English - Rice Lake Weighing Systems

A magazine and REFERENCE TOOL FOR THE WEIGHING INDUSTRY / Winter 2010 • issue 2 • vol. 7

WHAT’ What's S New NEW
Ishida Uni-7 Series
The Ishida Uni-7 Price-Computing
Scale/Printer Series includes
several models with unique
features. Here are just a few.
this issue
rice lake
magazine
winter 2010 • Issue 2 • Vol. 7
software for CW-90
and CW-90X
WeighVault allows CW-90/90X users
to add, edit, and access IDs over a network
connection. WeighVault surpasses
the CW-90/90X’s 50 ID limitation
and eliminates front-panel entry
of ID parameters. It also collects
data as transactions occur and
provides detailed transaction and
productivity reports that can be
exported to Excel, Word, or PDF. If an
ID is entered in WeighVault, the CW-90/90X
will load and begin using it when that ID number
is selected from the front panel. www.ricelake.com/weighvault ▪
RL9000TWM-HT rated to 400⁰ F.
Rice Lake now stocks high temperature
versions of the RL9000TWM weigh
module rated to 400⁰ F with 25 ft of Teflon®
cable. All other specifications are identical
to the standard RL9000TWM.
The RL9000TWM-HT
is now in stock and part
numbered up to 50,000 lb
capacity. Higher capacities
available as special quote.
www.ricelake.com/hightemp ▪
Rice Lake’s Versa-portion
is compact and has a large platter that is
perfect for kitchens, laboratories, and work
stations. With a removable stainless steel
cover and IP68 rating, inevitable spills are
easy to clean. The bright LED display is
visible in dim light, and the keypad’s fourbutton
operation is simple to use. Toggle
between ounces, pounds, and grams. Tare
a product or container up to one-half of
total scale capacity. By adding an optional
battery, the Versa-portion provides up to
60 hours of continuous use.
www.ricelake.com/versaportion ▪
The Uni-7 Hanging model is
the only hanging scale with a color
touch screen. Eye-level keypad
and display are up and away
from moisture.
The Uni-7 Elevated Keypad model
offers additional ergonomic benefits
to many types of work areas.
Available with optional receipt
printer and color customer display.
The Uni-7 Self-Serve model offers
modular product billboards that
can be arranged to suit self-serve
needs. Large, easy-to-read displays
are customer-friendly.
For more details go to
www.ricelake.com/uni7
What’s New
2
Sticky Situation
H. B. Fuller has 90 days to be up-and-running
4
Animals say ahhhhhhhhhh
8
READ THIS
before you buy a cut-rate load cell
12
It’s Alive
How Micro-Organisms Shape
the Blue Jean Industry
14
wrapping up 2010
18
COKING COAL
24
Bruce has a Gift
26
Rice Lake’s 2010 News Clips
Surviving Ike 7
Kanawha’s Big Iron 9
Anchors Aweigh: Rice Lake
test weights tip the boat 11
Reputation on the line 13
One cause for delayed
luggage eliminated 17
SURVIVOR® goes on a ferry ride 23
Editorial Staff:
Carol Ailes, Technical Writer
Melanie Al Faraj, Technical Writer
Tamala Anderson, Designer
Cheryl Aune, Literature Manager
Bob Chatten, Translator
Matt Davis, Marketing Specialist
Jessica de la Cruz, Writer
Melissa Hjelle, Marketing Specialist
Katy Madden, Senior Editor
Hannah Martell, Designer
Kelly Musil, Catalog Manager
Caleb Olson, Technical Writer, Reporter
Pat Ranfranz, Marketing Director
Adam Sharpe, Web Master
Tina Slayton, Marketing Specialist
Kevin Theese, Marketing Support
Stacy White, Marketing Specialist
Kristina Zengaffinen, Senior Designer
WE LOOK FORWARD TO WEIGHING IN THE NEW YEAR.
If the second decade of the 21 st century is anything like the first, we will witness many
changes in the weighing industry. As always, Rice Lake is poised to meet new challenges
and to lead with new products and services.
We celebrate the holidays and see everything on our tables from turkey to cranberries,
from wine to cheese, and from gelatin to jelly beans, and we’re grateful—especially
when we think about how the entire feast is weighed or counted, measured and processed
with Rice Lake equipment.
In this issue, we share a wide range of information. You’ll find the latest on Rice Lake
equipment applications as far from Wisconsin as Brazil, along with stories that feature
adhesives, coking coal, blue jeans, yachts, sea lions, and giraffes. We explore the
mystery behind inexpensive load cells, and why and how to back up your data to help
ensure that the new year for your business is a safe, happy, and prosperous one.
From all of us at Rice Lake Weighing Systems
to all of you—may 2011 be your best by every measure.
RICE LAKE ONLINE MAGAZINE
Going green Access the Rice Lake magazine online.
You will enjoy the same great stories plus links to more
information. Also, with electronic access, you can easily
share articles with employees and customers.
To subscribe:
Go to www.ricelake.com/ricelakemagazine and
complete the online form.
It’s that easy. If you have any questions, please email
us at rlmagazine@ricelake.com.
Find us on facebook:
www.facebook.com/ricelakeweighingsystems
Rice Lake’s Baby New Year is being weighed on the Rice Lake Digital Baby Scale (RL-DBS).
The large LCD display and 44 lb capacity makes this scale perfect for infant weighing.
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On location
On location
The H.B. Fuller Construction Products division, headquartered in Aurora, IL, is at the forefront of construction
products innovation. Here, a very lean crew formulates, mixes and packages a long list of mastics, coatings, sealants and adhesives used
in commercial and residential construction.
They make ceramic tile installation products, flooring adhesives, surface preparation products, exterior insulation finish systems and
epoxy flooring for commercial and professional contractor markets. They also batch pre-mixed grouts, mortars and other products
targeted predominantly to the retail home improvement marketplace. Jim Holman, president of Fox Valley Scale, New Lenox, IL, puts
it in a nutshell, “They make sticky stuff.” Fox Valley Scale was called to the H. B. Fuller Construction Products plant to come up with a
solution for what could have been a sticky situation.
