March 12, 2014

How Precisely Accurate is that Measurement?

Author: Stockpile Reports

Some of you might wear a pedometer, or some sort of activity tracker that measures steps taken, distance traveled, and calories burned. Those devices are imperfect— even when calibrated.

Yet, many of those devices claim to be accurate– even when the simple act of flipping a pancake is measured as exercise. Activity trackers motivate users to become more active, but how can those results be marketed as accurate?

Let’s talk about accuracy and precision. A measurement can be accurate without being precise; a measurement can be precise without being accurate.

Many people use the words ‘accuracy’ and ‘precision’ interchangeably.  Those words are different. Accuracy is the degree of conformity of a measured or calculated quantity to its actual (true) value.

Precision is the degree to which further measurements or calculations show the same or similar results. In other words, the precision of an experiment/object/value is a measure of the reliability of the experiment, or how reproducible the experiment is. The accuracy of an experiment/object/value is a measure of how closely the experimental results agree with a true or accepted value.

There are various degrees, or levels of accuracy. One can calculate to almost infinite degrees of accuracy and to many decimal places.

Ideally a measurement device is both accurate and precise, with measurements all close to and tightly clustered around a known value. The accuracy and precision of a measurement process is usually established by repeatedly measuring to a reference standard. 

Our customers tell us that conducting precise stockpile measurements is both expensive and time-consuming. This often involves working with a third party to to arrange hours of availability on-site for measuring– and then paying for the expertise and results. This makes it difficult to take precise measurements more than a few times a year.

The Stockpile Reports system provides highly accurate measurements. Our accuracy rate ranges cluster to within a few degrees of a precise measurement. We regularly test–and retest– so you can be confident about the resulting volume numbers from your stockpile reports. Our measurements are consistent and predictable.

Customers are also excited that our system is also convenient and affordable. It only takes minutes to accurately collect stockpile data with an Apple® iPhone® . Measurement results are available in hours.

Intrigued? Contact us to find out how your business can benefit from utilizing our service today.