WIKA has been an internationally recognised partner for several measurement tasks for many decades. The product portfolio includes pressure, temperature, force and level measurement, and also flow measurement, calibration and SF6 gas solutions. In the following article, we would like to take a closer consider the measured variable of force. These five reasons show why force measurement is of particular importance.
Reason 1: Protection of people and machinery
Protecting folks from harm is the highest priority in virtually any workplace. Likewise, the machinery should remain undamaged to be able to minimise downtime and repairs. In this context, force measurement ensures a safe working environment, especially through overload protection. In cranes, for example, this prevents heavy loads from falling. With construction machinery and robots, on the other hand, uncontrolled machine movements are prevented. This can help you work safely, and completely harmlessly, close to sufficient reason for machinery. In production lines, for instance, the machinery is prevented from pulling, pushing or pressing unchecked, and thereby destroying both components and itself. Another example is port logistics, that WIKA offers a globally unique, certified system.
Added value: Safe working environment
Reason 2: Ensuring system stability and production safety
Just collecting data isn’t enough. The correct measured values are also required to have the ability to monitor processes seamlessly. Using Profitable in linear drives, for example, thus improves process control together with automation, while simultaneously ensuring quality. Force measurement also supplies the right data for the correct functioning of brakes and drives, conveyors, presses and weighing systems. A crucial point here is to lessen running costs. The higher the quality of the measured data, the better the data analysis. The planning of an instrument change is thus more precise, so that changing it too early doesn?t cause increased costs nor does unplanned maintenance cause longer downtimes. The savings in consequential costs alone shell out the dough many times over.
Added value: Full process control
Reason 3: Optimisation of production conditions
The savings potential, and therefore the maximisation of profit, have already been mentioned in the last section. Only through the optimal usage of materials and machinery can margins be increased. An integral issue in manufacturing plants is machine availability. As well as reducing downtime, the focus is on minimising maintenance costs. Among this are welding tongs. With one of these, the contact force of the electrodes could be precisely monitored through the use of tension/compression force transducers. In this way, optimum quality is permanently guaranteed and, at the same time, wear is minimised. Higher profits can even be achieved through saving time, for example, when containers are weighed ?on the fly?.
Added value: Maximum profits
Reason 4: Improving product quality and saving materials
Using force measurement in welding tongs ? as explained in the section above ? is an extremely good exemplory case of improving product quality and also saving materials. Force measurement provides the right data for the most accurate process control. Consequently, machine tool wear is minimal. In addition, force measurement offers a great many other areas of application. For instance, spreading fertiliser where this action is adapted to the soil conditions is one way to save material. This also protects the surroundings. Furthermore, it is advantageous to know the (supporting) forces functioning on mobile cranes. The vehicle?s centre of gravity can thus be calculated exactly, which means that the safety margin can be reduced. In cases like this, loads could be lifted further, yet accidents, e.g. due to slipping or tipping, can be avoided.
Added value: Lowering costs
Reason 5: Ensuring quality
Finally, using force measurement also offers many advantages in your community of quality assurance, which includes already been touched upon. On the one hand, the machinery could be optimally controlled by registering the force. On the other hand, by recording the values, live in addition to saving them for later use, conclusions can be drawn for specific batches. Furthermore, probably the most precise force measuring instruments meet the highest requirements, for example, in materials testing machinery or in medical engineering. Incidentally, WIKA offers a DAkkS-accredited calibration service for force measuring instruments.
Added value: Exact measured values
Note
Further details on our portfolio of force measuring instruments are available on the WIKA website. There additionally, you will find home elevators our calibration service for force measuring instruments. In addition, our brochure on force measurement: ?Force measurement is really a matter of trust? can be available. Would you like to buy force transducers? Inside our WIKA online store you?ll find some of our standard versions. When you have any questions about force measurement, please ask your contact person.
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