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| Roy and Odd install truck scale at Union Skien in 1971 |
May 14, 1971 marks the official registration date of Landgraff Vekter AS. Odd Landgraff, Odd Rasen and Roy Hansen become equal partner in the new shareholder company. They worked from the rented garage for two years.
May 29, 1971 - Al Unser wins the Indianapolis 500 for the second year in a row.
1973 - The company moves to a new business location. During the years of 1973 – 1984 it was business as usual. The company experienced modest growth. By year’s end the company added a secretary and a third service technician. The scalemen had a blue collar approach to business and were happy to be self-employed.
April 1, 1976 - Apple is established in Steve Jobs garage in Los Altos, California.
Before the 1980’s, truck scales relied on mechanical means of measuring. The innovation of software introduced a new world of opportunity and rapidly accelerated the adaptation to electronic truck scales. Early users realized a multitude of new found benefits: efficiency, minimized paperwork, speed, fewer human errors, greater accuracy, increased profitability, streamlined operations and more.
January 1981 - Flintab, a Swedish truck scale manufacturer starts a new truck scale dealership with Nordic Supply. The new business is a department of Nordic Supply. This is the beginning of what later is known as Flintab Vekter.
August 12, 1981 - IBM launches their first personal computer; The IBM PC.
January 1985 - Landgraff acquires truck scale division from Nordic Supply and this becomes Flintab Vekter AS. Landgraff handles the sales and service of smaller scales. Flintab Vekter AS handles the truck scales. The combined company becomes a major player in Norway.
November 1985 - Microsoft introduces Windows.
During the spring of 1986, Dag Rasen was involved in software development and while working full-time for Norsk Data, a Norwegian computer company; his father asks if he would be able to develop a software package for Flintab truck scales. By year’s end 1986, the first version named “DOS-X11” was complete.
January 8, 1987 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 2,000 for the first time. The market closes at 2,002.25.
January 1987 - Åsland Pukkverk becomes the first software customer of the newly developed DOS based software program. www.aslandpukkverk.no
February 1987 - Flintab Vekter hires Dag Rasen full time.
Oct. 19, 1987 - Black Monday. The day stock markets around the world crashed. Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dropped by 508 points to 1738.74.
Q4 1987 - Feiring Bruk AS becomes one of our earliest, substantial and most significant customers. Feiring Bruk is family owned with origins in crushed stone and gravel plants. Their business is dominant in eastern Norway, where they have 10 quarrying operations producing aggregate, sand & gravel, soil, bark and asphalt products (www.feiringbruk.no). The company buys 10 software licenses and is our first networked solution customer operating on a Novell network. Case study of Feiring Bruk
By year’s end 1987, Flintab Vekter sells a total of 20 software licenses.
1988 - Leading up to a software breakthrough, Dag discovers two outstanding programmers and hires them both. At the time, they are last year college master students in software development. Both are part-time employees and have important impact of software development next two years.
Each year from 1986 to 1997, thousands of scales of all types were sold. Between 15 and 20 truck scales per year were sold in a variety of market segments: aggregate, waste, recycling, grain, bulk, - and almost always with software. Even at these earliest stages of evolution it was apparent to the scalemen that their software was becoming a determining factor in winning new scale business. More software licenses than truck scales were sold. During this time 250-300 DOS licenses were sold to mostly single location customers. Virtually all remain current customers today.
May 22, 1990 - Microsoft releases Windows 3.0.
1991 - Tom Roy Hansen joins Landgraff Vekter. Previously he was a carpenter with an entrepreneurial spirit renovating and accumulating investment properties.
June 1991 - At the annual meeting of the Norwegian Sand and Gravel Association, Dag Rasen is invited to give a presentation. For the first time ever, he presents a new concept - unmanned weighing operations and the first unmanned driver terminal. Members and attendees dismiss the concept and terminal with ridicule and amusement; “Dette vil aldri fungere i vår bransje!” (This will never work in our branch.)
