How Can You Ensure Long-Term Accuracy and Analytical Quality When Choosing a Laboratory Balance?
One of the most important actions you will take to ensure your lab’s analytical quality is the careful selection of weighing equipment.
Choosing the right balance, however, requires more than considering specification such as maximum load, readability, and price.
While maximum load, readability, and price are important considerations when choosing a balance, there are additional parameters to consider that affect whether or not a balance is going to meet the needs of your process. Taking the time to do so is important, because quite a few models will typically satisfy maximum load and readability needs.
Additionally, while the budget is definitely a consideration for most labs, choosing the least expensive balance now may actually come with a hefty price tag down the line. This is because if accuracy cannot be obtained or maintained, or the balance fails at inopportune times, quality and productivity will suffer.
Thus, when selecting a balance, it is important to expand your criterion to include additional parameters, including:
- Smallest net weight—the smallest weight to be weighed in your process, and the minimum weight of the balance
- Required accuracy—the upper limit of the allowable measurement uncertainty of the balance
- Environmental conditions—the location where you intend to operate the balance
- Weighing application—additional process requirements may influence desirable balance properties
Each of these factors will help you determine which model is right for your use. It is up to you to decide the level of usability, security, and comfort necessary for your weighing operation.
While expanding your parameters for balance selection may seem daunting, the good news is that the universally applicable Good Weighing PracticeTM or GWP® from METTLER TOLEDO can help. This standardized scientific methodology offers you a framework for the secure selection of weighing equipment based on a thorough analysis of your process.
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