weighing products from parcel scales to floor scales.

The product range for the first six months will be limited to a handful of weighing machines that suit most customers requirements. As the demand for more specialist weighing equipment increases we shall address the product range as required. Whilst the new EU web shop will have product lines missing that are currently found on the UK web shop we will be happy to service any orders as needed.

The new web shop will be in Dutch whilst we translate into other languages, the Dutch version can be found at Scalesmart.nl

Our head office will remain in Leicester, England.

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Most modern industrial scales feature a port of some sort that will enable the connection of a scale to a computer. There are quite a few different ways to collect the data from a weighing scale depending on the particular model that has been chosen.

RS232c Interface:
This connection is by far the most common that you will find, typically the connection is via a 9 pin d type connector on the rear of the scale or terminals that are wired inside, the latter is more common on scales that need to be waterproof. RS232 is very flexible in the sense that you can add a range of options such as WiFi, Ethernet or USB to any scale that has RS232 using convertors. The convertors change the connection type allowing you to easily network scales, typically software on the computer will convert the connection back to a COM port. RS232 cabling has its limitations; if you are not using a convertor then you will be limited to roughly 20-25mtrs at a 9600 baud rate before the signal degrades and data is lost.

RS485 Interface:
These types of connections are not as common as the RS232 but can be found on higher spec machines that have this option. RS485 allows you to multi drop one cable into a series of scales without running one cable to each unit. Imagine a clothes line with washing pegged on it, each item of clothing is a scale and the line is the cable. With RS232 you would need a cable for every scale. RS485 allows you to create an inexpensive network of scales. The range of RS485 is also considerably longer and data rates can operate at much higher baud rates, ideal if you have a high speed operation where lots of data is being transmitted continuously.  There are convertors on the market that will change a RS232 signal into a RS485 signal if distances and speed are an issue.

USB Interface:
The more modern way of connecting peripheral devices to a computer is via USB,  weighing scales are still in their infancy when it comes to pure USB connections with plug and play. Whilst it is possible to connect scales via USB, there is still a requirement to add software on to your computer that replicates a COM port allowing you to collect the data.

WiFi Connections:
Connecting scales to a network is reasonably simple, there are many different industrial WiFi systems available, the interfaces are wired up to the RS232 output of the scale allowing you to stream data over a wireless network and collect it via an IP address on a network, there is software available that will replicate a COM port from data sent via an IP address. Some higher spec scales are now starting to be supplied with WiFi ports already built in to them.

Bluetooth Connectivity:
The ability to connect weighing scales to computers via Bluetooth has been around for a couple of years now. Like other types of connections listed above they are not similar to a mobile phone or headset, they work by replicating a COM port on the host computer.

Overview:
By now you may have realised that whilst its simple to connect scales to a computer it may not be straight forward as you might think. There are a number of basic software packages available that will take data from a COM port and push it into a database or spreadsheet. For more complex systems where there maybe data that needs formulating or multiple scales on  system MWS Ltd have developed software packages that can be tailor made to a customer’s specific requirements. Budget packages start at a very reasonable £250.00 for a basic program that sort’s data sent into a spreadsheet with options for extra data fields and tabs for extra scales.

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The new package allows you to print weights on labels with upto 4 lines of fixed header information, such as a company name and phone number or product information. We can also now print date and times on to the labels, this is dependant on the type of indicator used.

More information on the Zebra GK420d.

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In this picture you can clearly see two scales with 20kg weights placed on them. The scale on the left was fresh out of the box and tested, the error shown is plus 18g, the scale on the right has been calibrated using our traceable calibration weights.

Whilst we aim to keep our prices low it is imperative that scales are tested and calibrated to remove errors such as these, these costs are taken into account.

Please do not confuse a calibration certificate with a standard calibration, the certificate provides you with detailed results and traceability back to national standards.

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Our customer didn’t understand the difference between the traceable certificate we supply and EC verification, its a common problem and that is the reason for this post.

Highstreet Example:
When you visit a butcher and you ask for 1kg of Lamb chops for supper the butcher will place your request on a scale.

The scale he or she uses should be EC Verified or Trade Approved, this is a  legal requirement of the Government and EU to protect the consumer from being undersold. The scales will have gone through stringent checks to ensure that the weight displayed is correct and falls with in set tolerances.

Any transaction that takes place on a scale needs to be done on a scale that has been EC Verified or Trade Approved.

Commercial Supply Example:
A supplier is selling you an IBC full of 1000kg of product, on the invoice you receive it states 1000kg and the price of the product. By law the scale must be EC verified / Trade Approved.

Commercial Receive Example:
You are offering to recycle/reclaim 1000kg of waste from your customer, he has brought it to your site for you to weigh and you will be paying him for the waste product as it has a value. By law the scale must be EC verified / Trade Approved.

Commercial Service Example:
You visit a clients site to shred confidential paperwork, you charge your customer £1.00 per 10kg. You weigh the paper before it is shredded and produce a bill based on the amount shredded. By law the scale must be EC verified / Trade Approved.

Traceable Calibration Certificates:
These types of certificate do not make the scale Approved / Verfied or legal for trade, a traceable certificate only give you an audit trail that may be important for a BRC or ISO accreditation. Any scale can be certificated, from a kitchen scale all the way up to a 50 Tonne weighbridge. Most auditors will require a certificate for any calibrated item along with a paper trail.

As part of our service we offer a full set of traceable documentation that will cover you for audits, these include the following.

1) Weight Certificates traceable to National Standards.
2) Our ISO9001 Certificate
3) Method Statement
4) Health & Safety policies
5) Insurance Statements – Employee and Public Liability

I hope that some of these pointer help you understand a bit more about EC Verification / Trade Approval and Calibration Certificates and the areas that they are needed.

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We are happy to ship the free gifts to an alternative address if needed.

Unfortunately this deal is only in conjunction with Ohaus products at present.

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