A digital scale is seen just about everywhere these days and they have pretty well replaced the older balancing scales that we were used to as children.
In the past decade or two, they have been improved beyond all recognition and they have been used to weigh enormous loads right down to tiny amounts of any particular product.
Since there are some sensitive areas where weight is important, these machines have really come to be relied upon completely.
In the pharmaceutical industry, capsules and tablets have to be weighed precisely to make sure that people only get what they are supposed to.
Indeed, any deviance from the prescribed dosage could prove to be horrendous or even fatal in some cases.
The capsules or tablets are sampled during the course of production and if any are found to be outside the accepted parameters, the whole batch must be discarded.
Although this is done for safety, the company could end up losing an inordinate amount of money for this reason alone.
Therefore, having something which weighs the goods absolutely precisely is very important indeed.
But it is not just medications that are weighed precisely.
Things like gold or gold dust have to be weighed expertly along with diamonds and precious stones of all descriptions.
Any deviance could cost the seller, or buyer, huge amounts of money for sure so it is here where accuracy is paramount.
Right at the other end are the huge loads, like ships and their cargos which also have to be handled with some care.
These vast weights are just over the top but there are machines which can weigh these too.
Take, for example, a truck carrying a huge amount of liquid petroleum gas.
Now it could be expected that the fluid would be measured by volume as it is being delivered but by weighing the whole thing, it is much faster and the fluid can stay in the truck until it is needed.
This is necessary for loads in transit where duty has to be paid at several borders etc so accuracy is the key to how much will be paid.
The truck itself is rolled onto a weigh bridge.
Each axle is weighed and the whole thing is added together.
Once the known weight of the truck is deducted, and this will include any fuel in the tank too, then the result will be the load that is being carried.
Although this may seem a little convoluted, this really is the best way to get an accurate picture of what is being carried around.
Further to this, the authorities can also tell if any of the cargo has been dispersed or added to along the way as well.
This is important if the goods are traversing a country since they are often not allowed to add or take out anything while in transit.
Finally, looking on the internet for suppliers of ultra accurate machines is a good idea since most well known brands are only sold through specified outlets.
This could also show up a bargain or two when sales are in the offing.