SameGram Invited to Join Development of LIW Feeder Dynamic Feeding Test Method

SameGram Equipment Co., Ltd. has received an invitation from the Pharmaceutical Industry Chamber of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC), a national industry association, to take part in developing a proposed association standard on the dynamic feeding performance of loss-in-weight (LIW) feeders. The invitation asks the company to join the discussions as a drafting contributor or reviewing expert and to provide input on test methods, test conditions and the reporting of results. Provisionally rendered in English as "Test Method for Dynamic Feeding Performance of Loss-in-Weight Feeders", the proposed standard addresses precision feeding in continuous manufacturing of oral solid dosage forms — an area closely related to SameGram's work in dynamic weighing, system integration and data traceability.

Why Feeding Consistency Matters in Continuous Manufacturing

A loss-in-weight feeder controls discharge rate from the rate of weight loss measured in a weighed hopper. It is widely used in continuous manufacturing of oral solid dosage forms and in multi-component precision batching for food, chemical and plastics production. In continuous direct compression and continuous granulation, feeding is the first unit operation: raw materials and excipients enter downstream equipment at set rates, and short-term flow deviations propagate along the line, affecting blend uniformity and final product consistency. ICH Q13 (Continuous Manufacturing of Drug Substances and Drug Products) and the corresponding Chinese technical guidance for continuous manufacturing of chemical oral solid dosage forms address LIW feeders as the feeding system, requiring evaluation of how material properties affect flow and process dynamics, and setting expectations for feed-rate disturbances, material traceability and diversion strategies.

At standards level, GB/T 46398-2025 "Loss in weight feeder", published in October 2025 and implemented in May 2026 under the National Technical Committee on Weighing Instruments (SAC/TC 97), specifies classification and nomenclature, metrological and technical requirements, inspection rules and corresponding test methods. It provides a common basis for equipment manufacturing and metrological acceptance. In engineering practice, however, manufacturers and users still evaluate dynamic feeding performance against their own calibration and test procedures. Test conditions, sampling rules and result reporting are not aligned, which limits the comparability of performance data between suppliers and equipment batches.

The ACFIC Pharmaceutical Industry Chamber is a national industry body whose pharmaceutical equipment committee is mandated to initiate and promote standards for the sector. The proposed test method is intended to build on the existing national standard framework and refine evaluation practice for pharmaceutical continuous manufacturing, giving the supply chain a consistent and workable basis for testing.

What the Proposed Standard Will Cover

According to the invitation, the proposed standard will examine scope and terminology, test rig and reference equipment requirements, test materials and test conditions, methods for feeding accuracy and flow stability, refill and minimum weighing point testing, and data processing and result reporting.

Refill behaviour and the minimum weighing point are central to dynamic evaluation. During refill the hopper weight rises, so the weight signal cannot directly resolve discharge and the feeder normally switches to volumetric control. Near low level and at the minimum weighing point, changes in bulk density and the relative effect of weighing resolution amplify control error. Static weighing accuracy therefore does not guarantee dynamic feeding accuracy or flow stability. Aligning test material characteristics, flow ranges, sampling windows and data processing rules — and defining comparable treatment of the magnitude, duration and recovery time of refill disturbances — is a prerequisite for a usable test method.

The value for the industry is threefold: a common baseline for equipment manufacturing and factory inspection; verifiable performance data for equipment selection, tendering and acceptance; and auditable evidence for process characterisation, equipment qualification and quality data traceability. A shared reporting language also supports technical exchange across the supply chain.

Why SameGram Was Invited

SameGram is a high-tech manufacturer of dynamic checkweighing and intelligent weighing systems. Its range covers dynamic checkweighers, automatic weighing machines, weight sorting equipment, foreign-object detection equipment, automatic labelling machines and integrated inspection systems, serving food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, electronics and logistics industries. Capturing, processing and reproducibly evaluating weight signals under high-speed operation, vibration and material disturbance is central to its engineering work: load cells, digital filtering and dynamic compensation algorithms, modular system integration, online weighing software and data traceability, together with on-site installation, commissioning and calibration.

The invitation extends that capability into feeding performance evaluation. SameGram will contribute an equipment-side test and validation perspective on the practicality of test conditions, the identification of interference factors, and the conventions used for reference weighing and data acquisition.

Participation and Outlook

As invited, SameGram plans to take part in the standard discussions and provide input on scope and terminology, test rig and reference equipment, test materials and conditions, feeding accuracy and flow stability methods, refill and minimum weighing point testing, and data processing and result reporting. This will be supported by field experience in commissioning, calibration and production-line integration. Subsequent work will follow the Chamber's association-standard procedures through the relevant discussion and review stages.

Building on this invitation, SameGram will strengthen technical exchange with pharmaceutical equipment suppliers, research institutions and end users, translate the resulting consensus into internal product testing, validation and customer support, and continue applying dynamic weighing technology to precision feeding and quality control requirements in pharmaceutical, food and chemical production.

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