Floor scales weigh large items such as pallets or bins. Invest in a floor scale that complies with sanitary design standards and can sustain harsh washdown conditions, such as high-pressure water jets and chemicals, to avoid bacterial buildup and cross-contamination. While many industrial environments typically use mild steel floor scales, highly sanitary and washdown areas in processing plants require scales made of stainless steel.

Bench scales classify products by weight and are an excellent choice for performing quality checks. Designs with overload stops have added protection from shock-loading conditions. Bench scales are durable solutions frequently built with removable covers for easy cleaning and sanitation.

Checkweighers verify that products on the production line are not higher or lower than a predetermined weight, so customers get exactly what they pay for. Checkweighers can physically reject products outside the preset weight range to ensure each container legally has enough product without overloading. Optional metal detecting features can be used to prevent metal pieces from contaminating the product.

Dimensioners and Scales for Shipping

Before meat can be shipped, weight must be captured. If outgoing meat is sold based on weight, it must be weighed with a Legal for Trade scale. This could be done with a floor scale for large amounts of meat or a more compact scale, such as a bench scale, for small pre-packaged meat containers.

Once packaged meat is weighed, it’s sent to processors, restaurants and consumers. Keep in mind that raw, unpackaged meat should never be handled in areas where finished product is shipped out, as this can present sanitation and safety issues.

These outbound shipments must also be weighed to determine the carrier costs for shipments. Carriers base their costs on physical weight and dimensional weight, comparing the two and deciding on handling fees using the larger result. When shipping, automatic dimensioners reduce human error and streamline processing with faster calculations than manual measurements.

Additionally, if the meat is transported in a semi, it will be weighed on a truck scale to ensure compliance with regulations regarding vehicle weight on specific roads.

Ideal Characteristics for Meat Wrappers

Beyond wrapping capabilities, there are several important features that should be incorporated into a wrapper for optimal product look and feel.

• Elasticity: More flexibility eliminates unappealing wrinkles without putting tray quality at risk.
• Anti-fogging: Removing fog ensures customers can view the entire packaged product.
• Roll width: Improper roll width creates problems during the film forwarding and packaging process. Choosing a precise width reduces issues during wrapping.

Rice Lake Weighing Systems Has Solutions for Every Operation

Successful meat weighing and wrapping results in a high-quality product, generating customers and boosting business profits. Rice Lake’s durable livestock scales with mobile, portable and stationary models assist ranchers managing cattle. In processing facilities, RoughDeck® floor scales and similar platform scales ensure sanitary, accurate weighments. Throughout retail environments, Rice Lake partners with Ishida to offer quality scales and wrappers.

Rice Lake provides a complete array of solutions for meat weighing from farm to table with livestock, platform and retail scales. Discover more weighing solutions from Rice Lake to increase efficiency in your operations today.