How Eilersen Load Cells are Transforming Weighing for BioPharma and other Life Sciences

At Eilersen, we enjoy working closely with distributors and end users in the field to continuously improve our products and provide the best possible customer support. To further explore how companies in the life-sciences industries are making use of our Load Cells & Weighing Systems, we will be presenting a series of interviews over the next few months.

We begin by interviewing Jim Bodle, President of Acuity Process Solutions, an esteemed process-equipment and solutions provider located in Massachusetts, USA. The Acuity team has a long track record of providing equipment and process solutions for some of the largest life-sciences companies in the world and are leading experts in developing custom weighing systems for a wide range of applications. In addition to designing novel stationary weighing systems for tanks and other fixed vessels and platforms, they feature a line of proprietary (pre-engineered and custom) mobile weighing carts under the brand name, AccuCart. AccuCart is a game changer for clients who can now engineer or re-engineer a process to be safer, more efficient, and often to have a much smaller footprint than was previously possible with a fixed scale. AccuCart is based on Eilersen load cells as they will ensure additional benefits to the end-user. Traditional load cell technologies have distinct drawbacks which can make them unsuitable for mobile applications, but Eilersen’s patented digital-capacitive technology is perfectly suited for this unique purpose, providing a robust, ultra-precise solution with minimal calibration requirements.

Highlights from our interview with Jim Bodle from Acuity Process Solutions, a long-time distributor, partner, and trusted solutions provider to various high-purity process industries:

Q: What was the problem you were trying to solve when you decided to use Eilersen load cells?

A: As the life-science industry increasingly adopts single-use technology and mobile equipment, they face challenges about how to best measure liquid volume.  Load cells are a great way to measure liquid volume, but mobile totes, carts, and mixers present unique concerns due to the extraneous forces that they encounter during movement in a facility. The traditional strain- gauge Load cells mounted on mobile application can lose calibration or cause frequent deviations due to old-style mounting kits and mandatory overload protection.

Q: How has Eilersen load cells helped you solve this problem?

A: The Eilersen capacitive load cells are very robust and can handle significant side-load, overloading, and torsional forces without concern.  They do not need mounting kits to protect them and do not lose calibration. This leads to fewer deviations and less downtime and offers customers a maintenance free weighing solution.

Q: Are there any specific features or benefits of Eilersen load cells that you find particularly valuable?

A: There are a significant number of benefits to our clients.  The reliability and robustness of the Eilersen load cells is substantially better than other technologies and the fully-digital measuring chain, ease of installation, and extremely hygienic design are critical to our life-science customers.

Q: Have you seen any tangible results or improvements since using Eilersen load cells?

A: Just the investigation into a deviation is a significant cost for a life-science customer. In addition, any product loss, or production interruption can be substantial.  We find that our clients see the reliability and savings to be so significant that the cost of replacing older strain-gage based solutions with the Eilersen system can be easily justified.

Q: How has Eilersen load cells impacted your business/organization?

A: Without doubt, Eilersen offers a product that is a market leader and their customer support is unprecedented.   We are confident that we are offering the best solution in the industry.

Q: Can you share any specific success stories or examples of how Eilersen load cells has helped you achieve your goals?

A: It seems to me that everyone in the industry has had at least one bad experience with load cells.  The majority of load cells in the US Life Science market are strain-gauge based technology which must be equipped with protective mounting kits that are locked out before moving the tank or tote. Eliminating the need for this saves time, money, and ergonomic concern, making for a more hygienic, reliable installation.  This issue is becoming more and more critical as the volume in the mobile applications increases.

Q: Would you recommend Eilersen load cells to others? If so, why?

A: Definitely.  We do it every day.