“We needed a controller that was simple and powerful. We made the choice and it paid
off huge. We realized a return within four months. I don’t think we have ever had to scrap
a batch. We run about 20,000 pounds of product a day though this area of our operation.
I’ve got a box here of data we collected to keep track of variances.
But we don’t collect data anymore because there is so little variance. Saves some trees.”
Geoffrey Russell, H.B. Fuller production manager
Left to right: Geoffrey Russell, H.B. Fuller production manager, Mike Ryan, Rice Lake Great Lakes regional director,
Jim Sansone, H.B. Fuller maintenance manager, Jim Holman, Fox Valley Scale president, Travis TJ Oehmen,
and Joel Velazquez, Fox Valley Scale service technicians
Geoffrey Russell, production manager,
and Jim Sansone, maintenance manager,
recall the day they were advised that a
variety of new processing and packaging
equipment was being moved to the Aurora
facility. Jim remembers, “We had to figure
out how we could combine that new
production equipment with the existing
manufacturing area and be up and running
in ninety days.”
Jim Sansone, maintenance manager,
reviewed current production methods
of the used equipment transferring to
the Aurora factory. He realized that
much of the equipment and processes
were well over 20 years old and needed
an upgrade in technology. Manual raw
material weighing systems needed to be
automated. The company had limited
knowledge in using load cells and wanted
to minimize capital spent on the relocation
of the equipment. Jim notes, “We
had to justify the money.”
Jim Holman did his research and Fox
Valley Scale came back with this 920i®
solution. Holman remembers the planning
meeting. “I came up to Rice Lake
and had a breakfast meeting with Don
Fiedler and Marvin Stodola [Rice Lake
engineers] and Mike Ryan [Rice Lake
Great Lakes regional director]. We literally
figured it out in an hour on the back
of a napkin at the restaurant. Kristi Gay
[Rice Lake engineer] wrote the program
and created the tables to recall formulas.”
The system includes eight 920i s with
24-channel I/O and Ethernet® outputs.
Holman believes the solution is perfect.
“All the 920i s are tied to one network
printer. Supervisors are using Interchange®
to load formulas from the office
via the printer. One really neat aspect of
the system is that any one of the 920i s
can be used as a backup for any of the
others. The I/O is redundant throughout
the system. It can be changed simply wire
for wire.”
Meanwhile, back at the plant in Aurora,
Sansone and Russell were designing and
building the steel mezzanine.
Continued on page 6
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On location
“One really neat
aspect of the system
is that any one
of the 920i ® s can
be used as a backup
for any of the
others. The I/O
is redundant
throughout the
system. It can be
changed simply
wire for wire.”
Jim Holman, president,
Fox Valley Scale, New Lenox, IL
Surviving Ike
On September 9, 2008, as Hurricane Ike neared landfall near Galveston, Texas,
it became the largest Atlantic tropical cyclone in recorded history, measuring
900 miles in diameter. The National Weather Service issued a strongly worded
bulletin advising residents living in some parts of coastal Texas that they faced
"certain death" if they did not heed orders to evacuate.
Ike’s 20-foot storm surge brought certain death to many truck scales in
Texas—but not the SURVIVOR® OTR that Gary Becton, lead technician
with Weighing Technologies, Seabrook, Texas, is still talking about to this
day. “We had the service contract on this scale, and the owner asked us to
come and take a look at it after the surge water went down. The scale had
been under fifteen feet of saltwater for days. We opened up the summing
box and there wasn’t a drop of water! I guess that’s why Rice Lake calls
them “survivors.” We put in a new Rice Lake 420i indicator and printer
and the scale worked perfectly!
“We had other customers in the Galveston area, and none of those truck
scales survived Ike. The modules floated up and came apart. The Rice Lake
scale didn’t float up at all. Probably because it’s heavier steel and the way the
suspension system is designed—it doesn’t allow the scale to float off like all
the others did.
“We’ve moved the scale to another location now. The new owner really likes
the scale. He bought a Rice Lake floor scale later.” ▪
H.B. Fuller Construction Products built a mezzanine to accommodate a variety of new processing
and packaging equipment being moved from another facility. They were tasked to combine the new
equipment into the existing manufacturing area and be up and running in 90 days.
Sticky Situation continued from page 5
Sansone recalls the Big Day. “The first
time we fired it up, everything worked!
I was pretty happy about that.”
Holman adds, “And it can be expanded.
We can stick another twenty-four
channel card in there. That’s the beauty
of the 920i.”
The factory currently supports another
control system that requires ongoing
vendor changes, which in turn requires
ongoing expense. Sansone agrees, “That
is what got us thinking about another
way to automate this new system. The
920i system is so much easier from a
programming perspective and for updating.
There is a cost to changing raw
materials and formulas with the older
system. We do that a lot. The fact that
we can do it in a text style is huge. With
the 920i, we can load the new formula
and go live today. It’s very flexible. No
controller is unique. They are completely
interchangeable, wire for wire. The
programs are the same. We just load the
batch routine.” ▪
The actuators open and close valves for the
chemical ingredients in each formula. Geoff says
the 920i weighs the ingredients and sends a signal
as the target approaches. It anticipates the dribble
of each ingredient after closing and actually
adapts and improves each time it
formulates a recipe.
6 RICE LAKE MAGAZINE | www.ricelake.com

On location
Kanawha’s Big Iron
Kanawha Scales & Systems Inc., Poca, WV, was awarded a multimillion dollar
contract for a fully automated iron ore batch weigh loading facility. The contract was
awarded by VALE, located in the Amazon Jungle and in the town of Carajas, Para,
Brazil. The 24,000 TPH facility will be loading rail wagons with iron ore that will be
exported to China.
Zoo animal handlers and veterinarians cannot peer down a giraffe’s
throat. Obtaining weight data and records on a routine basis with the least amount
of stress to the animal is a science in itself. Gradual or sudden fluctuation in body
weight in zoo and aquarium animals is an early quantifiable indication for closer
examination and treatment or change in diet and exercise.
