Are you receiving general cargo or bulk goods? The logistic processes of these two are worlds apart. While general cargo is often received in boxes or crates, bulk goods are often registered based on the weight of the pallet instead of the number of articles. Therefore, you may often use scales to weigh the incoming pallets. And, with the help of the scale integration in 3PL Dynamics, you can directly register the weights in your scanners and WMS.

Scale integration in your WMS

The communication between 3PL Dynamics and the scales in your warehouse can be compared to the communication between your software and your printers. You can communicate via an IP Address and a port ID. Therefore, when setting up the scale integration, it is important your scales can communicate with the so-called Print Service. Then, you can configure your scales in your 3PL Dynamics environment.

How to: add scales in 3PL Dynamics

Adding scales to your WMS starts on the ‘Indicator List’. Here you find a list of previously configured scales and you can add new ones. When configuring a new scale, the following fields are essential to successfully set up the connection:

• Boltrics Service: here you fill in the ‘OnPrem Agent Code’.
• Note: when you use the old Print Service, you fill this field with the same location as set up on your SND-PDF and SND-ZPL messages.
• Communication server: here you fill in the IP Address of the scale.
• Communication Setup: here you fill in the port number to communicate with the scale.
• Request Reading Text: here you fill in the that must be sent to the scale when connecting with 3PL Dynamics. The scale must recognize this text and trigger an action to send back the weight. Beware that this text can be different for every scale. When using the Print Service, add ‘[CRLF]’ to the text.

Testing the connection

After you have added the scales to the list, you can test the connection via ‘Execute’. Then, you can check the output by clicking on ‘Value’. This provides you with the most recently gathered number. The value which is sent back by the scale is the so-called ‘unvalidated value’. This value can have a different form per scale. The final weight can be seen in the field ‘Value Decimal’.

How to capture the correct weight

The unvalidated value is converted by 3PL Dynamics to an actual weight. However, this value can differ per scale. Therefore, 3PL Dynamics has multiple functions standardly available to translate the value correctly. You can configure the correct function in the Indicator List.

As we speak, there are 16 functions standardly available to convert the value to a gross weight. To find out what function matches the value provided by your scales, you must test each of them until the correct number is shown in the field ‘Value Decimal’. Does that value match the weight? Then, your scale integration is ready to use!

Adopt scales in your scan process

The communication between your scales and your warehouse scanners will increase the efficiency of your warehouse processes. You directly communicate the weighed value with your scanners and your employees can immediately continue the inbound process.

So, how do you configure this in 3PL Dynamics? The scan function you use for this can be found in code unit 11191143. Within this code unit, you use function 11 to activate the scales in the same way as pressing ‘execute’ on the Indicator List. After that, you use scan function 2 to retrieve the weight and fill in the number on a session variable. In this way, you directly register the weight of a pallet in your scanner.

Unlock the full potential of 3PL Dynamics

Do you want to gain more out of your logistics software solution? Dive into the complete library of e-learnings in the Boltrics Academy. From the basic key user training, all the way to deep dives on WMS scan screens, the TMS plan box, or Ocean/Air import documents. Sign up and leave no opportunity unmissed >>