A Purchaser’s Guide to Buying a industrial Scale/Balance

Buying an industrial scale for your workplace is a crucial investment. Picture a production line suddenly stalling because one ingredient was off or a shipment getting rejected due to dodgy load data. It’s a reminder that accurate weighing isn’t just helpful it’s business-critical. From ensuring fair pricing in retail environments to guaranteeing precision in scientific labs, a poorly performing scale can lead to significant issues, from financial losses to compliance failures.

At Scales and Balances, we often get questions like “What does weight class mean?” or “Do I need a certificate?” so we understand that procuring the right equipment can feel daunting. We’ve built this guide to break it all down. No jargon, no fuss. Just what you need to make a confident, well-informed choice. Remember, shopping with a specialist third-party seller like us often gives you access to a wider range of product options and expert advice.

Quick Guide Overview:

This guide walks you through the essential steps to select the perfect industrial scale for your operations, covering everything from identifying your specific weighing needs and understanding different scale types to deciphering technical specifications, navigating compliance, and considering key features for seamless integration and long-term value.

Contents:

• 1. 1. Choosing the Right Industrial Scale: Start with Your Specific Application
     2. What Types of Scales Are There? Finding What You Need
     3. Understanding Scale Terminology: Capacity, Readability, Accuracy & More
     4. Other Scale/Balance Considerations: Part 1 – Connectivity and Environment
     5. Other Scale/Balance Considerations: Part 2 – Trade Approval and Certification for Compliance and Audits
     6. Understanding Weight Classes for Calibration
     7. Budgeting for Your Industrial Scale

   

Here are the essential factors to consider when purchasing industrial scales:

1. Choosing the Right Industrial Scale: Start with Your Specific Application

 The very first step is to clearly define the application. Ask yourself:

What will you be weighing?

1. 1. • Example: If you’re weighing small powders or very fine ingredients where precision down to fractions of a milligram matters, you’ll need a highly precise instrument like an Analytical Balance, such as the Ohaus Explorer Analytical Balance known for its exceptional readability.

1. 1. • Example: For heavy pallets or large containers, you’ll require robust Pallet Scales or Platform Scales. Options like the Ohaus FW Industrial Platform Scales + Ohaus DT33P Indicator are designed for this heavy-duty work, often with capacities up to 3000kg.

1. 1. • Example: If your task involves counting a large number of individual small items (like nuts, bolts, or components for inventory), a dedicated Counting Scale like the Ohaus Ranger 4000 Counting Scales with its piece counting mode will save you significant manual labour and reduce errors.

What is the typical weight range? (This links closely to the “What will you be weighing?” examples above.)

How often will it be used?

1. 1. • Example: For applications with high-frequency use or in demanding industrial environments, durability is key. Products like the Ohaus Defender 5000 Bench Scale are built to withstand harsh industrial conditions and constant use.

What is the environment like? (e.g., dusty, wet, sterile, prone to vibrations)

1. 1. • Example: If your environment is often wet, such as in food processing or chemical plants, you might need a stainless steel waterproof scale. A great example is the Ohaus Defender 5000 Stainless Steel Dual Range Industrial Scale, designed to withstand washdown applications.

How many scales do you need, and what physical space do you have available?

Understanding these factors will immediately help narrow down the type and size of industrial scale you need. For example, a scale in a busy shipping department will have very different requirements from one in a cleanroom laboratory.

2. What Types of Scales Are There? Finding What You Need

Industrial scales come in a wide array of designs, each suited for different applications and environments. Knowing the common categories will help you navigate our website and quickly find the scales relevant to your needs.

Bench Scales: These are versatile, compact scales designed for placement on a workbench, table, or counter. They are ideal for weighing medium-sized items, portioning, or general use in laboratories, manufacturing, or shipping. Many bench scales offer advanced features such as checkweighing (to ensure items are within a target weight range) or basic piece counting.

Find them on our site under: Bench Scales

Floor Scales / Platform Scales: Designed to sit directly on the floor, these robust scales are built for weighing large, heavy, or bulky items like pallets, crates, and drums. They are essential in warehouses, logistics, and manufacturing facilities, often used with forklifts or pallet trucks.

Find them on our site under: Floor Scales or Platform Scales

Counting Scales: Specifically designed for quickly and accurately counting a large number of identical items (e.g., screws, bolts, electronic components). They calculate the number of items based on the weight of a single piece, saving significant manual labour and reducing errors for inventory control, kitting, and packaging processes.