Rice Lake’s RoughDeck® is the scale distributors specify because they know it
will stand up to animal use and perform dependably. ▪
The system consists of four weigh bins, two surge bins, with a total height of 211
feet, using 2,165 tons of steel in the construction, four operator control chairs, a batch
system, one train speed indication system, two in-motion rail scales, and a foreign
body detection system for identification of any foreign objects in the wagons
prior to loading.
One of the main control components of this complex system is the Rice Lake
920i® indicator and sixteen 125,000 lb double-ended shear load cells. Each instrument
is equipped with an Ethernet®/IP card to communicate directly with the Allen Bradley
ControlLogix PLC processor and Rockwell Automation’s Factory Talk View SE software
for the HMI displays. This allows all the scale information to be available to the PLC for
exceptional control.
Rice Lake pit scale in the giraffe enclosure at
Detroit Zoo. Chardo supervises.
Mike Bennett, NuWeigh Scale, Davisburg,
MI, sent us the picture he shot while
installing a 5 ft x 7 ft RoughDeck QC to
weigh giraffes at the Detroit Zoo. The scale
deck was coated with Slipknot® for safer
footing. The pit was dug in a long enclosed
lane that the giraffes walk through. Patricia
Mills Janeway, zoo communications
director, tells us, “Chardo was most
recently weighed on September 28; she
tipped the scale at 1,549 pounds.
Shedd Aquarium senior marine
mammal trainer Kelly Schaaf works
with Ty, a California sea lion, to “speak”
and pause on a Rice Lake scale so April
Keller can record his weight during a routine
health exam. Marine mammal trainers at Shedd
Aquarium use positive reinforcement to encourage sea
lions and many other animals to participate in their own health
care assessment. ▪
To access Our Day at the Zoo, go to
http://www.ricelake.com/dayatzoo.
The Carajas mine is the world’s largest iron ore mine and has reserves of 1.5 billion
tons of iron ore. Currently Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of iron
ore with an annual production of over 200MT.
Over the years, Kanawha Scales & Systems Inc.
has steadily evolved from a weighing equipment
service company into a fully integrated company,
providing engineering solutions for plant floor
automation, material handling, controls systems
engineering, mechanical design, hydraulic design
engineering, computer and PLC programming
and database management systems. From its
beginning, the company has grown to over 200
employees with branch offices and subsidiary
companies in fourteen cities throughout the
Northeast and Central United States,
as well as an office in Beijing,
China, and Sao Paulo, Brazil,
with successful installations in
Canada, Colombia, Brazil, South
Africa, India, Saudi Arabia, The
People’s Republic of China,
and Australia. ▪
Ty, a California sea lion, is weighed
on a Rice Lake RoughDeck ® floor scale.
“She was born July 11, 1985. Chardo is
listed as a reticulated giraffe, although the
studbook keeper has told us that genetic
testing of the U.S. captive population
shows the reticulated and Rothschild’s
subspecies to be all mixed up and not
really distinguishable.” ▪
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Anchors Aweigh: Rice Lake
test weights tip the boat
“I have an odd question,” Drew Hains, working for a naval architecture
and marine engineering firm, began his email. “My firm does stability
testing on boats and ships, and we have rented your 1000 lb NIST Class F
Cast Iron Test weights. We are currently looking to do a similar test in the
U.S. Virgin Islands and are having problems finding a local vendor for test
weights… I realize this is an odd request and has little to do with you
selling these products, but it is hard for us to locate local suppliers.”
Chris Olsen, inside sales manager, sent Drew’s request to the Rice Lake
international group that covers the Caribbean and Latin Americas.
Chris sent Drew a reply, “You will be provided with some dealers who
potentially have some of our test weights in those markets. I am
curious, what do you use them to test Normally they are put on
a truck scale for a yearly calibration.”
Drew explained, “To answer your question, we do stability testing on
ships and other small craft such as yachts. With larger ships, large blocks
of concrete (which are weighed before the test) are often used; however
with smaller vessels where deck space is tight, your 500, 1000 and
sometimes 2500 lb test weights are ideal and are easy to handle.
They have the added benefit of being certified weights, thus there is little
question about accuracy. On some smaller vessels we have used the 50 lb
weights and moved the weights by hand during the test. Basically the
test weights are placed on board and then moved transversely from side
to side to apply a known moment as the heel angle is measured. Using
the principles of naval architecture, the vertical center of gravity is then
calculated. Thanks for the prompt response.”
Drew B. Hains. PE
Murray & Associates, L.L.C.
Fort Lauderdale, FL
When is it too much of a good thing
Versa-portion keeps costs in line with every cake
this bakery bakes. The large platter and compact size
make it a perfect fit in commercial kitchens, laboratories,
and work stations.
• IP68 rating
• Removable stainless steel cover
• Bright LED display
• Four-button keypad
• Toggle ounces/pounds/grams
• Tare up to ½ total scale capacity
• Optional 60-hour battery
For more information, go to www.ricelake.com/versatile.
800-472-6703
www.ricelake.com
mobile: m.ricelake.com
“When measuring or
applying ingredients,
Versa-portion is a dependable
way to control your kitchen’s
cost of ingredients and
product quality.”
Ann Crowley,
Rice Lake product manager
White Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing
layered with Cherry Pie Filling
8 oz white chocolate
12 oz cream cheese, room temp
6 tbsp butter, room temp
1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
4 ½ c (22 oz) confectioner’s sugar
7 oz flaked coconut
2 cans cherry pie filling
Directions:
1. Place white chocolate in glass bowl.
Microwave on high 1 minute. Remove
and stir until smooth.
2. Place cream cheese and butter in bowl.
Beat until well combined. Add melted
white chocolate, vanilla and 2½ cups
of confectioner’s sugar. Blend on low
speed until mixed. Add additional sugar
until fluffy.
3. Frost: Place one cake layer on a serving
platter and spread with ¼ frosting, top with
½ cherries (reserve ½ cup for top). Repeat
second layer. Place the third cake layer on
top and frost top and sides of cake. Sprinkle
and gently press coconut over entire cake.
Decorate top with reserved cherries.
