Over the past 10 years the biggest factor facing shippers has shifted from the weight of an object to the size of an object. Simply said, using all of the space on the truck or plane is now more important than the overall weight they are carrying. Until recently, however, shippers could only charge by weight. That has changed with the invention of Dimensional Weighing, a system that allows shippers to charge for the size of an object rather than just its weight.
The FS 5000 is a fully-automatic freight and pallet dimensioner, certified as legal-for-trade in the United States and Canada.
The FS 5000 can measure palletized cubic and irregular-shaped freight in seconds.
Measuring these objects (mostly pallets of products), however, is difficult to perform manually and expensive to manage automatically. This is especially the case, if the measured object’s shape is not prismatic. Irregularly shaped goods or palettes, which are loaded with multiple bundles, create cavities or overlaps. Detecting those is an essential part of Dimensional Weighing. Additional challenges arise, if the object’s surface holds certain characteristics, like being black or glossy.
Solutions from other suppliers are accurate but very expensive, usually coming at a cost of over $90,000 USD. Implementing multiple installations of these systems in a single location is not economical for shippers. A better price/performance solution was required.
Enter FreightSnap. This Lenexa, Kansas Company also saw the need of a more cost effective solution for dimensioning pallet loads and found that, by applying 3D camera based technology, they could maintain the accuracy required by the industry (+/- 25mm or less) while reducing overall costs. They then looked into the market and found that the ifm O3D303 is the best technology on which to base their new developments. The new development is the FS 5000 Pallet Dimensioner. This product utilizes four O3D303 units to dimension the sides of the pallet and one O3D303 unit to dimension the top of the pallet. They bring the data from all five cameras into an enclosed PC to be processed against their custom algorithm and produce the dimensions for the customer. The process takes less than 5 seconds, allowing the customer to provide accurate measurements without impacting efficiency.
This video shows the entire dimensioning process:
A particular advantage of the application is the fact that it is able to detect irregular shapes just as well as prismatic ones. The O3D sensors work reliably, regardless of the colour and material of the object. The biggest development from FreightSnap is the total cost of the system. Where the industry standard systems cost up to $90,000 USD, the FreightSnap FS 5000 system is less than $40,000 USD, making it the most affordable pallet dimensioning system on the market today.
Established in 2012, FreightSnap designs and builds package and pallet dimensioning solutions used by shippers, carriers, 3PLs and freight forwarders of all sizes. With hundreds of pallet dimensioners in service around the world, they’ve earned a reputation for offering reliable and affordable solutions designed to fit their customers’ needs.
Threedimensional detection and analysis with the O3D sensor by ifm. Do you want to learn more about the O3D?
ifm is a manufacturer of sensors, communication and control systems. After many years of intensive cooperation with our customers we have established ourselves in the market as service-oriented sensor specialists and today we are represented by more than 6,700 employees in over 70 countries worldwide.
» Learn more about the O3D on the ifm-website
Picture credits:
