HBK/HBM weighing electronics: software, connection and integration

What we do for HBK users

• Capture weight values from digital weighing transmitters and evaluation electronics
• Log and historise process and hopper weighings in databases
• Link weighings to batches, recipes and orders
• Hand measurement data over to ERP, control systems or reporting
• Modernise existing plants with HBM/HBK technology on the software side

Supported devices and series

HBK components we regularly work with:

• ClipX: industrial measuring amplifier with Ethernet, fieldbus and OPC UA – test, assembly and process applications
• PMX: modular measurement and control system for multi-channel force and weight measurement
• WTX110 / WTX120: legal-for-trade weighing terminals for platform scales, hopper scales and weighbridges
• MP85A FASTpress and AED/PAD electronics: process monitoring and digital transducer electronics with a bus connection
• Load cells Z6, C16, RTN, PW and FIT (digital) via the electronics listed above

Precision and process weighing technology in the data flow

Those who use HBK load cells usually do so because accuracy and repeatability matter: hopper and silo weighing, dosing, testing and inspection processes. But this diligence often ends at the electronics – the precise values are read off by eye or stay inside the plant. Our software closes the gap: it reads the weight values from the weighing transmitter or PLC, adds context and turns them into documented, analysable process data. The measuring chain itself – load cell, wiring, adjustment – remains untouched.

Interfaces, connection and integration

HBK electronics offer, depending on the device, Ethernet TCP/IP, Modbus TCP, Profinet, EtherCAT, EtherNet/IP, CAN and RS232/RS485, and on the ClipX an OPC UA and REST interface (HBK API) as well. We read weight and force values cyclically or event-driven, transfer them into a database, MES or ERP, generate test and batch records and integrate legal-for-trade WTX terminals including their alibi memory into weighing ticket and invoicing processes. Where catman or a PLC is already involved, we connect to the existing data source instead of replacing it.

Frequently asked questions

Our plant uses HBK load cells such as Z6 or C16 – how do the weights get into our software?

The load cells are wired to evaluation electronics – a weighing transmitter, measuring amplifier or PLC. This electronics provides the digital weight value, which we read out and hand over to your target systems: database, ERP, process control or reporting.

Does that also apply to HBM components in existing plants?

Yes. HBK emerged from HBM; in many plants, load cells and electronics labelled HBM are still at work. For the software connection, what counts is not the nameplate but the existing evaluation electronics and its interfaces – we connect legacy equipment as well.

Can you bring several weighing points of one plant together?

Yes. Whether several hopper scales, dosing points or a mix of old and new electronics: we bring the measuring points together in one application and one data pool, so you can analyse your plant as a whole.

Is there a software interface to the HBK ClipX that we can use for our database?

Yes. The ClipX provides measured values via Ethernet, OPC UA and a documented API. We develop the service that collects these values, links them with the order or test specimen and writes them into your database or your MES – including limit monitoring and logging.

Can you connect an HBK WTX terminal on our weighbridge to weighing ticket software?

Yes. The WTX110/WTX120 are legal-for-trade terminals with an alibi memory. We take over first and second weighing, generate the weighing ticket with alibi number and hand the weighing over to ERP, invoicing or the waste disposal record.