Measuring the angle of inclination

Tech talk
Excerpted by Paul Menge,
Rice Lake Weighing Systems load
cell product manager, from an
article in Weighing & Measurement
magazine, April, 2010; The True
Strength of Metal—Not All Cells
Measure Up
In today’s world of electronic
scales, the digital weigh indicator is
the “brain” of the system, doing calculations,
conversions, telling a relay when
to trip or a conveyor belt when to start
or stop. It is logical then to think of the
load cell as the “heart” of the system. I
don’t know about everyone else, but if
I were selling scales or an end user buying
a scale, I would want to make sure
the heart of the system was strong and
reliable, capable of working hard without
failing for many, many years. As the
saying goes “You get what you pay for”
and this holds true with load cells and
scales in general.
It is no secret that many manufacturers
of load cells have moved most, if not all,
the manufacturing of load cells that was
formerly performed in the United States
to facilities they have built in other parts
of the world. This was primarily due to
many new load cell companies offering
inexpensive load cells, necessitating the
need to tap the relatively cheap labor
supply offered by these countries. These
companies needed to remain competitive.
As major manufacturers responded to
this challenge, the low cost load cell
manufacturers felt they had to make a
load cell even less expensive in order to
grow their business. How do you do this
when the playing field was pretty even
You make a cheaper load cell by using
inferior steel, and this is becoming more
common with the less reputable load
cell manufacturers.
The major load cell manufacturers in
the world still use the highest quality
steel and aluminum to make their load
cells. Even with their overseas factories,
many will ship the necessary material
from the United States if local mills
cannot be found that provide a suitable
grade of steel to make high quality load
cells. The best alloy used for making
load cells is 4340. This is the highest
quality alloy in terms of the proper
hardening needed as well as providing
the best performance for making a
good load cell. The best stainless steel
used is 17-4PH. This is a chromiumnickel
grade of stainless that again can
be properly hardened, providing the
best performance for a stainless load
cell. In regards to aluminum load cells,
2024T351 is the best grade to be used
to manufacture them. All three of these
materials are capable of the performance
necessary to make OIML C3 or NTEP
1:5000/10:000 load cells.
Five metals are used overseas to make
alloy load cells. Why five different
grades Simply put, cost. 40CrNiMoA
is the most common material found
abroad that is used in making alloy steel
load cells that will provide OIML and
NTEP performance characteristics and
is the most expensive. Currently there is
only one mill in Asia capable of producing
this grade of steel and guaranteeing
the purity and performance. 40CrNiMo
is a different grade than the previously
mentioned alloy, and you will notice
there is no “A” at the end. It is less
expensive. Without the A designation,
this alloy is similar to a B or C grade,
which is inferior and is a poor material
to use in making a load cell. 40CrNi is
still used by a few foreign manufacturers
but is totally unsuited to make load cells.
40Cr is the most common material used
by foreign manufacturers today because
it is the cheapest but it is not capable of
being heat treated properly and thus the
performance will be very poor along with
the possibility of premature failure.
Continued on page 23
Reputation on the line
When a customer calls Rice Lake
A very good customer of ScaleTech Systems, Canada, is John Brooks, plant
manager with F.W. Cobs Company, in Saint Albans Bay, VT. The F.W. Cobs
Company serves the organic and conventional feed industries with top
quality feed ingredients. They supply grains across North America by road
or rail, with their fleet of jumbo hopper rail cars.
John came looking for Rice Lake. “I read about the 920i® capabilities, and
they fit what I wanted to do. I went to the Rice Lake website and read some
more and then I called Rice Lake for more information.”
“The 920i has tremendous capabilities. It is so good, it’s unbelievable. We
have bins of different grains with different fall rates. Wheat, for instance, has
a density of 60 lbs per bushel depending on the moisture content. Wheat
middlings have a density of 17 lbs per bushel. The 920i can look at that and
adjust the closing gate. I can hardly believe how it performs. All the varying
densities are stored in the 920i. It can calculate density, moisture content,
draft size and adjust how long the gate needs to be open, record the cart
and bin number, and control mixing. It’s fun to watch!
“I had another application cleaning grains in cleaning machines. I needed
to know the exact weight of grain before and after it was cleaned. I called
two companies in Canada. Neither one of the people I spoke to were able
to give me any information about their products.
“You can’t put a price on the value of being able to speak to someone who
is capable and very knowledgeable. Every time I’ve called Rice Lake, someone
got back to me. Don’t lose that! It’s a biggie!” ▪
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On location
On location
In 1955, the world of blue jeans changed forever. When James
Dean donned his iconic denim threads in Rebel without a Cause, pop culture
instantly adopted the look. No longer were they referred to as “waist overalls” most
commonly worn by painters, mechanics, and old cowboys. Blue jeans became cool,
every teenager wanted a pair, and the demand hasn’t let up in the over half-century
since. Today, the $700 billion global blue jeans market is so prevalent in America that
12 pairs are sold every second in the U.S., and the average American owns seven pairs.
Few things are more identifiable with American culture as blue jeans.
The blue jean has greatly evolved since its popularity skyrocketed. A solid-blue straightleg
soon wasn’t stylish enough. Stone-washed, distressed, and every shade of blue now
fill walls of clothing stores, but few know how these styles are achieved.
How Micro-Organisms Shape
the Blue Jean Industry
Initially, special pumice stones were
used to customize jean appearance;
however, they had major
drawbacks. Not only did
they weaken the jeans,
they also produced inconsistent
results and
were environmentally
unsafe. Special
machines had to be
used to wash the jeans
with the stones. In the
late 1980s, the industry
developed what is now
used today: tiny proteins
known as enzymes to “biostone”
denim. These environmentally
friendly chemicals are
naturally created by living organisms, which is
more economical. They also produce repeatable
results and maintain the jeans’ structural integrity.
It’s as if James Dean combined forces with
Albert Einstein for the benefit of fashion!
IOGEN Corporation is a leader in enzyme
research and implementation. They manipulate
micro-organisms to produce specific enzymes
that facilitate production of a wide variety of
products, including ethanol, papers and textiles,
and, of course, blue jeans—so, if one drives to a
clothing store using ethanol-enhanced gasoline
and writes a check for blue jeans, IOGEN can be
thanked for making the entire process possible.
