The weighing process involves comparing the gravitational pull on an object with established mass standards to determine its weight. It is critical for industries with strict quality standards, including food & pharmaceuticals.
Automated weighing systems ensure that production adheres to set guidelines. These systems integrate seamlessly into existing manufacturing setups, reducing bottlenecks & boosting productivity.
Pre-Weighing
With the implementation of automated weighing processes, a company can streamline and improve production, eliminate bottlenecks, and ensure accurate measurements. However, a successful transition requires a carefully considered plan.
This includes evaluating existing operations to identify areas that would benefit most from automation. Once a baseline is established, the team should be trained in how to operate new systems and understand good weighing practices. This ensures smooth interactions and reduces the risk of human error.
Modern weighing systems often feature advanced software that not only controls the system, but logs data for future reference and analysis. In addition, they can help businesses comply with strict regulatory standards.
For instance, a Volkmann modified bag loading weighing station allows users to load ingredients or products in advance. This removes the need for precise weighing during the filling cycle and increases bulk bagging rates. This is particularly important for regulated industries like pharmaceutical manufacturing. It prevents costly errors, ensuring that medicines are correctly dosed.
Balance Validation
If you have a balance that requires accurate measurements, you need to validate the instrument regularly. It is a part of Good Weighing Practice (GWP) and ensures compliance with regulatory standards.
Regular calibration and performance checks uphold the highest accuracy and reliability standards in QC laboratory measurements, reinforcing confidence in data integrity. Aging and drift, two phenomena that affect the performance of analytical balances, can lead to inconsistent measurement readings if not detected and corrected.
Performance checks should be conducted using calibration weights of known masses traceable to a national or international standard. Usually, the test is performed using a load lower than the balance’s maximum capacity. Testing sensitivity is preferred, since the effects of eccentricity and linearity on repeatability tend to increase with load size. A sensitivity acceptance criterion of 0.05% is generally sufficient. The check weighing procedure should also be tared, using the tare button to zero the display to the minimum value.
Direct Weighing
Weighing an item directly on a balance is known as direct weighing. During this process, the balance is first zeroed (reads zero with nothing on the pan) and then a clean piece of weighing paper is placed on the balance and read. The reading is then subtracted from the initial zero reading to determine the mass of the sample.
It is important that the weighing paper be used only with analytical balances that can read down to 0.001 g or lower. If not, it is possible that the residue from one’s fingers will stick to the weighing paper and cause systematic error, especially when a sample is transferred multiple times.
When working with delicate materials, contamination control is vital. The Weighing by Difference method demonstrates superior accuracy and contamination control, making it the preferred technique for pharmaceutical and chemical applications. It is also recommended for jewellery and gemology, where small variations in mass can impact value.
Order of Addition
The order of operations is the rule that determines which arithmetic operations should be performed in what order. It is also known as PEMDAS, PEDMAS, or BEDMAS. The rule states that you must always do multiplication and division first, then add and subtraction. It is important to follow this rule when simplifying expressions because it ensures that you will get the correct answer.
Multiplication and division are given higher precedence than addition and subtraction because they have more powerful effects on an expression. They must be done after items in parentheses, exponents, and any multiplication and division within grouping symbols () or brackets [ ].
Many students mistakenly believe that they should do addition before subtraction because this is how they were taught or because they are closer together in the PEMDAS rule. If you are having trouble with this topic, it may be helpful to speak with a tutor who can help explain the rules of order of operation in more detail and provide practice problems to reinforce the concepts.