Multi-head weighers may seem like a very new addition to the technological landscape, but they actually date back a great deal longer than many might imagine. In the 60s, the problem of accurately packaging certain peppers made companies look into other options to remove the manual process and automate the act of packaging such goods. In the early 70s, the very first machine to accurately weigh and pack goods was launched, far outperforming even the most skilled of human workers.
The subject of automation within business can be a touchy one and when machinery replaces humans, there can of course be issues. However, this happens in all areas of business, all the time, and from answering machines replacing secretaries to computers, which replaced many assistants, the growth of technology does not always simply remove jobs, but instead simply creates new jobs in different areas.
By the late 70s multi head weighers were being used to weigh and pack all manner of different snacks, reducing the costs and time involved and also ensuring that accuracy was vastly increased. In turn, the chances of companies being fined for accidentally misrepresenting weight became almost zero, and by the mid-eighties remote controlled machines were turning many factories into automated units.
By the late 80s, the accuracy of these machines was up to nearly 100% and mixed bags could easily be packed and sorted without the need for human interaction.So, whilst the automation of packing may still seem relatively new to some, these weighing machines have been saving companies a fortune for decades.