By 1992 a number of companies had begun developing truck scale software; Toledo (which later became Mettler-Toledo), Berkel (Avery bought Berkel and Weigh-tronix to become the company we know today as Avery Weigh-tronix) and Danvægt (Danish truck scale manufacturer).
Late 1992 - Odd Landgraff leaves the company.
October 24, 1992 - the first World Series ever with games played outside the United States of America. The American League champion Toronto Blue Jays played the National League champion Atlanta Braves. Toronto defeated Atlanta, four games to two, marking the first time a team based outside the United States won the World Series.
June 1993 - Veidekke ASA becomes very important new Flintab Vekter customer. Veidekke is one of Scandinavia's largest, most reliable, most respected contractors and property developers. Headquartered in Oslo, the company has approximately 6,000 employees with about 700 ongoing projects at any one time spread over large parts of Scandinavia. Veidekke recognizes that the total quality of a project increases through close interaction between all stakeholders. The first of many sales consisted of complete weighing solutions – truck scales and truck scale software. The company had utilized several truck scale software’s before. When asked why they chose our company? - “You know our business!” -
Testimonial - www.veidekke.comApril 1993 - The seniors Odd Rasen and Roy Hansen extended greater and increasing responsibilities to their respective sons. The boys had drive and ambition and Tom Roy and Dag were given ownership shares. Tom Roy was already Sales Manager, Dag was Technical Manager. Business was very good; they wanted to achieve more, they wanted to expand. The sons found conviction that their software was the determining factor in winning more business overall and closing more new truck scale sales over competitors who offered just a scale.
December 8, 1993 - U.S. President Bill Clinton signs the North American Free Trade Agreement into law.
January 1994 - The Landgraff and Flintab businesses relocate to a new building - the same location from which it operates today. Still operating as separate companies comprised of about 6 employees each. Tom Roy was promoted Manager for Landgraff Vekter, Dag was promoted Manager of Flintab Vekter.
1994 - 1996 were busy and very productive years. The businesses were realizing excellent growth, increasing their investment in development and expanding their dealer network to about 30, including 10 industrial/truck scale dealers.
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| Scaleit Founders and Sons in 1996 |
Early 1994 – Embarking an ambitious project to build the new Oslo International Airport , the Civil Airport Administration (today Avinor), invited bids for unmanned weighing solutions (scales, terminals, software and support) to track, weigh and manage the removal (and reuse) of rock, stone and gravel materials from where a small mountain once stood. Flintab Vekter was awarded the project because of our ability to prove reliable unmanned weighing operations. The airport authority had stringent requirements for scale ticketing, operational consistency and reporting. All companies involved in the hauling, removal and delivery of aggregate materials were required to adopt our software. Construction of the main airport started August 1994.
Mid 1994 – Scancem becomes our first international customer. Scancem is now known as Scancem International DA, a part of HeidelbergCement - the largest producer in the African cement market. The company operates in seven sub-Saharan countries, headquartered in Oslo, Norway. They purchased complete weighing solutions (scales and software) for their new sites in Ghana and Togo. The company employs 68,000 people at 2,800 locations in 50 countries. www.heidelbergcement.com
October 1996 - The new Oslo International Airport opens on schedule. Using 10 scales, between 1-2 million weighings are performed over the 2 year construction project. Some truck scales utilized in the airport project are used in a related high-speed train construction project that began immediately following the airport opening.
January 1, 1997 - To improve customer service, reduce operating costs, improve marketing, gain greater market share and establish a clearer identity as the market leader - the two companies merge to establish Landgraff & Flintab Vekter AS. Dag and Tom Roy set in motion their own business development plan. The newly merged company has 12 employees and total revenue of $3M. www.lfvekter.no
February 16, 1997 - Jeff Gordon wins his first Daytona 500, becoming the youngest driver in history to win the race.
