How Process AI Platform Procense Integrated Legacy Weigh Scales, Mitigated Compliance Risks, and Delivered 10% to 20% Efficiency Gains Using NCD Industrial Wireless Transmitters
Executive Summary
In process manufacturing, recipe accuracy is paramount. A minor discrepancy during the pre-weigh phase can ruin an entire production batch, resulting in thousands of dollars in scrapped raw materials, wasted machine hours, and regulatory compliance risks. Yet across the industry, weigh scales and label printers often remain isolated islands on the shop floor, disconnected from central Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platforms.
Procense, an AI-driven production operations platform engineered specifically for process manufacturers, solved this widespread operational bottleneck by standardizing on National Control Devices (NCD) industrial wireless hardware. By deploying NCD Wireless RS-232 transmitters and industrial NCD Gateways, Procense bridges legacy weigh scales and shop floor equipment directly to its cloud-native AI platform. The integrated solution eliminates manual data entry, prevents bad batches, ensures full traceability, and delivers a 10% to 20% gain in operational efficiency with a demonstrated return on investment (ROI) within 6 to 12 months.
Procense
Procense is an AI-powered production operations platform built specifically for the shop floor in process manufacturing industries. Combining edge Internet of Things (IoT) devices with advanced artificial intelligence, Procense provides MES-grade operational modules, including electronic batch records, Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) tracking, and real-time equipment health monitoring. Unlike generalist manufacturing software, Procense focuses exclusively on the complex, recipe-driven requirements of process manufacturing, optimizing efficiency, product quality, and throughput.
Challenge
Isolated Scales and The High Cost of Manual Pre-Weigh
Process manufacturing facilities rely on exact formulations. Before raw materials enter mixing, blending, or compounding vessels, ingredients must be precisely measured at pre-weigh stations. Historically, this step has been plagued by disconnected equipment and heavy manual touchpoints:
1. Disconnected, Heterogeneous Equipment
Industrial weigh scales on the plant floor come in countless makes, models, and serial configurations. The vast majority operate without network connectivity and are not tied to plant PLCs or back-end MES and ERP systems. Label printers at these stations sit as standalone units with no direct link to the scale or production database.
2. Error-Prone Manual Workflows
Without digital integration, machine operators must perform manual double data entry. An operator reads the physical display on the scale, handwrites the recorded weight, manually types product SKUs and lot numbers into a standalone printer, prints the label, and later re-keys the data into the facility’s production logs.
3. Scrap, Rework, and Bad Batches
Human transcription and weighing errors at the pre-weigh stage create severe downstream consequences. Inaccurate component ratios ruin entire production runs, forcing facilities to discard valuable product, incur heavy disposal costs, and restart production cycles.
4. Regulatory and Traceability Exposure
In regulated process environments, handwritten records and disconnected logs create significant compliance vulnerability. If an operator records an intended recipe amount rather than the actual weight dispensed, data integrity is compromised, undermining batch genealogy and audit compliance.
5. The Integration Barrier
Traditional modernization approaches required complex, capital-intensive engineering overhauls, involving extensive physical network cabling, custom PLC code, and intrusive ERP integrations. Most process facilities lack the specialized IT and controls engineering staff required to deploy and maintain these complex wired systems across multiple disparate scales.
Solution
Wireless Scale-To-Cloud Integration via NCD
To bridge this operational gap without imposing heavy infrastructure costs on customers, Procense turned to NCD industrial wireless point solutions. Procense deployed NCD Wireless RS-232 transmitters to interface directly with serial ports on legacy weigh scales, pairing them with Enterprise IIoT Gateways and 4-20mA current loop receivers for broader sensor monitoring.
Key factors that drove Procense to select NCD:
- Hardware Simplicity and Cost-Effectiveness: NCD hardware delivers commercial-grade reliability at a competitive price point, operating without recurring hardware licensing fees or restrictive proprietary lock-ins.
- Rapid Cloud Onboarding: Leveraging NCD XBee wireless architecture, the hardware pairs easily with Procense’s automated proprietary security certificate framework, enabling secure, end-to-end communication from the serial interface straight to the Procense cloud.
- Fast Time-to-Data: Hardware configuration is straightforward. Once unboxed and mounted, systems begin transmitting live, actionable telemetry to the cloud within a few hours.
- Industrial Adaptability: NCD point solutions allow Procense to capture RS-232 serial data, 4-20mA analog loops, and ambient parameters like CO2 through purpose-built wireless nodes, accommodating real-world physical constraints across varied shop floors.
Workflow
How The Integrated Architecture Works
1. Direct Data Capture: The NCD Wireless RS-232 Modem connects directly to the scale’s serial port. The moment an operator completes a weighment, the gross, tare, and net weight values are automatically captured at the hardware level.
2. Secure Wireless Transmission: Data is transmitted wirelessly via Digi mesh architecture to an on-site NCD Industrial Enterprise Gateway, eliminating the need to trench cables across wet or cleanroom process areas.
3. Cloud Ingestion and Validation: Procense receives the telemetry stream in real time, automatically validating measured values against the digital recipe and batch bill of materials.
4. Automated Label Generation: The Procense platform routes the verified weight, corresponding SKU, and active lot tracking data directly to the pre-weigh printer, generating a compliant, accurate label without operator keystrokes.
5. Closed-Loop Batch Records: All captured weights automatically populate the electronic batch tracker, establishing an immutable digital audit trail for quality assurance and compliance reporting.
Impact and Results
The integration of NCD wireless hardware with the Procense platform replaced manual pre-weigh friction with an automated, closed-loop workflow, delivering measurable operational returns:
- 10% to 20% Cycle Time and Efficiency Gains: By removing redundant manual data entry, manual label typing, and double verification steps, operators complete pre-weigh staging faster and with greater consistency.
- Drastic Reduction in Material Scrap: Automated scale integration prevents the creation of bad batches caused by incorrect component weights or misread displays, preserving expensive raw materials and operational throughput.
- Full Traceability and Audit Readiness: Replacing handwritten logs with automated electronic batch records eliminates data transposition risks, safeguarding compliance in tightly regulated manufacturing environments.
- Live Telemetry Within Hours: Deployment speed was reduced from months of controls integration down to hours. Facilities achieve live operational data collection on day one of hardware installation.
- Clear ROI in 6 to 12 Months: The combined reduction in scrap, labor savings at pre-weigh, and zero-recurring-fee hardware profile allows customers to achieve complete capital payback within 6 to 12 months.
Next
Following the success of its weigh-scale automation deployments, Procense is scaling its rollout of NCD wireless hardware across new customer facilities and broader operational footprints. Future phases focus on leveraging Procense’s AI models to analyze continuous time-series scale and process data, driving predictive operational optimizations, tightening recipe tolerances, and further digitizing legacy process manufacturing environments.
Connect
Seeking next-generation IIoT solutions and support? Here are some next steps:
- Request a Procense AI Demo to Explore Complete Platform Features.
- Contact us to talk to a NCD Technicial Support.
- Visit our Blog Entries to learn about emerging trends.
- Shop for solutions from NCD and our partners.
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