Product cycles these days are getting shorter and shorter, yet we still find some products that survived much longer than anybody imagined at the time of launch. Among such products is A&D’s UC-300 Precision Health Scale. This product was launched in 1990 as an entry item to the bathroom scale market segment with the intention of making this a flagship product for the category. The 50g resolution with industrial accuracy was (and still is) our key strategic feature.

To achieve this uncommonly high level of quality, we deployed bonded strain gauge technology, usually found only in high priced industrial weighing systems or scales at that time. Even today, the 50 grams resolution (or one part by 3,000 counts) for this category of product is the feature other competitors find hard to follow. For us, the resolution was not the issue; the manufacturing costs were the biggest challenge we had to overcome. Our engineers came up with an innovative design that drastically reduced the number of components without sacrificing accuracy. I still believe the UC-300 offers the best buy for the accuracy and resolution among all the products available for either consumer or industrial use.

This is a simple product compared to industrial weighing equipment, yet we are learning something new all the time, even today. While talking to a marathon coach, I asked what kind of scale top athletes use, "Accuracy is so important. When we started training runners at high altitudes, we used to bring a big industrial platform scale, but now we use a bathroom scale that reads 50g." I immediately jumped when said this. "That is our scale!" I said, "We are the only one supplying a precision bathroom scale." To my surprise he stopped me and said, "It is Tanita's." I was annoyed, because our marketing guys had told me that we are the only one offering a 50g resolution.

My belief in our guys was a bit shaky, but I hesitantly asked him, "How does that scale look?" "An interesting shape, I believe it has a shape of pentagon." "Does it have two switches? One yellow and the other green?" "Yes, the body is white or beige." "Nakajima-san, that is OUR scale. The only bathroom scale available with 50 gram resolution. We call it the High Precision Health Scale and the model number is UC-300."

He added that the Japan Amateur Athletic Federation‘s Scientific Committee recommends the UC-300 scale to all athletes, and that all the marathon runners are probably using this scale. They carry this scale with them when they go abroad to attend athletic meets. It is a thrilling discovery to know Japan’s top athletes travel with our scales, but why they don’t see our name is a blow to our marketing guys!

The 1992 Japanese Track and Field Olympic Team We received a certificate of appreciation with a photo of the team from the Barcelona Olympic Track Team in 1992, because we helped them readjust their UC-300 to the local gravitational acceleration constant. We should have known it that it is the scale for top athletes or Japan’s top athletes. Unconsciously, we knew it but didn’t know the name recognition does not come automatically. A survey among amateur marathon runners indicates that 56% of them would like to have a scale with 50 gram resolution. UC-300 may not be the best selling product but it certainly has a firm position in athletic communities and that is the very reason why it continues to sell steadily. It has long been a champion as a long term product, without us even realizing it until recently, which tells us that we have to do something to let the market know about this great scale from A&D.

You may address any comments concerning this editorial by email to Mr. Eto