But IOGEN’s laboratories in Ottawa, Canada,
had a problem. Fiber-digesting enzymes
floating around in fermentation chambers are
difficult to measure. Quantities are important
so enzyme levels can be monitored as they are
researched. At first, they used a marker to label
the chambers with lines indicating fluid levels,
but more precise measurements were desperately
needed.
Continued on page 17
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www.ricelake.com | RICE LAKE MAGAZINE 15

Make sure your health scale is accurate. Our combination of advanced scale design
and features with the added value of Rice Lake’s 60 years of weighing technology
leadership makes the critical difference. The Rice Lake medical scale lineup includes
standard mechanical and digital physician scales, wheelchair ramp scales, folding
wheelchair scales, and pediatric and neonatal scales — all competitively priced.
Contact Rice Lake Weighing Systems at 800-472-6703
or visit www.ricelake.com/health.
800-472-6703
www.ricelake.com
mobile: m.ricelake.com
It’s Alive continued from page 15
Bogie Ploch, fermentation supervisor at
IOGEN, had an idea. His lab has walls
full of fermentation chambers: smallscale
testing vessels to research enzyme
effectiveness. If the fermentation chambers
could be effectively weighed, the
monitoring process would be far more
intuitive. Instead of exercising guesswork
to estimate levels between lines, precise
weight readings could be used; however,
devising a system to work with existing
equipment would not be easy—that’s
where Rice Lake and GTR Scales came
into play.
Jeff Wallace, owner of GTR Scales in
Arnprior, west of Ottawa, thrives on
custom applications. Not one to shy away
from a challenge, he used Rice Lake load
cells and instrumentation to customize
the container and attach a load cell directly
to the vessel—an industry first. This
allows data collection to be done quickly
and accurately. “Since it’s a sealed unit,
nothing could be inserted to measure the
level,” Jeff explains. “So we modified the
rig itself. We used IQ plus 355 indicators
with analog output so it can report back
to the PLC, and they have an automated
system to collect data.”
IOGEN is very pleased with the custom
setup. “Since the manufacturer of the
vessels doesn’t provide an option with
load cells built in,” Bogie proudly explains,
“this unique system gives IOGEN an
advantage over our competitors. The
indicators are very nice, and GTR did
an excellent job. We haven’t had any
problems with the indicators or load
cells. Monitoring enzyme levels is much
more scientific now.”
Initially, only a handful of the over 20
fermentation chambers were customized;
however, those have been so
successful that the remaining vessels
will soon be fitted with load cells as
well. Eventually, the entire lab will be
accented by the comforting red glow of
the IQ plus 355’s LED display: a perfect
nightlight for the micro-organisms that
make our jeans possible. ▪
One cause for delayed
luggage eliminated
Julia Buergi, RoughDeck® product manager, sounded excited. She
emailed the magazine team: “One of the VIP folks here (at the Rice Lake
plant in Wisconsin) reminded me that they sold a large floor scale in
Canada that is being used to weigh airline cargo. They are open to a story,
so please speak with them while they are here if possible.”
We are always looking for a good story, and the way Ray Gauvreau, sales
representative with Superior Technologies, Weighing & Controls, Inc., told
it, we were on the edge of our chairs. “Our customer had a 10 x 10 ft floor
scale, with ramps on all four sides, which trains of baggage carts would
drive over so that each cart could be weighed then placed correctly in
the plane’s baggage compartment to distribute the weight.
“With ramps on all sides, the baggage cart trains could cross the scale
platform from any direction. That’s what caused the scale to break down.
The operators would corner or side load and feet would break off, or a
load cell would be damaged. We had a service contract with them, and
we would race over there from forty miles away to get the scale back
in operation while the plane sat on the tarmac. We went through that
breakdown and repair mode for about four years, before permission
trickled down that they could buy a new scale. Now they have a 10 x 10
ft, 10,000 pound capacity RoughDeck—with just two ramps! They didn’t
need those four ramps.”

Tech talk
Tech talk
Why back up
A backup system is like a fire extinguisher
or a spare tire; you don’t ever
want to have to use it, but when you
need it, it’s great to know that it is there.
If you’ve wondered what to back up,
how, how often, and where to store your
backups, this article is for you.
Data loss
This sounds pretty obvious, but
consider this: how bad would it be if
you lost your entire system in some sort
of disaster (fire, flood, lightning strike)
Even if the insurance company delivered
all new equipment to your door the following
day, it wouldn’t help unless you
had a backup of the programs and data
on your computer.
Suddenly the value of the system is much
more than the mere cost of the hardware.
You may even find that the hardware
without the data is almost useless in terms
of getting (and keeping) your business up
and running. The time to think about this
and plan for it is now, when everything is
running smoothly.
Data retention
Depending on the content of the
data and its use, there may be additional
legal reasons and/or requirements to
maintain a historical record of various
types of data and transactions. When in
doubt, consult legal counsel before beginning
to plan any system that will use or
record personal, financial (like credit card
numbers) or corporate data that might be
called up in any legal proceedings.
Data review (history)
In addition to the more obvious reasons,
sometimes the value in historical data
can be realized in “mining” the data,
looking for patterns or knowledge that
can be used to make future decisions
concerning purchasing and business
trends and predictions such as when
certain products are most popular.
What to back up
Data
Data is simply any piece of information.
Some pieces of information are more
important than others and all of it needs
to be in context. When determining
what to back up, simply look at anything
that might even remotely be of value
in a historical or restorative perspective.
When in doubt, back it up! Storage
space today is relatively inexpensive,
and information can always be erased
or deleted later if and when the space
is needed and the data is no longer
relevant. There are a number of sources
for determining what is needed and
for how long, but consulting with legal
counsel may also be a wise thing to do
in many cases. What would you need to
be able to continue to run your business
without any lost revenue (billing), lost
time (work in process), sales info (customer
lists) and other things The actual
programs do not need to be backed up,
just the data. You should make sure
you have software installation discs or
some form of the actual programs (MS
Office®, AutoCAD®, Salesforce®) so you
can restore these programs in case of
hardware replacement.
