5 Bench Scales That Help Improve Production Quality Control
Production quality control is a critical aspect of the manufacturing process, and bench scales are a big help. This blog will discuss why bench scales are so important for production quality control, and the top 5 bench scales we recommend for the job.
What are Bench Scales?
Bench scales are weighing scales that are compact enough to fit comfortably on a working bench-top table. They typically offer capacities between 4kg and 120kg and offer a variety of applications beyond weighing that make them very versatile tools for production quality control.
What is Production Quality Control?
Production quality control is the practice of ensuring that each product consistently meets specifications, like weight, before being sent to market.
Why are Bench Scales so Important for Production Quality Control?
Bench scales are ideal for production quality control for a variety of reasons, including helping meet weight standards, maintaining weight records and complying with legal requirements.
Meeting Weight Standards
Checkweighing is a particularly helpful application on many bench scales that lets you set high and low weight limits. When you put an item on the weighing pan, the scale will let you know whether the item is above, within or below those limits. This is excellent for quality control, which involves weight testing products to guarantee that they’re within standards. Simply pick up a small but consistent sample of product and weigh them regularly. If the product is below or above the set limits, they can be removed from production, so they don’t have the potential to cause problems in the market.
Maintaining Weighing Records
An extra feature that’s important to point out is when a bench offers a variety of connectivity options. Many offer RS-232 and USB interfaces, while others, like Adam’s BTT Touch-Screen Label Printing Scales, offer Ethernet as well. This is excellent for connecting with printers, LIMS, relays or data collection software like Adam DU to transfer and record data. Maintaining weight data during the production quality control process is extremely crucial for traceability. When a product isn’t within weight standards, it may be a one-off issue, but it may also be a batch-wide problem. Having a thorough record of weight readings can help determine whether to toss a batch or stop production.
Complying with Legal Requirements
According to the Weights and Measures (Packaged Goods) Regulations 2006, there are three rules that packers must comply with:
- The contents of the packages must not be less on average than the nominal quantity
- The proportion of packages which are short of the stated quantity by more than a defined amount (the ‘tolerable negative error’) should be less than a specified level
- No package should be short by twice the tolerable negative error
Essentially, it’s not labelling packaged goods by weight is illegal, and it’s also illegal for your packaged good to weigh less than your label states. Since you don’t want to pay a hefty fine OR overfill, you’d better have a good bench scale to ensure your goods fall in line at the end of production!
Top 5 Best Bench Scales for Production Quality Control
1. Cruiser CKT Bench Checkweighing Scale
Capacities: 4kg – 48kg
Readabilities: 0.1g – 2g
Adam’s Cruiser CKT Bench Checkweighing scale features a bright backlit display that changes colour when a product is above, within or under your set checkweighing limits. Designed for frequent checkweighing, the CKT offers a full numeric keypad for typing in custom limits, and for reaching common settings. Unlike other checkweighing scales, the CKT can store up to ten preset checkweighing high/low limits to improve efficiency, perfect for production quality control.
2. GBK-Plus Bench Checkweighing Scales for Production Quality Control
Capacities: 8kg – 120kg
Readabilities: 0.1g – 5g
When visibility is your biggest requirement, the GBK-Plus Bench Checkweighing Scales fit the bill. The GBK-Plus boasts 40mm-tall digits and a colour-changing display that you can use on the default pillar or mount on a wall. See your results in barely a glance! In addition, GBK-Plus checkweighing scales offer 120 hours of battery life. This is perfect when you need to weigh on different production lines throughout the day.
3. GBK-S Bench Checkweighing Scales
Capacities: 8kg – 120kg
Readabilities: 0.1g – 5g
The GBK-S Bench Checkweighing Scales are an alternative to the GBK-Plus. It offers the same 40mm-tall digits and colour-changing backlight, but a simpler interface. This is an excellent choice when checkweighing for production quality control is only one of the functions it needs to perform, while it does regular weighing most of the time.
4. Gladiator IP68 Waterproof Scale for Production Quality Control
Capacities: 8kg – 75kg
Readabilities: 0.2g – 2g
For those who need durability in a different way, you can’t do better than Gladiator Bench Scales. With an IP68-rating, Gladiator scales are protected against liquid and solid ingress. This makes it ideal for performing quality control checks on bags of flour, sugar, or liquids like fizzy drinks. Along with its extra protection, the Gladiator features a colour-changing backlight for checkweighing as well as two platform sizes for their bench scale range.
5. FOB-LM Approved Stainless Steel IP67 Washdown Scale
Capacities: 1.5kg – 15kg
Readabilities: 0.5g – 5g
Kern’s FOB-LM bench scale is four-in-one; compact, trade approved, waterproof and features a colour-changing backlight for checkweighing. Small and uncomplicated, the FOB-LM is easy to operate and is ideal for production lines with small products.
Production quality control is crucial for selling high quality products that will keep your company in good standing. That means you need the right bench scale. Contact our team, we’ll help you choose.
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