Who is Rice Lake?
Rice Lake Weighing Systems is an American multinational company with its corporate headquarters and primary manufacturing facility located in Rice Lake, Wisconsin. The company was established in 1946 as a small-scale service business called Thomas & Johnson Scale Service. It remains a family-owned and ISO 9001 certified corporation, now in its third generation of leadership. While firmly rooted in Wisconsin, Rice Lake has expanded its distribution and support network worldwide, with facilities across North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania.
What do they sell?
Rice Lake Weighing Systems is an international leader in the manufacture and distribution of weight-related products, dimensioning equipment, and process-control systems. They offer an enormous catalog of over 40,000 products, serving practically every industry imaginable, including:
- Agriculture
- Logistics & Transportation
- Food & Beverage Processing
- Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare
- Manufacturing
- Waste/Recycling
- Retail
Their products range from highly precise laboratory balances to rugged industrial equipment. Key product categories include:
- Heavy-Capacity Scales: Durable truck scales (like the flagship SURVIVOR series), rail scales, and axle scales.
- Industrial Scales: Floor scales (such as the RoughDeck series, often designed for harsh or washdown environments), bench scales, and crane scales.
- Load Cells & Weigh Modules: These are the essential components for building custom weighing systems in tanks, hoppers, and other process control applications.
- Indicators & Controllers: Digital weight indicators and programmable controllers (like the 1280 Enterprise series) that serve as the brain of any weighing system, managing data, automating processes, and ensuring regulatory compliance.
- Precision and Health Scales: High-accuracy laboratory balances, test weights for calibration, and physician/patient scales.
- Dimensioning Systems: Advanced sensing technology to automatically measure the volume (dimensions) of packages and pallets for shipping and logistics.
What makes them Unique?
In a competitive market, Rice Lake sets itself apart through several core strengths that combine to deliver comprehensive and reliable solutions:
Unmatched Quality and Durability
They are known for building tough, high-quality products that can withstand hostile or extreme industrial environments. Their heavy-duty scales, like the SURVIVOR truck scales, are engineered with 25% to 30% more structural steel than competitors to ensure decades of performance with minimal downtime. They also offer specialized scales for sanitary environments requiring frequent, intensive washdowns.
Metrology Expertise and Global Load Cell Leadership
Rice Lake operates an NVLAP accredited metrology lab, ensuring their products and services meet the highest standards of accuracy and certification. Furthermore, they are one of the world’s largest distributors of load cells, the most sensitive component of a scale. This deep expertise in the fundamental technology allows them to provide robust solutions and rapid component support.
Commitment to Customer Service and Support
The founding philosophy of “Take care of the customer” is still a driving force. Rice Lake provides robust, round-the-clock technical support, ensuring that when an issue arises in the field, a user can quickly reach a live person for assistance.
End-to-End Solutions
Rice Lake doesn’t just sell scales; they provide process solutions. Their wide range of instrumentation, custom software, and system integration capabilities means they can automate complex weighing processes, from managing inventory and batching ingredients to controlling entire manufacturing lines. They offer the complete hardware and software package required to connect measurement data to a customer’s enterprise systems.
In essence, Rice Lake Weighing Systems is the gold standard for reliable measurement, providing the foundation of trust and precision that allows countless industries around the world to operate efficiently and accurately.