| By :
Stewart Wrighter
These days, people are very used to the digital scales that are apparent just about anywhere where goods are sold by weight. Indeed, scales have improved in the last decade or two and these days, this handy equipment can even weigh miniscule amounts of just about anything at all. This is particularly useful in the pharmaceutical industry where a tiny difference can mean the difference between life and death. Indeed, manufacturers who produce capsules filled with any drugs have to adhere to some very strict guidelines. Every batch that is produced will have several samples weighed and if over a certain amount show differences outside certain parameters, then the whole batch has to be discarded. This used to be done by hand, as did the filling of said capsules, but the machinery of today not only fills the capsules, it weighs them while they are traveling to be packed into blister packs too. Anything which does not come up to par is immediately blown out of the line and sent to the waste bin. Then, of course, comes the precious stones and metals which cost literally thousands of dollars per small amount. Imagine having a machine which is not accurate weighing out something as valuable as diamonds? This could be disastrous from both the buyer and seller point of view so these machines re-calibrated on a regular basis for sure. Going from the very tiny amounts weighed as described, even huge loads have to be weighed too. This is done by machines which are normally set right into the road. Trucks that are hauling some commodity will be driven onto the machine, one axle at a time, and each is added to the total. Once the weight of the truck and any fuel has been deducted from the total, the weight of what is being carried is found. This can hold true for solid goods or even liquid petroleum products or milk. By doing it this way, the goods delivered do not have to be measured by liter or gallon since the weight is already known. It used to be, many years ago, that a balance was created to weigh different items, perhaps in a shop for example. This rather crude and imprecise method has really gone out of fashion. But one thing that it had going for it is that no power was needed to operate it. These days, if there is a power cut then everything comes to a grinding halt! The most common machines are probably those that we see every day in supermarkets. It not only weighs the goods, they also print out a ticket with the weight, cost per kilo or pound, and finished price of what we have put in the bag. This is also linked to the computer system so that the store buyer knows when to order more goods for the shelves. This is particularly handy for fresh goods and makes sure that nothing is put out to perish if it can stay in the cold store longer.
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