Some examples include calibration
certificates for scales, internal ISO
documentation, data
retrieved from customers
and accounting information.
Variables
It is also important to back up data that
changes. To determine what to back up,
imagine the scenario of a disaster such
as a fire. In other words, any data—such
as inventory, costing, customer invoices
and other things that are updated on
a regular basis—should be backed up.
This way, in the event of a failure, you
can access the latest values for that data.
Dates
Sometimes the date and/or time of a
transaction can be important. Be sure
to examine and consider the content of
your backup and whether the date that
the change took place is important. If
so, be sure the time and date information
is included in what you back up.
Program settings
Jim Daggon
Rice Lake senior engineer,
emerging technologies
Some programs have certain settings
that may change on a regular basis. Examples
of this include print formats, file
locations, custom features and operations,
and customer data
and logos. This data should also
be backed up at least once during each
change, so the latest program settings
are available.
Time-sensitive material
Finally, consider what data, if any, is
time sensitive. An expiration date, a lot
number, or any data that will become
irrelevant after a certain time will fall
into this category.
Continued on page 20
18 RICE LAKE MAGAZINE | www.ricelake.com
www.ricelake.com | RICE LAKE MAGAZINE 19

Tech talk
Tech talk
Wrapping Up 2010 continued from page 19
What NOT to back up
Programs
There are two reasons not to back up
programs, other than making an archival
copy (just a copy of the disk or files that
were initially received when the program
was purchased).
Most programs today are installed on systems
using an installation program. These
programs build files, modify other files
and actually write certain variables to the
program as the installation is taking place.
Since these programs are not usually simply
copied to a system, to restore them from a
backup can be very difficult. Use the install
program and the original program files,
and then install any updates. The data can
then be restored from the backup, and you
should be fully operational.
Usually the program does not change,
so making repeated backups of the same
thing simply takes up space unnecessarily.
Old files: dynamic vs. static
Older files that are no longer changing
are usually best served by archiving them
rather than backing them up on a regular
basis. The difference between an archive
and a backup is simply how many times
it is done. An archive is usually backed up
only once and then one or more copies
are stored in a secure but possibly more
remote location than the backup.
When to back up
Data variance rates
To answer the question, “How often should
I back up” ask yourself, “How old can
the data be after a failure” In other
words, if you were running a stock trading
exchange, you probably wouldn’t want
to rely on data that is three months old.
On the other hand, if you are balancing
a checkbook, you probably do not need
hourly backups. Consider the effort involved
and how often your data changes.
If you could reconstruct the last four days
from papers and memory, then a weekly
backup would probably work well. If
there is a big increase in the data, then an
interim backup might be needed.
How to back up
Schedule
Taking into account the data variance
rates above, a scheduled automatic
backup is usually better than “I’ll try to
remember to do it this Friday.” Setting
a schedule will assure that backups are
done as often as necessary.
Media
Decide what type of media on which
you are going to back up your data.
Small amounts can be backed up to a
USB Flash drive. These are relatively
inexpensive and can be erased and
rewritten, but they only
handle about 16-32
GB of data.
If you need more than that, you might
look at writable CDs, rewritable DVDs,
or even external hard drives.
Personnel
Decide who is going to be responsible
for doing the backup and verifying the
data. The last thing you want to hear in
the event of data loss is, “Well, I thought
someone else was doing it!”
Reporting in place
(including error reporting)
If the backup program returns an error,
or something goes wrong with the
backup, the time to deal with it is now,
not after the data is lost. This falls under
the category of “closing the barn door
after the horses have gone.
Where to back up
Onsite/Offsite
You can simply make a backup on some
appropriate media and keep copies in the
company vault. (A fireproof box is a simple
and economic way to do this). A better
way is to make the backups and store
them offsite. That way even if a problem
like a fire or flood affects the workplace,
the backups will not be affected.
Remote backup
Today, there are a number of web-based
services that will allow you to back
up to their servers over the Internet.
Some examples are Iron Mountain,
Mozy, and Carbonite. Also many of
the anti-virus companies are offering
this service. The advantage is that the
backup can be accessed anywhere at any
time. These backups are also protected
by redundant systems and password
protection.
One more thing—TEST!
Cannot be stressed enough.
The backup is only as good as the data
on it. If, for any reason, the data is
incomplete, corrupted, or missing, then
it is useless. One great way to utilize an
older computer is to clear all the data off
it and install just the programs that you
are backing up the data for. Then, take a
copy of the backup and restore it to the
computer. If there is a problem, you will
know immediately. Since you are only
using this to validate the backup, it is
okay if the program runs slowly.
There is great value in maintaining a
backup of your data and systems. A little
planning now can save a lot of time,
effort, stress, and money later. ▪
That’s how long it takes for the TM-T88V Point-of-Purchase Printer to print a receipt.
It prints up to 7.9 inches per second. The TM-T88V delivers the same high speed for text
or graphics, including two color logos. Speedy features include drop-in paper loading,
auto cutter and auto status back messages. The cover is designed to ward off spills.
Optional power supply case is available.
Why wait for slow receipt printers when you can get
fast so economically See the TM-T88V in real time
at www.ricelake.com/receiptplease.
800-472-6703
www.ricelake.com
mobile: m.ricelake.com
www.ricelake.com | RICE LAKE MAGAZINE 21

Read this before you buy a cut-rate load cell
continued from page 13
The last alloy I will talk about is
42CrMo. It is gaining popularity by
some foreign manufacturers but is suitable
to make high quality load cells. It
is used because it is cheap, and as the
performance is slightly better than 40Cr,
manufacturers can say they are not using
40Cr.
Three types of stainless steel are used
overseas to manufacture load cells. 17-
4PH is the Mercedes of stainless alloys
when it comes to load cell manufacturing.
0Cr17N4Cu4Nb is the Asian
equivalent to 17-4PH. At this time, there
is only one mill in Asia that has the
expertise to manufacture this stainless
for load cell production. 2Cr13 is the
designation of a type of alloy sometimes
referred to as “stainless iron” or
“imitation stainless steel.” It has slightly
better corrosion resistance than 40Cr,
but it certainly cannot be compared to
17-4PH or 0Cr17N4Cu4Nb and is used
because of cost.
