Article: Digital Weighing Technology in the Food Industry Article: Digital Weighing Technology in the Food Industry | HBM

Digital Weighing Technology in the Food Industry

Digital strain gauge based load cells are more rugged, more durable and cheaper than load cells based on electromagnetic force compensation (EFC).They ensure greater productivity for almost any application in the food industry.

By digitizing manufacturing processes, the Industrial Internet of Things can lead to great efficiency and productivity gains in the food and packaging industries. Digital weighing technology in particular offers enormous potential for determining filling quantities quickly and precisely, which can lead to major savings – several million Euros annually in some cases – as demonstrated by the example of a coconut milk producer in Shanghai. Previous analog weighing technology can also be digitized easily and reliably using transducer electronics and integrated on a single platform.

Companies in the food and packaging industries are required to comply with the provisions of the EU prepackaging directive 76/211/EEC. The German pre-packaging regulation (§ 22 FPackV) contains clear requirements in this regard: On average, the quantity must not be less than the nominal prepackaging capacity This means that in practical terms, the producer is always free to overfill, but of course including less than the indicated quantity is critical. For example, if chocolate bars need to weigh 100 g, then only 2% of the bars can be lighter than 95.5 g and none lighter than 91 g. The result of this strict regulation is that many food producers work with expensive overfilling. This can add up to major additional costs, especially with premium products such as olive oil, ice cream and cosmetics. Underfilled products are also rejected, which results in more expense, additional processes and the associated costs. These inaccuracies can be prevented with a more precise, reliable weighing technology as early as the filling and metering phase and no later than in the checkweighers at the end of the production line.