Example: The Adam GFK Floor Counting Scales or the A&D FC-I Series Counting Scales are ideal for high-volume counting applications in warehouses or manufacturing.

Find them on our site under: Counting Scales

Pallet Truck Scales (Pallet Jack Scales): These are integrated weighing systems built directly into a pallet truck, allowing you to weigh pallets as you move them. They offer excellent efficiency for logistics, shipping, and inventory management.

Find them on our site under: Pallet Truck Scales

Crane & Hanging Scales: These scales are suspended from a crane, hoist, or overhead structure to weigh heavy, oversized, or awkwardly shaped loads from above. They are commonly used in manufacturing, shipping, and construction.

Find them on our site under: Crane & Hanging Scales

Retail Scales / Price Computing Scales: These are trade-approved scales used in commercial settings where products are sold by weight. They often calculate the price based on the weight, making them essential for butchers, delis, and market stalls.

Find them on our site under: Retail Scales

Laboratory Balances (Analytical, Precision, Semi-Micro, Micro): While “industrial” generally refers to larger capacities, many industrial processes require high-precision weighing. These balances are crucial for R&D, quality control, and formulation/recipe weighing in chemical, pharmaceutical, and food industries, offering extremely fine readability.

Find them on our site under: Analytical Balances, Precision Balances, etc.

Moisture Analysers: These are balances that also measure the moisture content of a sample by heating it and calculating the weight loss. They are critical for quality control in food, pharmaceutical, and material science industries.

Find them on our site under: Moisture Analysers

Portable Scales: Designed for flexibility and mobility, these scales are lightweight and often battery-operated, allowing them to be easily moved between different locations or used in the field.

Find them on our site under: Portable Scales

3. Understanding Scale Terminology: Capacity, Readability, Accuracy & More

These terms are often used interchangeably, but for a purchaser, understanding their distinct meanings is vital.

1. 1. • Capacity: This is simply the maximum weight an industrial scale can measure. If you regularly weigh items up to 500kg, your scale must have a capacity of at least 500kg, ideally with a bit of buffer.
      • Readability (or Division): This refers to the smallest increment of weight that the scale can display. For example, a readability of 1g means the scale will show measurements like 100.001 kg, 100.002 kg, and so on, down to the single gram. A readability of 0.1g offers even finer detail.
      • Accuracy vs. Precision:
        Accuracy describes how close a scale’s measurement is to the true weight of an object. If an object truly weighs 100g, and your scale reads 100.01g, it’s highly accurate.
        Precision refers to a scale’s ability to consistently produce the same measurement for the same object under the same conditions. If you weigh a 100g object five times and get 100.01g, 100.02g, 100.01g, 100.02g, 100.01g, your scale is very precise, even if it’s consistently slightly off the true 100g mark.

Pro tip: “Don’t overlook tolerance and linearity.

This refers to the margin of error the scale might have across its entire weighing range. It’s often expressed as a +/- value, for example, +/- 0.001g. This means that a reading might be up to 0.001g above or below the actual true weight. In more affordable industrial scale models, the tolerance range will typically be wider.

On more advanced, higher-precision models or those with trade approval, this margin of error is significantly slimmed down. This stringent control over potential deviations is a key reason for their higher cost, as it guarantees a much more reliable and legally compliant measurement.”

Different Types of Balances and Their Readability:

The level of readability you need directly relates to the type of industrial scale or balance required for your application. Generally, the finer the readability, the more sensitive (and often more expensive) the balance.

4. Other Scale/Balance Considerations: Part 1 – Connectivity and Environment

Once you’ve considered the type of industrial scale and its core weighing performance, the next step is to think about how it will integrate into your operations and withstand its environment. These specific features often contribute to the scale’s functionality and durability.

Environmental Protection:

Do you need a stainless steel platform or housing for easy cleaning, hygiene, or corrosion resistance in harsh chemical environments?

Is waterproofing (often indicated by an IP rating, e.g., IP65 for dust and splash protection) essential for washdown applications in food processing or outdoor use?

Are dustproof displays or splash guards necessary in dirty or wet conditions?

Connectivity Options: How will your industrial scale interact with other systems?

1. 1. • RS232: A common serial port for connecting to older computers, printers, or data logging devices.
      • USB: For direct connection to modern computers, often for data transfer.
      • Bluetooth/Wi-Fi: For wireless connectivity, offering flexibility in placement and integration with networked systems.
      • Ethernet: For direct integration into a company’s local area network (LAN).
      • Data Storage/Export: Do you need the scale to store multiple weighings, or to export results directly to a spreadsheet or manufacturing execution system (MES)?
      • Label Printing Functionality: Directly from the scale, useful in packaging and logistics.