SURVIVOR® goes on a
ferry ride
Roy Hotchkiss, service manager at Badger Scale, Inc., Fond du Lac, Green Bay,
Madison, Milwaukee and Wisconsin Rapids, WI, sent us these pictures. A 40 ft x 10 ft
SURVIVOR truck scale is loaded on a ferry headed for Madeline Island, where it is
being used for a project to lengthen the airport runway.
There are currently two mills in Asia that
extrude their aluminum close to a 2024
grade. Their designation code is Y12, and
this is an acceptable product. There are a
large number of manufacturers that use
recycled aluminum and, although commendable
from an environmental and
economic standpoint, this makes a poor
load cell because of the impurities inherent
in recycled aluminum.
We have, on our shelf, ready to send, the largest selection
of load cells in the world. NTEP, washdown, corrosive resistant,
high temperature, high capacity. We stock over 50,000 load
cells and can probably ship the one you need the same day
you order it. Service, selection, and speed; they all work here.
For more information go to www.ricelake.com/lcwm
The metal used in manufacturing load
cells is critical for a high quality load cell
but the other processes and materials
used are important as well and can also
be “cheapened up” to make a load cell’s
price almost irresistible. Proper heat
treating, close tolerance machining and
finishing, quality cable and strain gauges
as well as a top notch quality control
program and engineers with years of
load cell design experience are all necessary
in making a quality product. ▪
800-472-6703
www.ricelake.com
mobile: m.ricelake.com

ON LOCATION
ON LOCATION
Kirby tells us half of CanmetENERGY’s
tests are done for steelmakers and half are
for Canadian coal mines that sell coking
coal to steelmakers. “We test the coal
they send us in the proportions they suggest.
But instead of a 4 or 6 meter high
furnace, we test it in a furnace a little
over 1 meter high by adjusting conditions.
Among other things, we are testing
to find the force of the wall pressure on
the coke oven, because most of the coke
ovens in the world are old. If there is too
operating today was built in 1902 and
still has a future due to continuing facility
renovation and oven rebuilds. The CAAA
’90 has also resulted in the delaying of
the deterioration cycle of coke ovens. The
mechanisms that result in leakage are the
same that cause failure of ovens, so when
leakage is systematically eliminated, the
result is longer battery life.
Coke producers convert metallurgical or
coking coal to coke by driving off small
center of the oven, the entire mass has
been carbonized. The incandescent coke
mass is pushed from the oven and is
then quenched with water or nitrogen to
cool it before storage, or it is transferred
directly to the blast furnace for use in
iron making.
Optimal operation of the blast furnace
demands the highest quality of raw materials.
The carbon content of coke therefore
plays a crucial role in terms of its
Brilliant solution:
Jeff Wallace of GTR Scales Ltd.,
in Arnprior, Ontario, supplied
CanmetENERGY with a 920i® interfaced
to a high resolution Sartorius
base for their coke research lab in
Ottawa. “They wanted to place a given
amount of coke into a furnace and
know when they had burnt off 200
grams. Our sister company, DCH, did it
by manufacturing an equal arm balance.
One end has the sample of coke
in the furnace and the other end rests
on the Sartorius. As the coke reacts,
the weight is transferred to the scale
platform, thus showing us what is
happening in the furnace.”
24 RICE LAKE MAGAZINE | www.ricelake.com
Global steel production is dependent on coal. Steel is an alloy based primarily
on iron. As iron occurs only as iron oxides in the earth’s crust, the ores must be
converted, or reduced, using carbon. The primary source of this carbon is coking coal.
Nearly all of the coke produced in the world is fed into blast furnaces to make steel.
World crude steel production was 1.2 billion tons in 2009. Around 761 million tons of
coking coal was used in its production.
Canada annually exports about 30 million tons of coking coal and uses an additional
6 million tons domestically. On behalf of Canadian coal, steel, and metal producers,
CanmetENERGY conducts research and development on metallurgical coal and coke
technologies including energy recovery from coke production, metallurgical coke,
bio-coke, and research into Canadian coal. CanmetENERGY’s coal evaluation, preparation
and carbonization facilities are available to industry on a fee-for-service basis to
assist with mine planning, marketing and economic investigations; to ensure low risk
to expensive facilities during coking; and to evaluate the quality of coke, coal and other
alternate fuels including biofuels for metallurgical purposes.
Kirby Wittich, CanmetENERGY research engineer, explains, “On every continent there
is metallurgical coal, junk coal and excellent coal. It depends on the particular seam. We
are looking for very particular bituminous coals. A very quick bench-top
test can be done. We grind the coal up and heat 1 gram of it to about 800⁰ C
in a small crucible. After two minutes we take the lid off. If it is coking coal,
we’ll see a little muffin. If it is not coking coal, it may look exactly as it did
before—just powder.
“Some coal may coke at a certain temperature, and another at a different
range. When we mix those together we have a mixture that cokes at a wider
temperature range. The price difference between coking coal and coal that
would be used in a combustion furnace can be five to ten times. If a mine
shows that they have coking coal, then often a huge investment is made to
mine that coal.”
There are two kinds of coke producers: integrated and merchant. Integrated
coke producers are affiliated or owned by a steel manufacturer; merchant
producers are those who produce coke to be sold on the open market.
“The greatest thing about dealing with Rice Lake
is they really do customer service. Other scale manufacturers may
have a five-year warranty as well, but if someone other than their service
rep touches it, the warranty is nullified—and they want a purchase
order number before they’ll show up!”
much pressure on the oven wall, it will
crack and leak, and they take many millions
to fix.”
Possibly the single biggest concern for
all coke producers is their ability to meet
the requirements of the Clean Air Act
Amendments of 1990 (CAAA ’90). A
cracked oven wall produces emissions,
and emissions bring huge fines. Coke is
produced in a coke battery that is composed
of many coke ovens stacked in rows
into which coal is loaded. The generally
accepted guideline is that a battery of coke
ovens has a 20- to 30-year life span. This
premise does not hold up when the merchant
coke producer segment is analyzed.
