Hobart’s HLX Service Scale has several unique features, including that it was designed to include input from one of Hobart’s customers, a local grocer.
The HLX is the newest generation of Hobart scales. It has a large color touch screen that is fast and easy to use, enabling operators to efficiently and accurately service customers. The scales’ Windows XP operating systems offers users the flexibility to add functionality as they need it. However, this wasn’t always the case.
Hobart originally planned on using a proprietary operating system on the scale, but Jack Gridley, vice president of meat, seafood, deli and prepared foods at Dorothy Lane Market, a leading independent grocer, suggested Hobart go another direction.
“We suggested that Hobart use the Windows operating system because IT professionals are familiar with the technology and could easily design robust applications to expand its functionality as needed,” says Gridley. “Using a proprietary system, the scale’s features would be limited only to developers that knew the proprietary system.”
Hobart listened. Why? Because Gridley and his Dorothy Lane Market team have been a test site for Hobart scales for the past six years. Before weighing in on the HLX, Gridley served as a testing resource for the company’s Quantum scales, where tests at his stores helped Hobart transition to a completely wireless system.
Real-World Scenarios
One of the benefits of testing in real-world environments like Dorothy Lane Market is that Hobart can see how its scales perform in actual scenarios. Many of the suggestions Gridley made—and which have been implemented into the HLX scale—originated as operational challenges.
“Whenever we had an operational issue, we considered how we could use the HLX as a solution,” says Gridley. “Since there are a lot of Windows developers out there, a solution wasn’t hard to develop.”
Hobart designed the HLX to be easy to use, and its capabilities go far beyond weighing product.
“We use the HLX scale for much more than weighing items. We use it to order signs for our deli and seafood cases and to update our daily soup selections on our Web site,” says Gridley. “It’s also allowed us to easily track the shelf life of our products and manage shrink.”
Gridley is referring to the HLX scale’s shelf-life management capabilities, which logs the expiration date and provides a list of upcoming out-of-date items. The shelf-life feature generates an easy-to-read label with a product description, bar code and sell-by date, enabling staff to monitor the expiration dates of perishable products at a glance.
An even more powerful tool is the shelf-life tracking feature. A single color-coded screen lets the operator track the shelf life of products by days and even hours, helping minimize throwaways and better manage inventories. There is no need to buy separate, expensive software for shrink control.
Another benefit of the Windows operating system is improved productivity. Managers no longer have to be present at each service counter. They can easily access the HLX scale from multiple locations using Internet Explorer, which lets them make changes to the system on the fly or evaluate operator activities without constant local monitoring.
Similarly, the HLX offers remote diagnostics for fewer and shorter service calls. Through third-party software, HLX scales can even connect to back-office systems for inventory management and other business applications.
For more information on Hobart’s HLX Service Scale, click here.
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