What Are The Benefits of Calibrating Industrial Scales?

 

Many people rely on the accuracy of industrial weighing scales, from business owners through to the clients they serve.

Reputation, profitability and customer satisfaction all hinge on accurate readings, meaning the maintenance of such equipment is vitally important.

Part of their upkeep is ensuring regular calibration occurs. While many presume this is an annual event, it’s the outcome that should dictate the frequency. The greater the risk of something going wrong, the shorter the period between tests should be.

So what is calibration and what are its benefits?

The Process

In short, this process involves a qualified technician performing what’s known as a Quantitative Comparison. A reference weight is placed on the scales and the disparity between its true value and that shown determines a pass or fail.

Calibration is a necessary ritual as degradation is inescapable. Balance and reliability are reduced over time due to a number of factors; accidents, dirt, environmental changes and overloads all have a negative impact.

Once calibration is successfully completed, you’ll receive a certificate that validates usage. This will include details on the data analysed, any issues that arose and – crucially – how they were rectified.

Yet while a certificate is welcome, you stand to gain far more from calibrating industrial scales…

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Benefits

The first and most obvious benefit is that subsequent weight measurements will be correct, affording greater accuracy across the board. The improved industrial processes that follow nearly always leads to increased profitability.

Your weighing equipment will be green lighted and deemed fit for purpose. This means you can operate safe in the knowledge there will be minimal deviation from what are deemed acceptable standards, a real validation.

What’s more the lifespan of any equipment is extended. Many faults can be remedied before they become unreliable and/or irreparable.

Equally as important, signs of aging and stress, as well as wear and tear will be flagged, giving you ample time to source replacements in advance of them giving out entirely.

Audits of this kind also ensure your business meets regulations governing the weight of products, vehicles and anything else that is measured in that same way. This, in turn, enhances the reputation of your business, which can be relied upon for accurate readings.

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Pitfalls

If those are the benefits of undertaking calibration, avoiding some common pitfalls is another reason to embark upon the process.

Indeed failing to calibrate can cause all manner of headaches in both the short and medium term.

Failing to pass audits, be they internal or external, leaves your business open to financial penalties, the like of which could cripple a small operation. Legal proceedings could be just as catastrophic.

Further negativity can stem from customer complaints, inevitable if your service falls below par.

Errors that occur as a result of you failing to calibrate scales nearly always lead to you repeating – and correcting – your work, at cost. The irony is many skip calibration believing they’ll save money. The opposite could in fact be true.

Elsewhere it always serves to rectify an issue before production gets underway, something calibration allows for. The alternative is painful and embarrassing product recalls that could further damage your reputation.

Finally, failure to calibrate machinery leaves you unprepared should it completely malfunction. Rather than have replacements to hand, you could suddenly find yourself unable to work at all and instead forced into unscheduled and expensive downtime.

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Responsibility

Solent Scales have written previously about companies deploying industrial weighing scales and the responsibility this brings. Inaccuracies brought about by a failure to calibrate could have far reaching consequences, some severe.

In the medical profession somebody’s weight will govern diagnosis and resulting treatment. This is something far too important to get wrong. So too are those readings taken in laboratories where prescriptions are prepared. Inaccuracies here, even small ones, can prove fatal.

Finally companies that rely on weighbridges do so to calculate product cost, as well as duty and tax fees. Scales that have not been calibrated but allowed to drift, short-change at least one of those two parties.

Evidently, calibrating scales is essential and non-negotiable. Not only do you stand to benefit from calibration but spare yourself all kinds of difficulties also. Moreover you owe it to the people that depend on your readings to ensure they’re as accurate as possible.

To learn more about the calibration of weighing scales and to arrange for a complete service click here.

 

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