Cranberry Township, Pa. — Auxiliary equipment supplier Conair Group says its new inventory system automatically tracks changes in up to 500 different user-specified resins or flowable powders in a processing plant.
The TrueRate brand system, which was developed as an alternative to single-component batch blenders for resin inventory measurement, utilizes a more accurate gravimetric measurement, according to a news release.
The system is available in two sizes: an eight-inch weighing ring equipped with two load cells, or a 12-inch ring equipped with three.
Both configurations connect to a separate electrical control panel. The weighing ring is mounted below a material loader or receiver but above a container or bin. It uses resin information provided by the user to calculate the change in weight of the loader/receiver before it discharges the material through the ring and into the container.
The system can operate in two modes: default or "totalizer" mode, in which the system continuously and automatically measures the total resin flow through the receiver to a bin or container below; and, active or "job" mode, in which an operator can program the system to measure out a precise amount of material into a bin
"TrueRate is a new and elegant way to track and regulate the receipt, flow, and usage of valuable resins and flowable powders throughout a plastics processing facility," Alan Landers, Conair's product manager for blending, said in the release. "In totalizer mode, the system can, for example, accurately measure and validate the quantity of resin conveyed from a process bin that was loaded from a silo. Or, it can track the dispensing of that resin to the plant, leaving the processor with an accurate, running inventory."
In job mode, an operator can program the system to unload 400 pounds of material into a gaylord, 25 pounds into a mixer, or 65 pounds into a container that is used to manually fill a rotational mold.
Landers said the operator puts the container in place beneath the TrueRate system, and inputs the desired weight on the control interface.
"The system will dispense exactly the right amount and stop, so there's no need for manual weighing and no guesswork or error in tracking the total throughput," he said.