Certification of HBM load cells for the US market

HBM: A series of conditions must be met to bring weighing technology components to the USA market. A so-called NTEP certification (National Type Evaluation Program) is required, certifying conformance with the NIST Handbook 44 (National Institute for Standards and Technology). This institute is comparable to the German Metrology Institute, the PTB (Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt).

In order to obtain this certification, the weighing technology must be technically inspected and the scales approved on site. In addition, inspection and certification of the manufacturer's production systems are necessary and must be verified by a conformity certification as per VCAP (Verified Conformity Assessment Program). This is the result of an audit where primarily the quality assurance systems and other special statistical tests on load cells are assessed within the company according to Handbook 44. The audit must be implemented by an external body, e.g. by the NQA, USA.

The weighing technology manufacturer HBM passed the corresponding recertification audit for 2014 and can therefore also offer its load cell program for applications in the USA.