The average age of U.S. merchant batteries
is 40 years. The reason for this is partly
the merchant mentality. An integrated
producer views their coke plant as a disposable
asset, producing raw material. In
the end, for an integrated producer, coke
is a “make-or-buy” decision.
The merchant producer knows that his
battery is his livelihood and will take extraordinary
steps to maintain his facility.
For example, the oldest merchant battery
Jeff Wallace, GTR Scales Ltd.
hydro-carbon molecular units to leave
almost pure carbon. The physical properties
of coking coal cause the coal to soften,
liquefy, then resolidify into hard porous
lumps when heated in the absence of air.
Coking coal must also have low sulphur
and phosphorous contents.
The coking process takes place over long
periods of time—between 12-36 hours
in coke ovens. The heat is transferred
from the heated brick walls into the coal
charge. From about 375°C to 475°C, the
coal decomposes to form plastic layers
near each wall. At about 475°C to
600°C, there is a marked evolution of tar
and aromatic hydrocarbon compounds,
followed by resolidification of the
plastic mass into semi-coke. At 600°C to
1100°C, the coke stabilization phase begins.
This is characterized by contraction
of coke mass, structural development
of coke, and final hydrogen evolution.
During the plastic stage, the plastic
layers move from each wall toward the
center of the oven, trapping the liberated
gas and creating gas pressure build-up,
which is transferred to the heating wall.
Once the plastic layers have met at the
effect in the furnace and on the hot metal
quality. A blast furnace fed with high
quality coke requires less coke input and
results in higher quality hot metal and
better productivity. Overall costs may
be lower, as fewer impurities in the coke
means smaller amounts of flux must be
used. Coke producers use widely differing
coals and employ many procedures
to enhance the quality of the coke and to
enhance the coke oven productivity and
battery life.
GTR Scales’ unique 920i® and Sartorius
application for CanmetENERGY is
helping create the cleanest, most efficient
coke for the steel-making industry, ensuring
blue skies in the future. ▪
References:
Dusel, Martin, 4, March 2008, “The Coke Crisis.”
www.accci.org/Dusel.pdf
Ailor, David C, 8, Oct. 2003,”Principal
Environmental Issues Facing the U.S. Coke Industry”
www.accci.org/Ailor.pdf
www.canmetenergy.gc.ca
www.worldcoal.org/coal/uses-of-coal/coal-steel
www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/steel/pdfs/
roadmap_chap2.pdf
www.ricelake.com | RICE LAKE MAGAZINE 25

inside rlws
Bruce Johnson, customer service manager, is a perfect example of
how Rice Lake has grown to become an international company—while still
maintaining the personal customer service ethic Donald B. Johnson insisted
on from the beginning.
Bruce has been with Rice Lake Weighing Systems 37 years
and counting. “There were fifteen employees when I
came here in October of 1973. I was interested in
electronics. My hobby was collecting juke boxes
from the ’50s. Electronic scales were in their infancy
then, and we took on a line. We went to electronics
school. Don signed us up for an apprenticeship
program with the state. Since they didn’t have any
idea of what training was needed for a scale technician,
he had to help set up the curriculum
Bruce in the 1970’s answering customer questions.
“Back then everyone did a little of everything. I
even worked on the first electronics catalog. It was
mimeographed. I called vendors, set up deliveries, checked orders, wrote specs, and took calls from customers.
I developed an order pad with little boxes to check. They called it ‘Bruce’s Form.’
“Part of the benefit of working with Mark Sr. is that he imparted his customer service philosophy. You had that experience
back then. We had a little room where we would test products before they went out. We were so paranoid
that something would go out and fail.
“I guess I built a reputation for working with customers. I take any calls where there is a question that can’t be
resolved. I am here to get the ball back in play.” When someone has a problem, Bruce can usually help.
“I worked out our Customer Order Action Report (COAR). We came up with this because
it was something we had to do. Now it is required by ISO, but we were already doing
it. It’s another one of ‘Bruce’s Forms’. It has three parts. First, what did the customer
say Second, what did we do to get back on the road And third, why did this
happen and what can we do so it doesn’t happen again
“We pick a project where errors occur and turn it around. Every once in
a while you feel good because you find a gem. We might find we have
two similar parts stored in bins next to each other. One of them has
to move. In another case, we wanted to improve our order-taking,
especially getting the correct shipping address. We had MIS
change our software so that now we enter the zip code and the
system brings up the city and state. Then we take the address.
And we always read the contract back.”
Chris Olsen, inside sales manager, adds, “Bruce is the level head
for the sales and service departments. No matter what the
issue, or how emotional, he always seems to find a way to help
the customer in a manner that is beneficial to all parties
involved. The bottom line is he knows the customer is the
priority and works toward the goal of satisfying them.
“Over the years Bruce has become the jack-of-alltrades
with handling sales calls, online chats,
warranty claims, the COAR process, and
working on the root causes of our errors
so we continually improve.” ▪
Truck
scales
keep on
truckin’
iQUBE 2 Diagnostic Junction Box monitors and emulates load cell performance and sends a diagnostic
report to keep you ahead of any load cell issue that needs your attention. iQUBE 2 tests for linearity, identifies
noise, monitors for drift, and can even step in and emulate a cell to keep your truck scale truckin’.
If you’re in charge of a mission-critical multi-cell weighing operation, install iQUBE 2 and breathe easier.
To learn more about the ultra-fast
iQUBE² Digital Diagnostic Junction Box,
visit www.ricelake.com/truckin
or call 1-800-472-6703.
800-472-6703
www.ricelake.com
mobile: m.ricelake.com
26 RICE LAKE MAGAZINE | www.ricelake.com

230 W. Coleman Street
Rice Lake WI 54868
Change Service Requested
Presort Standard
U.S. Postage
Paid
Rice Lake
Weighing Systems
Look around you. Scales are everywhere.
Rice Lake Weighing Systems is too. Always
developing new ways to weigh it, label it, move it,
and get it out your door, Rice Lake knows weighing, big,
small, and everything in-between. Off the shelf or custom made
just for you, we respond and deliver—like no one else can.
800-472-6703
www.ricelake.com
mobile: m.ricelake.com