Mid 1997 – “V2K,” our first Windows-based software is released. Icopal becomes the first new customer. They purchase 20 licenses. Now headquartered in Denmark, the Icopal Group delivers high end products for flat and pitched roofing and offers a broad service range including installation services. The Icopal Group now has annual revenue of approximately EUR 1 billion with some 3,600 employees worldwide. www.icopal.com
Summer 1997 – Kraft Foods becomes new customer. A new truck scale and software is installed at their operation branch (previous Freia Chocolate) in Oslo.
September 4, 1998 – Google.com incorporated.
1999 – Ragn-Sells AS becomes a new customer for scales and software. The company is Scandinavia’s foremost expert in waste recycling and new environment. The company and its 2,300 employees have a deep belief in “Part of the cycle" ecological thinking - both the economic and environmental (www.ragnsells.no). They initially purchase 6 licenses, which later grow to 15. www.ragnsells.com
1999 - 60 software licenses sold in 1999.
2001 & 2002 – Tough and challenging years, for business and personal reasons. Norway experiences a housing crash and overall the business climate is down. Our company remains profitable, the business plan is expanded and five new employees are hired. Following years of working almost around the clock, Dag is exhausted and takes a much needed leave of absence. Tom Roy is gone for almost two years recovering from a life-threatening surgery.
July 28, 2002 - Cyclist Lance Armstrong wins his fourth consecutive Tour de France. October 1996 Armstrong was diagnosed as having stage three cancers which had metastasized to his lungs, abdomen and brain. Lance would go on to win a record seventh Tour de France.
January 2003 - Dag returns! Later in the year Tom Roy returns! Leadership is again healthy and re-energized. The company is consolidated, regains its prior momentum and is repositioned to realize its most substantial expansion and success.
February 2003 - Franzefoss AS Group consolidates enterprise wide to V2K. Previously, the company had some licenses of older versions of our software. Franzefoss Aggregate AS, a subsidiary, one of the Norway’s leading mining companies and admired as a knowledge company. Over decades as a supplier to the construction industry, public sector, agriculture, and more, they have developed a unique expertise. Franzefoss Aggregate produces about 3 million tons of crushed stone, gravel, sand, soil and asphalt at 17 plants in Norway. The group also includes a sister company, Franzefoss Recycling AS. www.franzefoss.no
May 5, 2003 – Professional social networking site LinkedIn is launched. LinkedIn reports more than 100 million registered users, spanning more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.
Mid 2003 – Scaleit SRL is established in Romania for Scaleit software development only. Beginning with just two highly talented programmers the company began developing a totally new software package, while continuing to support older V2k Windows-based versions. Oleg Andrisan is hired as Manager; previously he served as an independent software developer contracted since 2001.
2004-2006 - Landgraff & Flintab Vekter acquires 3 small truck scale sales & service dealerships. Dag and Tom refine and reposition the business model and add new staff.
July 2006 – Jydsk Vægtfabrik becomes the first international Scaleit software dealer. With a long history of manufacturing and selling truck scales, this modern Danish company today providing high technology weighing equipment for industry. Jydsk Weight Factory is the Danish distributer of Sartorius industrial scales and Bilanchai truck scales. www.jva.dk
January 1, 2007 Scaleit Group AS is established as the parent company and business development group for the development of the Scaleit brand and to introduce new companies to new markets. Dag and Tom Roy become the principals for the group, vacating their respective roles. Promotions are made to fill new Landgraff & Flintab Vekter Managing Director positions.
January 1, 2007, Romania joins the European Union (The “EU”).
Spring 2007 – Scaleit W8 is released! Our mission is to be the #1 choice world-wide in truck scale software solutions.
June 2007 – GLØR Lillehammer becomes the first Scaleit W8 customer in Norway. GLØR is the waste recycling company owned and operated by the five cities in the Lillehammer region. The group serves 35,000 people and 17,000 household customers. Each city currently utilizes Scaleit W8 software in a networked environment. www.glor.no
January 2008 – Scaleit SRL begins selling truck scales and platform scales in Romania.
