Mechanical mechanisms for determining weight have been with us since prehistoric times and are still in use today but are rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Toledo Scale, the largest scale manufacturer in the world, has not manufactured mechanical scales in the United States for many years now. Since the late 1960's or early 1970's, the strain gage load cell has been the primary device for sensing force for weighing purposes. In 1989, Toledo Scale introduced to industry what they consider to be the next logical step in the advancement of weighing technology, the DIGITOL load cell. The introduction came after five years of product development and extensive field testing. Quite simply, a dedicated microprocessor is integrated into a strain gage load cell to take advantage of the many capabilities of the microprocessor and provide many benefits for the manufacturer and the end user.