News

Premier Scale Services (Pty) Ltd is excited to report that we have again passed our SANAS Verification Laboratory Accreditation audit by the NRCS! We strongly feel that this has been our most successful audit to date! Our Quality Management Duo works tirelessly to ensure that we remain compliant and efficient throughout our entire business and the results of this audit clearly indicate that with not a single major finding identified.

As a result of this audit, we are able to continue providing our clients with verification and repair services accredited by the NRCS and SANAS. We are therefore able to continue to provide our clients with the 2-yearly Verification Certificate on trade approved scales as well as repair these scales. We hope to within the next year to increase our scope of accreditation to offer more services to our loyal customers.

Why do we maintain our vehicles but not our scales? It is clear that preventive maintenance of cars has a beneficial impact on their performance and lifespan. The same principle applies to your scale too, often small faults are overlooked or ignored, over time these lead to serious damage which can be costly to repair and cause significant downtime. Preventive maintenance in combination with calibration is the most economical approach to ensuring productive and accurate equipment performance. Preventive maintenance is designed to avoid breakdowns through regular monitoring of equipment deterioration and restoring equipment to proper condition. The most important reason for a preventive maintenance program is reduced costs through reduced frequency of equipment breakdowns and extension of equipment life.

Reactive maintenance may be described as an approach where equipment is allowed to run until failure, when it is then either repaired or replaced it could be very costly and time consuming. Disadvantages include poor production planning and a higher risk of weighing errors which leads to a higher scrap output and reduced efficiencies. Overall maintenance costs tend to increase as well, as emergency repairs take place at higher costs.

Contact us today to discuss a service maintenance contract, in the long run you may save a lot on maintenance.

The DTI and NRCS have had their final stakeholder meetings on the Draft Legal Metrology Regulations. These Regulations cover weight, volume, measurement, and many other areas but our focus is obviously on weight. Many industry bodies, companies and interested parties attended these stakeholder meetings. Whilst a large number of concerns were raised, it was made clear to us by DTI and NRCS that they would not be making any further changes to the Regulations. We can expect these Regulations to come into effect in 12-18months time with far reaching consequences to industry. Below are some of the most important changes in our assessment;

1. Registration;

Henceforth, all companies which in any way sell, manufacture, import, repair, calibrate etc. weighing equipment must register with NRCS and report certain information to them. The how and why of this is very unclear, as are the costs of registration. We are also not certain what information they will require from us, once this has been made clear we will be able to assess if/how this will affect client confidentiality and advise accordingly.

Whilst we support this move as it will assist in cleaning up the industry, as always, the devil is in the detail and we await to see how the NRCS will implement. What is clear is that we will be paying additional fees. 

2. Amendments of Technical Regulations;

I will not go into too much detail regarding the changes to Technical Regulations, except to say that reading between the lines it seems as though the DTI/NRCS is aiming to bring an end to the use of mechanical scales for trade/prescribed purposes. We urge clients to consider their choices carefully when making decisions regarding the purchase of mechanical scales. The largest impact of this will be felt in industries that weigh products in hazardous areas such as LPG gas depots, as EX approved equipment is extremely expensive.

3. Split of repairs and Verifications.

This is arguably the most controversial and far reaching of the regulations. In simple terms, all companies and their Technicians must now register as Repair Bodies with NRCS (no indication of costs yet). A Technician who conducts a repair may not Verify the same scale, but must issue a repair certificate and then submit the equipment to a separate Verification Officer for Verification. In practice this means that our teams will now need to comprise of a Repair Technician AND a Verification Officer. Two qualified Technicians per call out instead of the current one. There are also significant administrative requirements for Repairers, similar to what we now have for Verifications. All this adds up to significant increases in costs for us and our clients. We are working on several initiatives to try and keep costs down and will discuss these with each customer over the next year.

