Load cells and force sensors are types of transducers. They convert a force, such as tension, pressure, torque, and compression, into a measurable electrical signal. Most load cells have a strain gauge in detecting measurements. There are also pneumatic and hydraulic load cells.

In warehouse operations, such tools are critical for saving time and effort, especially when transporting high-volume and heavy goods. So how can you improve your warehouse operations using force sensors? Learn more about the benefits of force sensors and load cells by reading below.

Faster and More Accurate Warehouse Inventories

A warehouse has several Stock Keeping Units or SKUs. This makes warehouse inventory management difficult. Work orders inside the shop are generally smaller as compared to SKUs. Because of different sacks or containers, it’s difficult to have a fast and accurate inventory of your warehouse. It’s difficult to know which ones are empty or full.

That’s where warehouse inventory automation comes in. Force sensors and load cells from https://loadindicator.net/ provide a battery-free wireless system for faster and more accurate warehouse inventories. They help identify empty or full containers, thus allowing you to control the number of products entering and exiting your shop and coming and leaving your warehouse.

Here’s how to use force sensors and load cells in warehouses:

  • An Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag has four sub-components, the RFID chip, an inlay, a carrier, and an antenna. UHF RFID tags can be embedded in containers, pallets, and other storage platforms to monitor the weight on top of or inside them.
  • You won’t need to worry about changing batteries because load cells work battery-free. The power is drawn from the RFID system.
  • The inventory process is automated. Your employees will carry the handheld readers around the warehouse as needed, activating the RFID tags to measure the weight. The data is sent back to the handheld reader along with the unique ID. The entire process will take less than five seconds per container.
  • You can integrate the data into your Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP system for documenting your warehouse inventories.

Quantify Products That Are Difficult to Measure

Bulk goods, liquids, and granulates are difficult to quantify, making warehouse inventory a nightmare for businesses producing or storing such products that are stored in sacks or big containers carrying tons of weight.

By introducing battery-free weight and wireless sensors, monitoring the quantity of products inside sacks and containers is more convenient. Weight sensors are also RFID-based so that companies can use their existing RFID reader infrastructure. The weight value is associated with the container’s unique ID, considering the accurate value of the quantities inside the containers.

Force Sensors Are Safer and More Convenient

Force sensors come in different types, and the choice of what suitable type to use depends on the applications for which they’re required. Unlike manual counting and weighing of goods, force sensors are a lot easier to handle. Taking measurements becomes safer, faster, and more convenient. There’s no need to move containers, sacks, or pallets from one area to another.

Increased Warehouse Productivity

Force sensors are very good at converting mechanical variables to electrical variables for easy and precise measurements. Warehouse operations are more straightforward and a lot faster using such tools, most especially when you have high-volume and difficult-to-measure goods. Hence, force sensors greatly improve warehouse productivity.

The process of strain gauge-based force sensors converting mechanical variables into an electrical signal is as follows. It starts with a patterned metal foil, wherein external loads cause material surface strain. This strain can be measured using strain gauges that are applied to the patterned metal foil surface, converting the mechanical strain into electrical resistance.

With the ease and speed of taking measurements and sending data to your ERP system, more workload is completed for a more efficient warehouse management system. It means more time to work on processing orders and less time on warehousing activities, which is good for your business.

Check out the following benefits of using strain gauge-based force sensors:

  • Cost-effective and proven technology for force sensors
  • High accuracy level
  • Excellent linear and hysteresis behavior
  • Very good temperature compensation
  • Measurement of dynamic and static loads
  • Very good long-term stability
  • High fatigue strength
  • High vibration resistance

Conclusion

Force sensors and load cells are highly beneficial in warehouse operations. Productivity is greatly increased in warehouse inventory management, transportation, and logistics. These sensors are wireless and battery-free. They’re very efficient and provide accurate measurements. If you use the right type of load cells and force sensors, you can measure hard-to-measure goods, thereby saving time and effort in your warehouse operations.

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