4 common causes of error in measurement of weight

The most fundamental element of manufacturing, delivery, procurement, and production is – Weighing.

But what if there’s an error in measurement of weight? Can you identify the errors?

Do you know how to overcome it?

We keep this repeating at an alarming rate because we do not want you to miss the point. The weight of the trucks measured determines profitability or loss for your business.

Take it this way – Your business needs you to get 10 trucks of load to your factory. You measure the weight and clear the material for production. What you missed is the 200 calibration errors your weighbridge machine has inherited in a period. In a month you end up losing 6000 kg of raw material for production.

That indeed is a loss.

If you lose weight, you lose money. That’s the fundamental.

We will take up 4 scenarios to help you understand the hidden thieves that keep stealing your weight. So let’s see the causes of error in the measurement of weight in weighbridges –

1. Position Matters – A truck scale or a weighbridge machine is a platform where the truck is driven in to measure its weight. The platform where the truck stands has load cells below it. These load cells send electrical signals to a junction box. The junction box calibrates it and displays the weight. Simple isn’t it?

It is to be noted that the same truck would weigh differently if the truck is not placed on the platform correctly. The truck would not weigh correctly if it is more towards the edges. That is called corner difference and that is an error.

Make sure that the error is nullified and that the truck weighs the same if placed on the platform be it edges or in the middle.

2. That pit has dirt/water – The two major factors that steal the weight where maintenance is a challenge are dirt and Water. If your pit has water or the load cells are covered with dust, it is very likely that the weight thieves are right down there and need to be removed.

3. The feel-good calibration – Nothing hurts business more than an outright wrong process. We get requests to calibrate a weighbridge based on another weighbridge machine. Why? –

• Because when the load comes from point A to point B they have to be the same. As the weighbridges in points A and B are located far apart and when there is fair transportation how can the truck measure differently at both points.
• Because one of the weighbridges is calibrated, we can just calibrate others based on this one.

The efficient practice is to get your weighbridge calibrated with proper weights and get certified. Simple!

Go for pre-calibrated digital load cells as that will reduce the effort of getting standard weights

NOTE:  it is very difficult and cumbersome to get more than 15 tons of test weight

4. The business of re-calibration – The habit of matching the weight of the load of the trucks leads to multiple re-calibration of the weighbridge by the person doing the weight reading. This is a nasty practice in business and causes the maximum amount of weight theft. And this is the exact reason why we introduced anti-theft within weighbridges. This mechanism not only prevents the re-calibration but also monitors the re-calibration (attempts) made. We provide a dynamic locking password which is not a standard so cannot be known by anyone. It is software-based and should be only given to a trustworthy person.

NOTE: If you let out the mechanism publicly to all staff then you can never know what is happening with your weight of the weighbridges.

In case you would like to know how we can reduce weigh thefts with our anti-theft mechanism then – tap on – Tell me about the theft mechanism in weighbridges.

We have realized over the period that “better safe than sorry” is a tested principle in businesses as well. Keep closer eyes on these common scenarios to avoid being robbed of your rightful weight.

Tulsi Weigh Solutions Pvt. Ltd is your one-stop destination for all your weighing solutions. It is one of the top weighbridge manufacturers in Kolkata and all over India. Your error in measurement of weight can be resolved by us by implementing modern software. With 70+ years of experience, Tulsi supplies 1000+ weighbridges all over India. We focus on quality and continuously strive to be updated with modern technology. Our experts offer uninterrupted services and on-time delivery. We provide on-time and uninterrupted services and efficiently solve our client’s issues.

Our top clients are:

• Tata tea
• Dalmia Group
• Shyam Steel
• Bajaj
• Rashmi Group

You can also visit our Slideshare page for – Who is stealing your weight (aka profit)