Greifensee, Zurich -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/16/2011 -- Approvals can have limitations
To be of value an approval needs to be valid for measuring the goods you handle. A typical pitfall is measuring irregular shaped parcels and pallets as if they were cubic. Many automatic systems on the market are only approved to measure regular, solid shapes, while in reality all shipments aren’t nice and square.

Before purchasing a dimensioning and weighing system, start by evaluating your goods. What shapes, sizes and wrapping do you normally handle? Taking the time to rigorously analyze the offering on the market and how well the system matches your needs, can be time well spent.

Which details to look for
Approvals contain a lot of information and technical details. The most important factors which can cause difficulties concern the shipments’ shape and wrapping. Some technologies are not good enough for measuring irregular shapes as accurately as required in legal for trade applications. This is normally due to the fact that the instrument cannot see the whole parcel or pallet. This is illustrated under the section “Pallet with protrusions”.

Another challenge for some technology used is the capability of measuring black plastic and transparent surfaces which is typical wrapping on pallets.

Here are some examples from approvals to illustrate these limitations:
• The instrument is used to calculate the dimensions of an opaque hexahedron object.

• Garment bags, sacks and other soft, flexible objects with non-cuboidal shapes are not suited for measurement by the instrument

• Transparent objects and objects packed in transparent wrapping (e.g. bubble wrap plastic) are not suited for this type of measuring

Note: Other words commonly used to describe regular shaped objects are: cuboidal, opaque hexadron, rectangular, cubic

The fewer limitations to the system, the easier it is for you to automate your processes and experience the benefits of automatic dimensioning.

There are 3 main reasons why details are so important…
Reason 1:
Accurate data is bottom line revenue
Right systems with the right specifications protect you from losing money caused by inaccurate invoicing. Applying the wrong system on goods it can not handle illustrates this.

So how much money can be lost if you measure an irregular shaped object as cubic?
Let’s look at some examples and compare how a dimensioner approved for irregular shapes performs, versus one for regular shapes.

An overfilled cardboard box
A typical example is a normal box that is slightly overfilled and therefore bulging out approximately 1 cm on all sides. Most people asked would categorize it as regular and consider it to be safe to measure with a scanner for regular shapes. However this decision can cost you money.