Each added feature bumps up both value and cost, but often, spending a little more upfront can save you hours of hassle and heaps of money down the road.

5. Other Scale/Balance Considerations: Part 2 – Trade Approval and Certification for Compliance and Audits

Compliance is non-negotiable in many sectors. Purchasers must be aware of specific regulations that impact their industrial scale choice.

Trade Approval (Legal-for-Trade / CE-M Approval):

What it is: This is a legal certification required for scales used in commercial transactions where the weight determines the price. Think of scales in a butcher shop, a fruit and vegetable stand, or packaging lines where products are sold by weight.

How it’s different from other certifications: Trade approval (e.g., CE-M marking in the EU) is a legal requirement ensuring fairness in trade. It’s about consumer protection and preventing fraud. It’s not the same as a calibration certificate, which is about confirming accuracy to a standard.

Impact: Scales with trade approval undergo rigorous testing and are sealed to prevent tampering. They typically cost more due to the additional testing and compliance requirements.

Calibration Certificates:

What it is: A document that confirms an industrial scale has been tested against known, traceable weights and is performing within specified accuracy tolerances. It’s a snapshot of the scale’s performance at a given time.

Why it’s important: Essential for quality management systems (like ISO 9001), regulatory compliance (e.g., in pharmaceuticals or laboratories), and simply ensuring your measurements are consistently accurate.

Types of Certificates:

1. 1. • Standard Traceable Certificate: This confirms that the weights and scales/balances used for calibration are traceable back to national or international standards. It’s sufficient for many internal quality systems and general industrial use.
      • UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) Certificate: This is a higher level of accreditation, provided by a laboratory that has been independently assessed and accredited by UKAS. It offers a very high degree of confidence in the measurement results and is often required for specific regulatory bodies, large contracts, or highly sensitive applications where absolute trust in measurement is paramount.
      • DAkkS (Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle) Certificate: The German equivalent of UKAS, providing similar high-level accreditation for calibration in Germany and internationally recognized.

Weighing related auditing Body examples (There may be more!):

6. Understanding Weight Classes for Calibration

When an industrial scale is calibrated, it’s checked against certified test weights. These test weights themselves are classified by accuracy, known as “weight classes.” The class of weight used for calibration needs to match the precision of the industrial scale being tested.

Common weight classes are defined by organisations like OIML (International Organization of Legal Metrology) or ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials). For industrial scales and balances, you’ll commonly encounter these OIML classes:

Understanding weight classes helps ensure that the calibration process itself meets the necessary standards for your specific industrial scale and application.

7. Budgeting for Your Industrial Scale

A good mid-range scale often hits the sweet spot. Plenty of useful features, solid performance, and great value. And while it might cost a bit more at the start, it’s a smart investment that avoids expensive problems later.

Finding the Right Industrial Scale: Expert Help is at Hand

Not sure where to start? That’s what we’re here for. At Scales and Balances, we don’t just sell equipment. We help you choose the right tools to match your goals, processes, and industry needs. Browse our selection or get in touch with our experts. We’re happy to help you find a scale that won’t just work. It’ll work wonders for your business.

Industrial Scale Buying Checklist: Your Quick Guide to the Right Choice

To ensure you cover all critical bases, use this handy checklist when considering your next industrial scale:

1. 1. 1. Clearly define your application: What exactly are you weighing, and where?
      2. Identify the right scale type: Bench, Floor, Counting, Lab, etc.
      3. Determine required capacity and readability: Max weight and smallest increment.
      4. Assess accuracy and precision needs: How close to true weight, how consistent?
      5. Consider environmental factors: Is waterproofing, stainless steel, or dust protection needed?
      6. Plan for connectivity: How will it integrate with your existing systems (USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi)?
      7. Check for trade approval (if selling by weight): Is legal-for-trade certification required?
      8. Confirm calibration certificate needs: What level of traceability/accreditation (e.g., UKAS) is necessary for compliance or quality control?
      9. Set a realistic budget: Balancing features, precision, and cost.

Blog written by the scalesandbalances.co.uk sales team with jointly over 100 years experience in industrial weighing. Updated: 17th June 2025

Read our comprehensive Industrial scales guide here:

Industrial Scales: A Comprehensive Guide