5 Ways Food Scales Maximise Efficiency in Food Production

Food scales are used in almost every step of the food production process. Why? Because they maximise efficiency by improving accuracy and consistency, saving workers time and effort, being conveniently portable and collecting data. This blog will go into more details on the five ways food scales maximise efficiency in food production.

1. Improve Accuracy

Accuracy is subjective. What’s accurate to one sector of the food production industry, such as packaging, may not be accurate to another, such as quality control. Therefore, each sector needs the proper weighing equipment. For example, you can’t use a precision balance to weigh a 50kg bag of flour. The size, capacity and readability aren’t compatible with your purpose. The bag of flour will damage the scale and not produce the results you need. A floor or platform scale may be a better fit for that application, however, a precision balance may be perfect for weighing the flour that ends up in a single box of brownie mix, as weighing is much more accurate than using measuring scoops.

When you have your perfect scale, you’ll receive incredibly accurate results, which is one of the largest goals when weighing food in the production process. Having accurate results then branches out to benefit other aspects, such as improved product quality and safety, since you can be certain you have the correct information for every step of the process.

2. Improve Consistency

Utilising a digital food scale helps guarantee consistent measurements – one gram will always be one gram, and weighing the same thing twice will produce the same results both times. Consistency is key in food production. If a consumer purchases two boxes of the same brand of crackers, for example, they expect each cracker to taste, feel and look identical. This comes from weighing out not only the same ingredients every time, but making sure each individual cracker is the same weight and size as well as each box being the same weight and size. Without the consistency that results from using a digital weighing scale, product quality would decrease tremendously.

3. Save Time and Effort

Digital scales save you time and effort in multiple ways. First, many digital food scales are constructed from stainless steel and feature an IP rating, especially if they’re intended to be used with messier foods such as meat or fish. Simply wash them down with water and you’ll be able to prevent bacteria, rust, and food contamination easily.

Digital scales can also be used to measure both liquids and solids without a scale dedicated to each. All scales can do this, but those with an IP rating help ensure that should those liquids or solids spill, the scale will not be damaged. The convenience of this feature streamlines the production process tremendously.

4. Convenient Portability

Besides the IP ratings, many food scales are operated by rechargeable batteries, which means that they’re free to be taken to wherever they’re needed around the facility. This is beneficial in a few ways. The first is that different sectors of the facility can share a scale between them, which ultimately decreases the need for multiple scales, saving you money. It also means that instead of bringing ingredients to the scale, such as those pesky 50kg bag of flour, the scale can be brought to the location where the bags are kept.

5. Easily Collect Data

The biggest fear of any food business is contaminated food making people sick. By taking advantage of a digital scale’s RS-232 interface, keeping detailed and accurate records of each time the scale is used, whether via a printer or software such as AdamDU, helps prevent this. Software and printers will collect data on measurements, allowing inaccuracies and mistakes to be caught and resolved as soon as they happen. Traceability and food safety go hand in hand, it’s much more difficult to have one without the other.

Our Top 4 Food Scales

Adam ABW-S Aqua Stainless Steel Waterproof Scale

Capacity: 4000g – 32kg

Readability: 0.1g – 2g

Toss on your messiest food products, Adam’s ABW-S offers IP68-rated protection from water and dust ingress, making it completely waterproof. In addition, its grade 304 stainless steel housing means durability and promotes good hygiene, as it’s easy to clean. Enjoy the ABW-S’s intuitive and responsive display that produces high accuracy weighing results in seconds. As of January 2023, the ABW-S also offers a 3 year manufacturer’s warranty!

Inscale IWW Waterproof Floor Scale

Capacity: 8kg – 300kg

Readability: 0.5g – 20g

For those who need a little extra oomph, the IWW is a high capacity floor scale that boasts an IP68-rated waterproof indicator and an IP67 base. Take advantage of the handy checkweighing function to set high and low limits, with the display changing based on whether you’re above, within, or below your parameters. Need a trade approved waterproof floor scale? Check out Adam Equipment’s Gladiator range.

PMB Moisture Analyser

Capacity: 50g – 200g

Readability: 0.001g – 0.01g

Moisture is important in food products. Too little moisture and the product may be tough and dry, hard to eat. Too much moisture is prone to fostering bacteria and not holding the proper shape. Helping you determine the right in-between is a job for the PMB. With a circular halogen heater lamp, samples will be heated and dried evenly, ensuring accurate test results.

A&D FX-I Precision Splashproof Balance

Capacity: 122g – 3200g

Readability: 0.001g – 0.01g

The FX-I Precision balance is a splashproof top loading balance, useful for wet-room environments if necessary with its IP65-rating. With its shock absorber function, you won’t have to worry about damaging the FX-I from overload damage, helping ensure a longer lifespan. In case you’re working with liquids, not to fear, the FX-I offers a hold function for accurate animal and dynamic weighing as well as percentage weighing for precise mixing and blending of samples.

If you have any questions about which food scale is right for you, Get In Touch with Inscale, and we'd be glad to help.