In Chicago, they take their pizzas pretty seriously. It is a mainstay of local cuisine, and in the nearby suburb of Schaumburg, IL, Nation Pizza & Foods produces many of the pizzas that line the freezers of hungry Americans.

Nation Pizza manufactures private-label pizzas to each customer’s recipe and requirements, and material usage has always been a key component of ensuring product quality and controlling manufacturing cost. Shahid Osman, SPC Manager for Nation Pizza, explains, “We used balances to spot-check the pizzas. Every thirty minutes, we would take a pizza off the line at each stage of the process—after each topping or spice was put on—and weigh it to ensure we were within an acceptable range. If we were off, a material adjustment had to be made at our control points. We thought it was working pretty well, but in the past year, our customers started giving us more strict weight requirements. They wanted a measurement down to 0.30 or 0.50 grams, for example. We couldn’t do that with our existing balances, so we needed an upgrade.”

Advanced Weighing Systems in Addison, IL, had the solution. Art Guest typically focuses on scale service rather than sales. He, along with two partners, established the company in 1999 to focus primarily on ready-mix plants. Although those applications remain one of Advanced Weighing’s specialties, over the years, Art has expanded his business to run the gamut from precision to heavy-duty scale applications. It just so happens that Art was introduced to the Equipoise on a recent visit to Rice Lake. When he got the call from Nation Pizza, he thought the new low-cost, full-featured balance seemed to be a perfect fit for the application. “Budget was a dominating factor,” remembers Art. “They needed the precision and repeatability often found only in higher-end balances, but at an entry-level price point. I saw what the Equipoise could do and presented it to Nation Pizza as a lot of balance for the money. It’s the best value that’s out there in terms of a balance.”

Soon, Equipoise benefits presented themselves in another improvement. Shahid always wondered how much of a factor environmental conditions were in the toppings rooms. There always seemed to be a breeze, and he wasn't sure how much this affected the weight readings. The old balances wouldn’t register a change, but Equipoise quantified the draft by showing a weight drift. The hundredths of a gram decimal position would fluctuate with the breeze, allowing Shahid to troubleshoot its location and position a barrier to block the wind. Once the numbers stopped fluctuating, he knew the windy variable had been neutralized. A few hundredths of a gram may not seem like a big deal, but it could topple a tenth-of-a-gram weight reading into the next digit on a less precise balance, and the operator would never know.

Installing the Equipoise at its optimal point of use increased efficiency. Because of its precision, ingredient overuse is down and product quality is assured. Nation Pizza predicts they are saving $300,000 per month by incorporating Equipoise balances in their production lines. Their annual material over-usage is half the industry standard. These savings allow Nation Pizza to invest back into the company, which is constantly expanding. “My job is all about saving the company time and money by being smarter,” explains Shahid. “My decisions are driven by data, and the numbers prove that Equipoise is saving us a great deal of money. It was a very smart decision.”

With all the elements involved with making a pizza, the Equipoise stands out as the key ingredient to success. Its balance of features and price give it a unique position in the industry—dishing up savings with minimal investment.