Posts Tagged ‘load cells’

So, What’s Your Experience with Apprentices?

I’m sure you were all grateful that I resisted talking about our employment trials and tribulations here at LCM Systems in my last post. Well, sorry, just one last post.

Apprenticeships. Good or bad idea?

Well, on paper, of course they seem like a great idea. Introducing a motivated, dynamic youngster to the world of work, where they will be paid, trained and you will end up having a employee with all the right skills – well, you trained them, right? And with the difficulty I have had trying to fill our engineering places, I think I might give it a try.

I would love to know if any companies out there who are reading this have had an apprentice and how it worked out. Let me know, please.

New Intermediate Capacities Now Available for LCM Systems’ Link Load Cells

By popular demand we are pleased to offer intermediate capacities of our popular RILL and SILL Link Load cells. These new link load cells may offer a more economic solution for customers in particular applications and, importantly, these new capacities now fall in line with the ratings of industry standard shackle sizes and ratings. The series has also been extended to include load ratings from 1 tonne up to 500 tonne.

Manufactured from high tensile aluminium, both the SILL and RILL are lightweight, while the shackle holes are steel bushed to ensure they are rugged and hardwearing. Both product ranges are easy to install and can be matched to standard shackle sizes. The Self Indicating Link Load Cell has an integral display and the applied weight or force can be shown in t, kg, lb or kN, as selected by the user. A built-in alarm will also warn the operator when an applied level is met. The RILL link load cells use a license free 2.4Ghz radio and are supplied with a battery powered handheld indicator that displays the load in tonne. They can be supplied as a simple Link or LCM’s technical engineers can integrate them into more powerful radio systems.

Full details are now available for free download at www.lcmsystems.com/link_load_cells

No Need for Special Glasses As We Now Offer 3D Load Cell Design As Standard

We are now pleased to offer all our customers 3D models as standard on all customised load cells. As well as supplying a comprehensive range of stock load cells, don’t forget we supply customised sensors for a wide range of applications in a number of industrial markets, including the oil and gas, process control and materials handling.

“We have been providing 3D models on request for a couple of years. However, now we are being increasingly asked to provide 3D models so customers are able to rotate the images in all planes to ensure that the load cell is suitable for their particular applications. Our design department has recently been evaluating a number of different software packages and we have now decided on the best one that suits both our customers’ needs and ours.”

We recognise that offering 3D models and 3D interactive PDFs will help you visualise the load cells in situ and enables changes to be made relatively easily and quickly before the product goes to manufacture. For more information on load cell design, call us on +44 (0) 1983 249264 or email info@lcmsystems.com

Have You Seen Our New Website Yet? Loads of Free Downloadable Datasheets

Here at LCM Systems we are pleased and proud to announce the official launch of our new corporate identity and website. We made the change to reflect our growing status in the global industrial marketplace. Did you know that we have shown a year on year growth in turnover and profitability and our Isle of Wight headquarters has expanded by over 70% to accommodate the increase in orders and to provide additional space for ex-stock products and a new testing area?

Explaining the new look: “With all the changes occurring at LCM Systems in terms of growth and providing our customers with a faster and more efficient service, we felt it was time this was reflected in our corporate image. We have completely redesigned our logo to show a modern and forward-thinking company, whilst still signifying our industrial focus. This new logo will be used throughout our marketing and communication materials.”

As part of the identity overhaul, our website at www.lcmsystems.com has also been redesigned and updated to enable customers to quickly and easily find the products they are most interested in. As well as including comprehensive product and application information, the new Resources area on the site provides load cell users with a valuable repository of technical material. A host of datasheets are available as free downloads, along with instruction manuals and free software for LCM’s range of datalogging and telemetry instrumentation.

Come and have a look!

Do You Watch “Work-Related” Videos on YouTube?

Did you know that there are more searches done on YouTube than Google? I am as guilty as many, in believing in the Great God Google, and I know it has a huge impact on how we get many visitors to the LCM Systems website. However, I am now wondering whether it’s time to start our own LCM Systems TV Channel on YouTube.

As with all marketing activities, there’s no point in going ahead if it’s not going to ultimately benefit our customers and raise awareness for LCM Systems, our products and services.

So, I’m asking for your help. Please let me know if you are a regular user of YouTube (for work purposes, of course and if so, what sort of videos do you watch. Are “How To” films your favourites or do you check out the credibility of companies by looking at a more glossy, corporate video? I look forward to hearing from, email me at steve@lcmsystems.com.

