Customizing Access Rights on Balances Improves Productivity

Balance User Management - customizing access rights to improve weighing productivity

In today's lab, users often face an array of different applications they have to carry out. Some users may not feel confident in operating the balance, especially if they are inexperienced or where using a balance is not the main focus of their job, production line workers, for example.

Have I selected the right applications?
Have I followed the procedure correctly?
What if I change something by accident?

Such dilemmas may lead to hesitation, lack of confidence and inevitably errors. However, such problems can be easily avoided by setting up the balance with appropriate user access rights according to the tasks that each user needs to carry out.

By presenting different use cases, this application guide explains how customizing access rights to settings and functions for balance users leads to fewer errors and increased productivity.

Simplifying tasks for balance users reduces errors by ensuring users have access only to the functionalities they require to carry out their tasks. The user can start his tasks quickly and efficiently, helping to improve productivity. By logging in with a password, the user does not have to enter his details each time, again saving time and reducing errors. The user ID can be automatically logged on results printouts to meet applicable regulations, and Quality Managers have a clear overview of who carried out which tasks.

The case studies presented are based on real-life scenarios and demonstrate the potential for optimizing laboratory processes through the customization of user access rights. The user management functionalities on METTLER TOLEDO Advanced Level balances offer every company or laboratory the flexibility to customize the user setup according to their individual needs.

Four different case studies are presented, for a food manufacturer, a university laboratory, a car airbag manufacturer, and a chemical manufacturer. For one of the case studies, instructions on how to set up the user options are explained.

Example Case Study – Car Airbag Manufacturer

1 Quality Manager, 2 Production Engineers, and Several Shift Workers on 5 Production Lines, 5 Balances, Quality Control Check

A production site for car air bags has five different production lines. At the end of each line, the air bag assemblies are weighed individually on an MS6002TS precision balance. By measuring the weight of each assembly, this quality control check confirms that all parts have been assembled. The target weight has very tight tolerances. Sample IDs (the air bag assembly serial numbers) are read-in via a barcode reader. For safety and traceability reasons, the five balances are connected to a PC where all data is saved securely.

balance user management and access rights

The balances are used by various different workers across two production shifts. The Production Engineer and his deputy are administrators on the balance; they have full access rights to the balances and the setting up of the connected devices. He sets up a Quality Managers group that has access to balance settings, calibration functions, and target weights and tolerances.

The Quality Manager is assigned to the Quality Managers group and is required to use a password. Calibration is carried out on each balance once per month. The Operator group is given access only to the Simple Weighing and the Check-Weighing application with the pre-defined target weights and tolerances. Each operator assigned to the group has his own username and password, which is the same for other systems within the company for consistency. This enables the Quality Manager to check which operator performed each quality control check.

When the operator logs in, the Check-Weighing application starts directly. He doesn't need to manually enter his User ID, the sample ID is read in via barcode, and the date and time are recorded automatically. Having weighed the assembly, if it is within tolerance, the balance screen turns green to clearly indicate that it has passed or it turns red to indicate that the assembly requires further processing and re-checking. All results are recorded and transferred to the PC.

Using the balance is very simple for the operators, substantially reducing the risk of errors which is crucial in the manufacture of this safety-critical product.