April 2008 – Aker Yards becomes the first Scaleit Romania customer. Aker Yards, a subsidiary of the South Korean industrial conglomerate STX Corporation, is the largest shipbuilding group in Europe and the fourth largest in the world. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway they purchased scales and software for their shipyard in Romania. www.stxeurope.com
April 14, 2008 - Delta Air Lines reaches an agreement with Northwest Airlines to take over Northwest and create the world's biggest airline.
2008 - Coca-Cola becomes new customer in Romania. Scaleit Romania installs two truck scales in two production plants; Ploiesti in 2008 and Timisoara in 2009. Both plants are equipped with Scaleit W8 weighing software. We’re also contracted for maintenance and annual metrological verification. www.cocacola.ro
October 2008 - Petrom becomes new customer. Our company was still in its infancy in Romania and perceived as invisible and uncompetitive. Once aware of our software and expertise, Petrom awarded the largest contract ever issued for truck scale solutions in Romania to Scaleit Romania. Petrom is the largest company in Romania, focused on extraction and processing of oil and natural gases. Our contract started in 2009 and requires the installation of 34 unmanned truck scale systems (all with W8 software) in 17 bio-remediation plants all over Romania near oil extraction points. Scaleit Romania acts as a sub-contractor for Precia Molen, being responsible for civil works and installation works of the weighbridge systems, as well as installation of computers with W8 weighing software. W8 is currently installed in 5 locations with on-line/off-line synchronization with a central database. Scaleit Romania has installed video surveillance systems on each location with picture acquisition of every vehicle being weighed. As of May 2011, 5 locations (10 weighbridges) have been installed, tested and certified. The 2011 schedule includes 3 new locations to be installed, each with 2 weighbridge systems. The remaining 9 locations (18 weighbridges remaining) are scheduled for 2012 and 2013. www.petrom.ro
2008 - Under the leadership of Oleg Andrisan and Viorel Vasile, Scaleit Romania succeeds in selling 50 truck scales during the first year. This division grows to 20 employees and Scaleit Group revenue grows to exceed $8M.
2009 - Bechtel becomes Scaleit Romania customer. We perform a retrofit of seven truck scales originally installed in 2008. All scales use W8 software. The scales are used for weighing construction materials used in building several sections of the Transylvania motorway. www.autostradatransilvania.ro
March 2009 - Scaleit Romania is reorganized and now operates as two companies; Scaleit and Scaleit Software. 2009 also marks the first year of manufacturing our own truck scales for the Romanian market. During our first year we build and sell 85 scales!
August 2010 – in preparation for the introduction and launch of Scaleit USA, Dag and his family relocate from Norway to Clearwater, Florida.
October 11, 2010 – the official launch of www.truck-scale-software.com and start date of Scaleit USA.
November 2010 – Sorensen Sand and Gravel becomes the first Scaleit USA customer. Family owned and operated since 1982 their aggregate operation becomes the first subscriber for the radically new Scale W8 concept. -
Testimonial - www.sorensens.biz2010 – Scaleit Romania builds and sells 100+ scales. Scaleit Group now have 50 employees, and the total revenue grows to $10 million.
2011 – ArcelorMittal becomes new Scaleit Romania customer. ArcelorMittal is the world's leading steel company, with operations in 60+ countries and is the leader in all major global steel markets. We perform a rail track scale retrofit 17 meter, 100 ton. The rail scale retrofitting works take place in Hunedoara. Additionally, we developed and installed an automatic railcar identification system to prevent human error on weighing of rail cars within trains. www.arcellormittal.com
October 2011 – National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM) issues
NTEP Certificate of Conformance 11-097 for CN 6979, Scaleit W8 is NTEP approved!Concluding only our third year of truck scale manufacturing and sales activities, for calendar year 2011, we project our company will build and sell 150-175 truck scales – 85% with Scaleit W8 Software, for a total projected revenue of $14M. We have long believed that Scaleit W8 software motivates customers to choose our company as their truck scale weighing solution provider and the reason for our rapid sales growth. It is our customers that tell this is true.