Is there anything worse than sudden and unexpected production downtime?

It is both frustrating and expensive when production stops. That is why most manufacturing companies do everything to avoid this.

Inaccuracies, errors, or continuous overload can be challenging for the human eye to catch upon inspection or weighing. Weighing is only one process step in your production, but it’s an important one because inaccuracies can cost you a lot of money. 

So how do you avoid weighing errors and increase uptime in your production?

Choosing the right weighing solution will get you a long way. The optimal weighing solution will help minimize errors, minimize the need for maintenance, and automate your measurement process. 

The newest weighing technologies present tools to achieve more optimal weighing processes by giving you a better understanding of the errors and enabling fast and easy troubleshooting. 

Read on to discover how you can increase uptimes and performance in your production by using a digital weighing solution that helps you spot potential errors before they develop to expensive production downtime. 

Typically, if an error occurs using analog weighing instrumentation, production will continue until someone discovers the problem and then corrects the error. The slower you detect errors, the faultier products you risk bringing on the market. And that equals a lot of wasted resources and time, which in turn decreases your overall efficiency. 

Digital and Intelligent solutions, on the other hand, provide you with real-time insights into your production. Hence, you catch errors as soon as the weighing system detects the first inaccuracies. 

Modern industrial processes are digitally controlled, but most sensors for measuring force and weight still transmit analog signals (voltage or current). And there are obvious benefits in generating digital signals directly from the sensors concerning ease of integration, implementation, use, and maintenance.

At Eilersen, we develop, produce, and supply load cells with a digital output based on a worldwide patented capacitive measuring principle.

Our digital technology lets you locate if and where an error occurs. Analog load cells require individual adjustments, whereas digital solutions enable much easier calibration and commissioning. 

The intelligent setup eliminates the need for time-consuming installation instructions, manuals, and descriptions for standard applications. This again reduces both time spent and the risk of errors in the configuration of the weighing system. 

The weighing terminal will also provide suggestions and information for the following: Measuring time and filter setting for optimizing the performance of the weighing system, stability limit and zero tracking, system calibration and optional corner calibration, weight reading from each load cell as well as diagnostics and serial no. on all connected load cells. 

Conclusively, digital capacitive load cells eliminate drift and inaccuracy seen in analog circuits as the complete measurement chain is digital. 

Everyone wants efficient production, but do you know how to achieve it?

Here, knowledge is your greatest friend. 

The more you know about your production, the easier it is to make the right decision for the future. But that requires data. 

And it might be possible to manually keep track of your data if your facilities use very few machines. However, automation ensures accurate data tracking and gives you valuable insights into your production. 

The digital technology enables the integration of diagnostics in the load cells, which assures users that the weighing system always works flawlessly. And should something require service, you can easily and quickly troubleshoot and fix the error. 

All Eilersen load cells are available with both interface modules for direct connection to PLC/control systems and weighing terminals for local indication and process control. This means you can integrate your data directly into your PLC and get a complete overview of your production – in one place. This is highly beneficial in any production environment because it allows you to schedule predictive maintenance based on analytics.

Within pharma and biotech, an increasing number of companies use single-use totes, single-use mixers, and mobile vessels equipped with a weighing system for measuring and controlling the process. These are typically smaller tanks with volumes from 50 to 300 liters used between different processes or locations, which is why the tanks are constructed as mobile solutions. 

The mobile tanks are usually equipped with instrumentation to measure and control the process, and the weighing system is often one of the central components. 

Customer challenged by existing analog solution

A large American biotech company wanted to integrate a reliable and accurate weighing solution into their mobile tanks. Until now, the company relied on a solution based on conventional analog strain gauge load cells, unable to retain the required accuracy when moving the mobile tanks. 

Analog load cells require a mechanical installation kit to protect them from overload and sideload. The challenge is that when moved, the mechanical parts in the kit are easily misaligned, causing the permissible error of the weighing system to be exceeded. As a result, they had to calibrate and adjust the weighing systems each time they moved the mobile tanks, which led to high costs and doubts about the validity of the data from the analog weighing solution. 

The customer wanted a digital solution that could solve these challenges and at the same time provide better data collection for optimizing the process. 

Reliable digital solutions from Eilersen

The solution was based on the hygienic digital beam load cells (type BL).

Digital load cells from Eilersen do not require mechanical overload and sideload protection, thereby eliminating the risk of the mechanical installation becoming misaligned. This simple installation and the hygienic design of the load cells provide the great benefit that the mobile tanks are easier to clean. The end customer initially chose to convert one of the existing mobile tanks from an analog weighing solution to a digital weighing solution from Eilersen. After a trial period of several months, the customer decided to use only digital load cells from Eilersen. Today, the Eilersen weighing solution provides the customer with a stable production flow with fewer shutdowns, lower costs, and an improved bottom line.

Despite being used in highly durable scales and heavy equipment, load cells are often delicate, easily damaged components. And this is why many load cells require protective structures. 

Most weighing systems rely on mechanical parts to prevent the load cells from being damaged by overloads, side-loading, or torsion. The mounting kits and stabilizers built around these load cells are often cumbersome and prone to binding, often hindering smooth and accurate operation. Furthermore, these mounting kits are unsanitary, with potential entrapment areas full of cracks that make them challenging to clean. 

Eilersen load cells have a clean, elegant, and hygienic design that minimizes the potential for contamination. Generally, Eilersen hygienic load cells offer a significant advantage when working with the design of processing plants, as a simple, hygienic installation is ensured that does not require mounting kits and maintenance which, ultimately, means considerable cost savings and improved uptime.

Furthermore, Eilersen digital load cells are pre-calibrated from the factory and supplied with a cable that can be changed on-site and does not affect the calibration of the load cell, thereby facilitating easier installation and commissioning while ensuring a maintenance-free operation. 

Want to know more about the digital load cells from Eilersen? 

Eilersen Electric A/S

Kokkedal Industripark 4
DK-2980 Kokkedal
Denmark
+45 49 180 100
info@eilersen.com
www.eilersen.com