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Digital Food Scales
If you are running a food market or deli,
having a state of the art digital food scale
is pretty much a given. In choosing a scale,
there are several things to keep in mind:
- The scale should have a “tare” feature. By
“taring” you remove the weight of the container
from the total weight charged to the customer.
On standard digital scales, you first put
the empty container on the scale, then press
a tare button. This will weigh the container,
then reset the scale to zero. When you remove
the container, fill it, and put it back on
the scale, the display will subtract the
container’s weight from the total.
- The ambient temperature can affect the reading
on a scale, an effect called sensitivity
drift. Be sure that the scale can adjust
(or be adjusted) to give accurate readings
as the warmth of your store fluctuates. Similarly,
be sure that the scale is certified to be
accurate within the temperature ranges at
which it will be operating. For an extreme
example, if you will have an outdoor sales
counter in Fairbanks, Alaska in the winter,
be sure that the scale will function properly
at minus whatever degrees.
- Pay close attention to the weighing capacity
of the scale, which is the maximum reading
that it can deliver. Depending on what you
expect to sell, and in what increments, this
is a key consideration.
- When testing a new scale, use a test weight
equal to its weighing capacity. Determine
that the scale gives consistent results.
- If you will be selling by metric weights
(grams), be sure that the scale can be set
for such measurement as well as for ounces
and pounds.
- An important feature of digital scales is
ease and speed of programming the price of
an item, by pound, ounce, kilogram, or gram.
See that this is indeed quick and easy.
- A digital scale that automatically prints
price labels (with or without bar codes)
is a great way to speed the sales and checkout
process, if your store is large and busy.
This feature also can help track inventory
and put a check on “shrinkage” (inventory
disappearing unpaid for).
Familiarize yourself with local laws and
regulations concerning retailers, including
those imposed by local departments of weights
and measures. These may have a direct impact
on what type of digital scale will be most
appropriate for you |
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