Instead of being stand-alone units, scales are now integrated into more complex systems. It is important for the producers of scales and balances to keep pace with new technologies than can benefit the end user. Let’s examine one interesting new facet of modern technology: wireless communications.

The term “wireless” has become a blanket term to cover a wide range of transmissions that cannot be sent through wires. For our purposes, “wireless” means a method for devices to communicate with each other to create personal area networks.

There are different ways for these devices to communicate with each other, such as Bluetooth. Bluetooth is a frequency-hopping spread spectrum that dices data and transmits the pieces. It is becoming increasingly popular in connecting devices such as mobile phones, gaming consoles and GPS receivers. However, it can also be used to make analytical scales talk to each other.

Let’s assume that you are using RS-232-enabled analytical balances in a pharmacy setting. If you want to update the databases of these balances, you would have to scan the UPC code of the item in question on all of the balances you have. This takes more time than it would if all of the balances were communicating via Bluetooth. If this were the case, scanning the UPC code on one balance would automatically update the other balances at the same time.

Or let’s assume that you have programmed your pharmacy system to keep track of the quantities of each medication the pharmacy stocks. If the quantity of a given medication drops below a certain pre-programmed level, a Wi-Fi enabled system can send a phone message to the person responsible for re-stocking the pharmacy.

The range of uses for wireless communications technology can be wide-ranging. Imaginative solutions for a variety of issues in the field of scales and balances are there to be implemented, and the future looks bright for those companies who can best figure out what those solutions are and incorporate them into their products.