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An industrial dynamometer dramatically improves the safety of manufacturing lifting equipment, but when comparing load measurement products, it's also important to consider device connectivity. By enabling remote load measurement and analysis, technicians can remain at a safer distance during lifting operations and derive greater insights into how to improve their operations.
Remote monitoring is also necessary when dynamometers are far from technicians. In addition, greater device connectivity also makes more thorough load analysis possible in load testing application.
Enhancing Load Measurements Through Integration
Dynamometer app support and device integration greatly expand the functionality of load measurement products. Industry-wide, it even leaves the door open for greater technical innovations, such as:
- Granular real-time analysis for dead and live loads
- Improved testing and calibration
- Industrial automation
- BIM and other AEC applications
- Stakeholder relations
- Shipping and transportation logistics
- Remote operation of manufacturing lifting equipment
Integration of load measuring devices and data also contribute to ongoing research and development into improved hoisting and lifting equipment, testing procedures, and compliance strategies.
Expanding Load Measurement Reach and Utility
Mobile dynamometer readings are necessary to measure loads in distant locations, including:
- Crane booms and trolley hoists
- Motorized platforms and elevator cars
- Winches or hoists on elevated surfaces
- Manufacturing lifting equipment with remote/non-local control terminals
- Antennae, windmills, and other extreme heights
- Unauthorized access zones
- Towing operations
When seeking load measurement products, see whether remote connectivity is even possible, as some devices lack an integrated display. This is often the case with dynamometers built for higher precision (±0.1–0.2%) and weight capacities.
Deeper Insights for Safer Lifts
Device integration allows technicians to easily monitor progress at remote job sites and track multiple operations. Because load measurements are often used during high-risk maneuvers, remote integrations provide users with an inside view of the most critical site functions.
Load measuring device integration also makes a suite of value-adding features available, which can improve worker safety, protect valuable resources, and optimize lifting strategies. For instance, mobile industrial dynamometer applications place the following functions directly at your fingertips:
- Comprehensive loadcell information
- Visual and audible alerts
- Weight limit thresholds
- Tare and peak hold functions
- Instant unit conversions (lbs, kg, kN, daN, US ton, and metric ton)
- Manual data recording and easy data exporting
- Support for different RF bands and/or Bluetooth
Industrial Dynamometer Integration: Where to Begin
Integrated software and networking functions for load measurement products generally relate to three essential factors:
- Pre-installed apps and compatibility with third-party software
- Compatibility with on-site or mobile networks
- Signal range and connectivity
Instead of researching options from scratch, certain decisions may be predetermined based on (A) your intended applications and (B) which equipment and/or software you already possess.
For example, if manufacturing lifting equipment runs on a particular facility-wide network or software environment, you already have compatibility dependencies new equipment must meet. If you're starting fresh, though, you're free to choose based on a load measurement product’s merit.
In the latter case, you'll "build out" your device integration network from scratch and begin working within a particular software ecosystem. Conversely, if you've already been using a certain load testing app, you'll naturally want to ensure a new load measuring device supports it (by virtue of a compatible integrated microprocessor).
What you're likely to find, though, is that the highest-quality dynamometers typically support the broadest range of applications and mobile accessibility functions.
Load Testing Fundamentals
While the innovations made possible with mobile load measurement systems are compelling, your primary focus should be on the core fundamentals that will ensure fast and accurate load measurements. This also helps refine your search for the perfect load measurement system. Even the most impressive suite of connectivity and analysis features mean little to nothing if certain essentials for load measurements are lacking.
For these reasons, the initial emphasis should be on the physical build quality of load measurement products designed by proven industry leaders. Tractel's line of Dynafor® industrial dynamometers are good examples of load measuring solutions that fulfill a comprehensive range of the fundamentals that matter most:
- Extensive weight limits
- Granular accuracy windows
- A broad selection of ingress protection (IP) and other IEC ratings
On the software side, spend some time with a free or demo version of a promising load measurement app to ensure its basic functionality is wholly reliable. The most important criteria include:
- Dependable, crash-free operation
- Real-time data transmission with minimal latency
- An easy-to-use, customizable interface
- Simple, glitch-free data sharing with your other devices
From there, you might also consider the following features of close-secondary importance:
- A generous range of visualization modes, supporting different analysis methods
- Loader software to facilitate automatic and custom data export/import functions
- Monitor controls for improved viewing on high-definition displays
- Accessory options, plus multiple sensors, for continued system expansion
Streamlining Load Measurement and Testing Compliance
Too often, DIY load testing and calibration procedures leave data collection and reporting tasks for the very end. The result is disorganized records that stall and even prevent proper verification of critical load tests, whether for its intrinsic value or complying with load measuring and testing regulations.
While nothing compares to professional measuring device calibration and testing services – and it's always necessary to review your exact OSHA and CCOHS regulations – integrating load measurement functions makes industrial technicians throughout numerous industries more self-sufficient.
If your own load measurement procedures segue to specific testing and reporting requirements, the entire process is much faster and more likely to succeed when load measuring data is neat and more readily accessible. It can even help facilities exceed minimum load measuring testing and reporting requirements, such as:
- 1919 subpart B's extensive "Gear Certification" procedures
- "Load chart contents" for cranes and derricks used in construction at 1926.1436(b)(2)
- Verification of minimum tensile load capacities for personal fall arrest systems and anchor points (for example, 1926.502[d][12], [13], and [15])
This carries enormous implications for load safety across industries most dependent on accurate load measurements, including:
- Marine terminals fulfilling cargo handling functions, which require integrated load measuring devices on all cranes (OSHA 1917.46[a][1])
- Shore-based material handling, where crane repairs and alterations, due to equipment damage, require additional testing beyond standard 4-year intervals (1919.71[a][3])
- Elevator or escalator maintenance and installation work must heed strict load limits at all times (1917.116[g])
- The same is true of powered platforms and manlifts for exterior building maintenance
Safer Load Handling Through Integrated Analysis
As a world leader in load measurement products and testing/calibration services, Tractel stops at nothing to provide fully integrated solutions for the heaviest and most sensitive industrial lifting requirements alike. Our Dynafor® line of load measuring devices are designed for easy and powerful software integration, enabling greater versatility and oversight for heavy lifting operations.
Try our free mobile Dynafor® application, available on Apple and Google Play stores, and consider upgrading your load measuring procedures for maximum versatility and improved load analysis. You can also contact us clicking on the below button for direct answers to your load measurement and analysis questions.