According to expert Celedonio Sainz De Urquijo, Regional Business Manager in APAC for Lab Weighing for Sartorius, based in Singapore, it is important to understand that a microbalance is “an instrument, not a tool.”
“Any industry where you are measuring, data integrity is of crucial importance,” he explains. “Violations of data integrity have led to severe regulatory actions, import alerts, consent decrees and fines. So, from a security perspective, weighing can be not only a scientific methodology, but also a legal branch” elaborates Celedonio.
Sartorius has been designing high-precision weighing instruments for over 150 years, developing close relationships with all the Metrology institutes around the world. If there is any wonder about how the size of a kilogram, a metre, or a minute of time is determined, these organisations keep the patterns for universal measurement.
When it comes to product, “There are less than five manufacturers of high-precision weighing instruments in the world, and we are one of the largest,” says Celedonio. “In 1972, our balances were used for measuring the samples from the moon landing.”
Sartorius supplies the full Cubis® II laboratory balances portfolio to Thermo Fisher Scientific, from ultra-micro to high capacity that can be integrated into any laboratory weighing workflow, offering customised packages for applications in pharma, quality control, food testing, chemical and research labs.
Workflow can be standardised by configuring software to follow a certain procedure like a QC laboratory SOP, which can be programmed to align with certain tasks or user profiles. From this, a weighing profile emerges and can be saved as a protocol for future weighing tasks.
Regardless of the industry, the Sartorius Cubis® II range allows users to weigh in on large-scale problems with a small-scale operation by extracting data seamlessly to any LIMS system.
The Cubis® II series includes individual sample holders, motorised automatic levelling, an integrated ioniser for elimination of electrostatic charges, and gesture-controlled draft shields. The control centre displays readings, warnings, errors, and environmental conditions.
A universal weighing system
The modular Sartorius platform offers a broad selection of capacity and readability options, draft shield types, and weighing pans. The software applications are also modular, built into the Cubis® II instrument to communicate the weighing procedures, so that correct data can be integrated into any LIMS system through common IT standard interfaces.
“If a customer has a very specific workflow, we can integrate that workflow and the instrument will guide the user step-by-step in order to complete the task,” says Celedonio. “The balance handles the front-end of the workflow with the user. Then the balance will send all the required data to the final LIMS system.”
“This is big advantage of our product because there is no required software between our balance and the LIMS system,” he enthuses.
Cubis® II has a variety of different modular combinations that can be tailored to suit the user’s preferred individual setup, while ensuring ease of use and simple workflow.
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