Whether you’re weighing raw materials entering your manufacturing process or finished products ready to ship, precise weighing is essential for product quality, operational efficiency and regulatory compliance. A strong weighing process begins with selecting the right equipment and following a set of standard operating procedures.
Keep the weighing chamber and bench scrupulously clean to avoid cross contamination. Also, do not touch the weights with bare hands as hand grease can cause errors.
Automation
Weighing can be a time-consuming and labour-intensive process. Automation enables employees to shift their attention to more critical tasks, increasing productivity and efficiency. Similarly, the risk of human error is significantly reduced with automated weighing. Ensures that the right amount of product is dispensed each time, driving fewer industrial wastages and better quality control.
Weaving automation with production systems also allows for real-time feedback and control of processes based on weight measurements, optimizing output and ensuring quality assurance compliance. The weighing data can be recorded in digital form and sent to a management system for quality certification, traceability and compliance with regulatory standards.
For labs, precise and consistent weighing practices are crucial for meeting the quality criteria of experimental processes. Zinsser’s automated weighing solutions offer a systematic and tech-driven approach to measuring object and material weight, contributing to highly reproducible results. This consistency is particularly valuable for research laboratories adhering to stringent quality standards.
Accuracy
Weighing systems are like referees in the commercial world, maintaining a delicate balance between the perfect batch of cookies or a medicine mishap. Achieving the highest level of accuracy possible is essential to improve efficiency and reduce waste.
Weighing system accuracy is determined by the accuracy of the components including load cells mounted in weighing points, junction boxes to sum signals from multiple load cells and a weighing instrument such as a weight controller or a digital scale. Choosing quality components especially suited to your application will go a long way toward ensuring the accuracy you require.
Accuracy should be a main consideration when purchasing a new industrial weighing system or replacing existing equipment. OIML and NTEP (National Type Evaluation Program) standards set minimum weighing accuracy levels but the actual accuracy of a weighing system is dependent on many mechanical and operational factors such as:
Efficiency
In the industrial world, efficiency is key to reducing waste and maximising productivity. From the raw materials entering a production facility to the finished goods ready for dispatch, accurate measurement helps ensure that inventory records are up to date and that operations run smoothly.
Process weighing can automate manual tasks with smart display functions, reduce downtime and maintenance costs with reliable equipment and ensure traceability with integrated data-capture solutions. Maintaining the optimum performance of a weighing system requires both preventative maintenance and continuous improvement. This can be achieved through leveraging technology, providing training and support, and identifying the key manufacturing metrics most critical to your business.
Ensure that all weighing processes are as efficient as possible by eliminating unnecessary motion and streamlining work flows. This can help lower labor costs, improve safety and quality, and boost overall productivity. This can be done by implementing lean management principles, incorporating check weighing into manufacturing systems and integrating weighing structures with other operational technology for seamless data flow.
Safety
Using proper weighing procedures ensures the quality of products and reduces safety risks for employees and customers. A precise weighing process is vital for industries such as food, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing. Inaccurate measurements can lead to product recalls, wasted resources and potential health risks for consumers. Regular balance validation and calibration helps to maintain accurate results and a consistent weighing process.
The location of the weighing instrument should be considered to prevent any interference or disturbances that could affect measurement accuracy. For example, placing a balance near air conditioning units can cause vibrations that distort the reading. Similarly, a sample coming from a cold environment can create condensation on the weighing pan that affects the weight measurement.
For hazardous (classified) locations, such as chemical plants (vapors), plastics manufacturing locations or grain silos (dust or “flyings”), special electrical wiring and intrinsically safe circuitry is required for weighing equipment. Hardy offers intrinsically safe weighing modules and control weighing terminals with a wide range of communication interfaces to enable flexible and modular hazardous area solutions.