my cheese is underweight!

squeaky

Yep, thanks for that. I was dragging up from memory and best part of twenty years ago, so I got close

It's all coming back to me now.

One job I had was packing frozen prawns. We had a super duper 14 head radial dataweigher that was a seriously smart piece of kit.

When I first started I couldn't work out why we had a consistent reject rate at the checkweigher of 10 to 15 percent. Fair enough the pieceweight of the prawns "could" affect things - but the weigher took care of it very well, so that wasn't the problem; and a frozen prawn sticking somewhere was very obvious and easily remedied. In fact, some runs were even worse!

I finished up spending hours watching the weigher and its display passing every pack with a green light only to watch it go down the line and be set aside by the checkweigher...

..and then...

Quality Control came along and ran their test weight over the checkweigher as part of their routine checks... then they hit the keypad and changed the settings. Burger me if the darn system didn't start dumping even more packs!

CLUE !!!

I asked the QC bod just what it was that they had done and they said that we were packing to minimum weight and the average for the packs was 504 grams and they wanted it at 502. So they had reduced the upper "pass" weight on the checkweigher.

But what they hadn't done was to change the "made" weights on the dataweigher (which was, in truth, perfectly capable of doing even better than their target) because a) they didn't think they needed to and b) they didn't actually know how.

So...

The dataweigher was making packs to a tolerance between 500 and 510 grams quite legally and properly - but the QC check weighing was rejecting any pack over 504.

<sigh>

I gave them a helluva ball rocking.

The packs alone cost over 7p each and they were wasting ten percent of them.

People were being employed to split the packs open and get the product back into the line quickly so it could be packed again - and the spillage rate was awful. And prawns ain't exactly cheap.!

As often as not, with the over-runs we ended up have to do (and pay for) running overtime.

I reset the dataweigher to make packs between 500 and 501.9 and it was like magic... the rejects stopped.

The really stupid thing was... if they'd done their sums they would have realised that the cost of the "extra" prawns was less than the cost of the packs! So they'd have been much better off if they'd just left the darn system alone. Sheesh

bingo_bango

Lol, gold star Squeaky if you can still remember TNEs after 20 years. It's a riveting subject

squeaky

Riveting!

Especially with help from QC as I mentioned in the post above. What really got my goat was that I just couldn't find anything "wrong" with the dataweigher. I couldn't work out why it "thought" it was making legal and valid weights only to have them rejected - and I was seriously beginning to doubt my ability to maintain (and repair when necessary) this machine. And I hate being beaten by machines!

It was even more fun when I was with an outfit making mayonnaise... and a whole lot messier if things went wrong.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

jings, you are all complaining about stuff being underweight, do you go back and say,

'Hey boy, why did you give me more than what I paid for, think I owe you some money'


Jolaaled
my cheese is underweight!


OP, why did you not start this thread as ' My cheese is overweight'.

410g instead of 400g, big cheese.

Is your glass half full or half empty?

Jolaaled

Thanks for all your posts, guys and great thoughts on the issue.

I have now had a reply from Dairy Crest..who have been very prompt, I have to say, in their response.

They have said that all packs are checked automatically, which does allow for some underweight products within strict parameters, so long as the average weight of a batch is ok. My pack was within these allowed tolerances.

They have sent me a voucher tho, which is great. I'm wondering if the 3% tolerances that some of you have mentioned, applies to all goods, or if it varies.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

so you got your freebies, well done. :j

Did they mention anything about the over weight ones?

Will you still be going to Trading Standards?

Will this be an all consuming pastime now, weighing everything when you get home from the shopping?

You might never have to pay for anything again, just live on free vouchers.

I like Cathedral City cheese nice tang to it, and Pilgrims Choice is another, but if you want a really good cheese, try Arran, or Orkney.

Not sure if they dish out vouchers though.

squeaky

Jolaaled wrote: »

I'm wondering if the 3% tolerances that some of you have mentioned, applies to all goods, or if it varies.

It varies... quote below from this site:-

http://www.nmo.bis.gov.uk/faqs.aspx?ID=23#144

What do I have to do to comply with the average system?

Packages must be marked with the weight or volume of the contents and packers and importers must work to three rules:
1. The contents of the packages must not be less on average than the nominal quantity (i.e. that marked on the label)
2. As a guide not more than 1 Package in 40 may contain less than the nominal quantities, by more than an amount known as the tolerable negative error. This varies according to the quantity stated on the package.
3. No packages are allowed to contain less than the nominal quantity by more than twice the tolerable negative error.

HTH

Freddie_Snowbits

ormus wrote: »

i got on the scales today. 11st 7lbs.
faulty scales agin.

i should be about 10 stones. ish.

If you have got the receipt take the scales back as they are clearly over reading