The Average Quantity System (AQS) Explained

10/10/2019
Quality Assurance, New Systems

If you are in the food manufacturing industry, you’ve probably heard of Average Quantity System, or AQS as it’s commonly known. However, just in case you haven’t heard about AQS or how it applies, let us bring you up to speed.

What is the Average Quantity System (AQS)?

In a nutshell it helps food packers to reduce giveaway on packed items while at the same time giving consumers an assurance that goods purchased are the correct quantity within prescribed tolerances.

Can you tell me a bit more?

There are 3 basic rules to remember:

The average net content in a sample from the production run of pre-packed articles cannot be less than the stated quantity marked on the packages
Allowance is made for a small number of packages to exceed a ‘tolerable deficiency’
None of the packages in the sample can have more than twice the prescribed tolerable deficiency.

You can read even more detail about AQS here.

Now that we’ve explained AQS, let us tell how you Loma’s CW3 Checkweigher can help you save money and comply.

How does the CW3 Checkweigher help?

By using the CW3 in Average Weight mode it will automatically ensure that you comply with these 3 rules. Average Weight Mode is a standard feature for the CW3 and can be enabled on a product-by-product basis.

How does the CW3 ensure that my batch is AQS compliant?

Once the batch size is defined and the batch is commenced it will continually monitor the average net content of all packs inspected. Packs that are underweight by twice the tolerable deficiency will be automatically rejected. Packs that are within the tolerable deficiency range will remain in the batch, provided that the average content remains above the declared weight.

What happens at the end of the batch?

The CW3 will automatically generate a batch report. This provides a statistical analysis of the batch, confirms that all conditions of AQS have been met and also details the giveaway %. Sample screenshots of the batch are shown below.