The International Maritime Organization (IMO) announced changes in the SOLAS regulations, which require that all containers have a verified gross mass (VGM) before being loaded onto a ship.
The regulations came into force on 1 July 1 2016 and is intended to improve safety at sea through verifying the actual weight of all containers to be shipped. The need for the change is based on the fact that incorrectly reported container weights are a safety hazard.
Autotech Weighing Systems are the sole South African agents for Tamtron, a leading international manufacturer of scales and weighing information management systems. In June 2017, Autotech successfully attained trade approval for a Tamtron onboard reach stacker scale. This now forms part of the range of approved equipment, which already includes on-board wheel loader scales, high-speed in-motion rail weighbridges and materials handling equipment.
With the approved system, containers can be weighed according to SOLAS, OIML and SANAS regulations. Weighing takes place during normal operations without interrupting or slowing down the workflow at seaports or container depots.
The scale can be installed on all types of container stackers with no need for structural changes, and can be integrated with an onboard PC. Tamtron scales can transfer weighing information to an information management cloud service in real-time, or through integration into ERP, WMS and TOS systems. Bi-directional data communication enables the container ID and VGM to be combined.
Weighing information management is now, in the era of digitalisation, a more relevant topic than ever. Growing demands for efficiency, traceability, safety and ecological responsibility of companies and operators make accurate, accessible and reportable weighing information an essential part of their competitive advantage.
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