Testing Times – No, Not Another ‘Let’s Beat the Recession’ Entry

Did I get you all there? I could hear the collective groan from my offices here in the Isle of Wight!

No, thanks to our technical expertise, listening to our customers and providing fast delivery, at the right prices, here at LCM Systems we have not been affected by the recession and our business continues to grow. However, it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t have a current hobby horse about how in the fight for business and reducing overheads and prices, it is the customers who are getting short-changed.

My latest gripe is with inadequate testing of load cells before they are dispatched. From talking to customers and other load cell manufacturers and distributors, it appears that, in a bid to save money, the quality of many products is being compromised due to them either not being tested at all, batch tested (so only a certain number are tested, not the whole batch) or the sensors are not tested to their maximum capacity. An example I heard recently was that a company supplied a 500t load cell that failed, only for the customer to find out that the supplier had only tested the product to 200-300t, as that was all they were able to do in-house and were not prepared to pay for external testing! Bearing in mind that many of these large capacity load cells are used in critical applications and failure could be catastrophic!

So, make sure your load cells are 100% tested, calibrated and traceable. You can rest assured that these happens with all load cells you but from LCM and they are all traceable to UKAS – The United Kingdom Accreditation Service.

Expansion Continues for LCM Systems and Customers Benefit from Increased Product Ranges

A combination of customer demand for our ex-stock and customised load cell products and an increase in the number of the market areas served, has resulted in major investment here at our Isle of Wight HQ. Since the start of 2012, our manufacturing and storage facility has increased by 70%, providing an expansion of the testing facilities, as well as an increased area to hold next day delivery load cells and instrumentation. An increase in the workforce over coming months will further strengthen LCM Systems’ expansion plans.

We have seen a steady increase in demand for our customised load cells from a range of different market places, especially our heavy duty shackle load cells for the offshore oil and gas industry. The manufacture and testing of these large sensors require additional space and so we have expanded our facilities by purchasing the next door unit. Consequently, we are now able to handle an increase in orders and the extra space has also meant that we have substantially increased our storage facilities so customers can benefit from a larger range of products available to be dispatched ex-stock.

Ordering Made Easy – Whatever the Currency

We are pleased to announce that customers can now order and pay for their load cells using all major credit cards, including American Express, with no surcharges applied. The company now accepts card payments in Sterling, Euros and American Dollars (Only sterling payments accepted for American Express).

Until recently we have only been able to accept payments in British Pounds.However, we have been aware that it is easier for clients’ accounting systems if they can pay in their local currency. This has now been put in place. Along with the fact that we don’t add any surcharge for credit cards payments, this will give our customers even more payment choice.

Will this help you? I hope so. Let us know what other improvements you would like to see us make to help ordering easier.

Do you Download 2D and 3D Drawings?

We are currently evaluating new software that will produce our engineering drawings in 3D. Would you find this useful if you could directly download 3D drawings of our load cells so they could be specified directly into your designs?

Is there More or Less Legislation?

It was way back in 2010 that I talked about the coalition’s plans to reduce red tape for small businesses, particularly in the manufacturing industry. Do any of you think that this has happened yet?

Once again, in the Queen’s Speech in May this year, the Coalition said that new legislation will “cut red tape”. There is a great summary at The Manufacturer journal about what this would mean for manufacturing. Can’t see anything in there about how the red tape will be cut – can you?

And, of course, there has been a lot in the news about the Beechcroft Report on no fault dismissals. Again, an informative piece from The Manufacturer, who spoke to people throughout the manufacturing industry about how they think this legislation would affect business.

I’d be really interested to know what legislation you would like to see relaxed as it really interferes with your day to day business.

Posts Tagged ‘load cells’

So, What’s Your Experience with Apprentices?

New Intermediate Capacities Now Available for LCM Systems’ Link Load Cells

No Need for Special Glasses As We Now Offer 3D Load Cell Design As Standard

Have You Seen Our New Website Yet? Loads of Free Downloadable Datasheets

Do You Watch “Work-Related” Videos on YouTube?

Testing Times – No, Not Another ‘Let’s Beat the Recession’ Entry

Expansion Continues for LCM Systems and Customers Benefit from Increased Product Ranges

Ordering Made Easy – Whatever the Currency

Do you Download 2D and 3D Drawings?

Is there More or Less Legislation?

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