Weighing 101: Choosing The Best Weight Scale For Your Business
Overwhelmed by the scale of the weighing scale selection process?
Let us help you tip the scales in your favour
When it’s a weighing scale you’re after, you need the right tool for the job. The question is, which scale is up to the task? Whether you’re weighing cattle, crates, or coins, there’s a weighing solution out there to suit all needs, but poorly researched purchases can make for costly mistakes, slowing your operation, and directly affecting product quality, material costs, and your ability to meet compliance and trade regulations.
If you feel like your business has the weight of the weighing world on its shoulders, you need an expert on your side. You need Meltrons! With over 25 years of experience in the industry, we’re perfectly positioned to point you in the right direction.
This guide is designed to do just that, stepping you through the scale selection process so that your shortlist of weighing solutions perfectly matches the requirements of the weighing task at hand. The kind of solution that improves efficiency, minimises product giveaway, and ensures consistent, accurate results. Day-in. Day-out.
Weigh Up Your Options With These 7 Questions
1. WHERE IS THE SCALE GOING TO BE USED?
Where a scale operates is just as important as what it will be weighing. If not more so. From dusty, dirty factory floors to wet, wash-down environments, these conditions can greatly affect a scale’s real-world performance and projected lifespan, as can fluctuations in temperature, humidity, and air currents.
- Is the environment dirty, dusty, or otherwise harsh?
- Is it controlled and relatively self-contained?
- Is it susceptible to large or small variances in operating temperature?
- Is it exposed to excessive moisture or humidity?
2. WHAT IS THE REQUIRED CAPACITY?
Not all scales are heavy lifters, just as they also don’t all boast the finer precision required to accurately weigh smaller loads. That’s why it’s crucial to examine the maximum and minimum weighing capacity - including tar container - when forming a shortlist. This will also determine whether the scale requires overload protection.
Weighing increments are also vital. Larger, heavier duty scales may step up in increments of 100g, while smaller, more precise scales can get as fine as 0.1mg. Without the right setup, your chosen scale isn’t much more than a costly paperweight.
- What is the heaviest weight?
- What is the lowest weight?
- What is the required weighing increment?
3. WHAT IS THE SIZE OF ITEMS BEING WEIGHED?
The scale of, well, your scale of choice is an important factor. A Bench or Precision Balance scale will buckle under the sheer size of pallets, drums, or crates, just as it’s impractical to weigh fine powders or pharmaceutical pills on a large Pallet Scale. The footprint of a scale must match that of both the largest, and smallest, items being weighed.
- What is the smallest, largest, and average item footprint?
4. WILL THE SCALE BE USED FOR TRADE PURPOSES?
New Zealand law requires scales used to package and sell items by weight be approved for trade purposes.
This seal of approval guarantees that the scale has received a certification for compliance in accordance with the Weights and Measures Act 1987 and Regulations, as well as found to comply with weighing regulations governing trade transactions by the Trade Measurement Unit of New Zealand.
- Does the scale need to be approved for trade?
Find out more about Trade Approved Scales ->
5. WHAT IS YOUR BUDGET?
Size, scale, and weight are all important factors. Price is another. The right scale might not be the best choice for your business if it’s tipping the budget scales into the red. That said, the short-term savings of a cheaper option should be weighed against the long-term costs of cheaper scales needing to be replaced, repaired, or maintained more often, or if they simply don’t provide the desired results.
Though the initial outlay may be lower, the ongoing costs could end up being that much higher.
- What is the budget for scale acquisition?
6. WHAT APPLICATION OR INDUSTRY WILL THE SCALE BE USED FOR?
Technical specifications are all well and good, but the real-world use-case also needs to be considered when selecting the right weighing solution for the task at hand. These include:
Laboratories, Chemists, & Pharmacies
Common Tasks
- Formulation
- Counting
Recommended Scales
Where science is concerned, precision and accuracy isn’t just a plus. It’s a must. In order to guarantee repeatable results time and again, whether pill counting, compounding, or weighing dosages, you can rely on the dependability of a Precision Balance or Counting Scale to provide precise, analytical weighing that operates within a fine margin of error.
Agriculture, Supermarkets, & Food Retailers
Common Tasks
- Fruit and vegetable picking, packaging, and selling
- Point of sale
Recommended Scales
Whether it’s a customer buying by the kilo, or a supermarket chain ordering by the pallet, the commercial and financial success of businesses within the food industry hinges on the accurate weighing of produce. How else are you going to ensure you’re not giving away more product than you should?
The diverse nature of the food industry makes this a difficult choice. There’s a number of common weighing tasks - and environments - that fall under its umbrella. Particularly juicy, dirty, or messy products like potatoes or meats, for example, require regular cleaning, so waterproof and wash-down resistant scales should be considered.
Veterinarians & Farms
Common Tasks
- Pet and livestock weighing
Recommended Scales
Are you a farmer? Or maybe a vet? From weighing small domestic animals like cats and dogs, through to cattle, sheep, or pigs, there are a number of animal scales and weigh bars available today that provide the durability and precision needed to accurately gauge the weight of, and correct medication dosages for, the animals in your care.
7. DO YOU REQUIRE A CUSTOM OPTION?
Not all weighing tasks are created equal, and not all scales are made to fulfill all jobs. So if the weighing scale you need can’t be found in an off-the-shelf solution, then a custom option may be the right fit for you. Here at Meltrons we offer a range of custom weighing and load cell solutions, specially designed to meet your exact requirements.
- Do any of the off-the-shelf solutions match your requirements?
SELECTING A SCALE? IT’S SIMPLE
It might be one of the options above. Or maybe it’s a custom solution that’s created specifically for you and your business’s specialised needs. But no matter which option is right for you, you should now have a short list of quality weighing scale solutions that meet your requirements.
If not? Feel free to contact us and we may be able to further help point you in the right direction.