4. Penalties for non-compliance.

The new Regulations have dramatically increased the powers of NRCS in ensuring compliance. They now have far ranging powers and below are just some of the penalties which can be implemented;

1. Seizure of equipment
2. Destruction of equipment
3. Returning product to country of origin at owners cost
4. Prison terms

We urge all clients to familiarise themselves with the terms of the new Regulations as soon as possible as there are some fundamental changes which will affect almost every industry.  As we find out more information or receive clarity from NRCS we will keep you informed.

Premier Scale Services has partnered with Adam Equipment in the distribution of their products in South Africa. Adam Equipment offers a comprehensive selection of precision balances, analytical balances and moisture analyzers created for laboratories. Durable construction and smart features make Adam balances ideal for all lab applications, including weighing chemicals, pharmaceutical processing and quality control checking. Designed for laboratory professionals, Adam’s digital balances and moisture analyzers are easy to set up and operate, providing reliable weighing results and simplifying complex measurement tasks.

• Research and development laboratories rely on Adam Equipment balances for weighing chemicals, powders and other samples.
• Pharmaceutical labs use analytical and precision balances for research and development, for quality control during production, and in pilot testing.
• Adam balances and moisture analyzers make it simple for materials testing labs to verify construction substances, such as concrete or asphalt.
• Food processing and manufacturing facilities use Adam lab balances in quality assurance testing, to achieve consistent production quality and to ensure items meet standards.
• Digital balances and scales are used in forensics labs to weigh evidence seized during crime investigations.

Researchers and lab professionals worldwide turn to Adam for laboratory weighing solutions that deliver speed, performance and exceptional value. Should you be in need of these or any other products for weighing please contact Premier Scale Services.

Weighing is an often forgotten, behind the scenes activity, which most people rarely think about. When people think about weighing they immediately think about their bathroom scale, but have you considered how many products you use every single day that are sold by weight? Food, drinks, gas, cleaning products, medicines, virtually every product you use, eat or drink needs to be measured and a large portion of these are measured by weight.

In South Africa the law governing standards for weighing (Legal Metrology Act) is amongst the best in the world. Unfortunately many people do not know the law and therefore do not know their rights and responsibilities. In today’s blog I would like to deal specifically with one aspect of the law : Verification of scales.

Whilst there are a whole host of rules and regulations around Verification, I will try and cover a few which affect most people and stick to “layman’s” terms as far as possible.

1. Which scales require Verification? There is a long list but for purposes of this blog, any scale which is used to buy/sell any product.
2. Which scales must be Verified? All scales that have been approved by SANAS for trade use, whether or not they are being used for trade purposes.
3. Who can Verify my scales? Only an accredited Verification Officer who works for an accredited Verification Laboratory may Verify your scales. Make sure your scale supplier is accredited.
4. How often must my scales be Verified? Every 2 years, or if the scale has been repaired.
5. What is Verification? Verification firstly checks that the scale and all its components comply with the requirements of the law and its approval by SANAS. Secondly, the accuracy of the scale is checked and thirdly, the scale is sealed and made safe from tamper (as far as possible). Ultimately a Verified scale is a trusted scale.
6. What happens if I don’t Verify my scales? The NRCS has inspectors which regularly visit businesses to do inspections. Non-compliance can lead to fines, legal action, work stoppages, confiscation and even criminal charges. Not to mention damage to one’s reputation.
7. How do I know if the scale has been Verified? Any scale which has been Verified must have a Verification Certificate available for viewing on demand, there must be an un-removable sticker on the scale and the scale must be sealed.
8. Examples of businesses which must use Verified scales; butcheries, green grocers, supermarkets, scrap yards, gas depots, manufacturing companies and many more.

The law is there to protect all of us, let’s work together to keep South Africa great by complying with these laws. If you suspect that someone is breaking the law report them immediately to the NRCS.

Premier Scale Services is an accredited Verification Laboratory please feel free to contact us for any assistance regarding Verification of your scales.