Calibration is the validation of specific measurement techniques and equipment. At the simplest level, calibration is a comparison between measurements; one of known magnitude or correctness made or set with one device and another measurement made in a similar way with a second device.
Learn more about calibration management from A-Star Calibrations.
What is the Typical Calibration Process like?
1. We notify our customer that equipment is due for calibration.
2. We pick up the equipment and bring it back to the lab.
3. The equipment goes through shipping and receiving. We create documentation required for the calibration (checking equipment into the lab, creating work orders, etc.)
4. The equipment is temperature stabilized by sitting in the lab for 24 hours.
5. The calibration technician does an “as found” test and documents the results on the work order.
6. If the calibration is found to be within standards during the as-found testing, it passes and the tech cleans and labels the equipment. If the calibration is found to be out of specification during the as-found testing, the equipment is judged to be repaired or adjusted. Repair: Fixed in the shop if possible. If not, the customer is notified and a plan of action is established, oftentimes resulting in sending the equipment to another facility. Adjustment: Minor fixes. A second calibration is performed after the repair or adjustment has been made the equipment will remain as an “as found” calibration and the results are recorded. The equipment is cleaned and labeled if it passes the second calibration.
7. Equipment returns to shipping and receiving and prepares to be returned to the customer.
8. Paperwork goes through invoicing and quality control.
9. Equipment, certificates of calibration and invoices are delivered to the customer.
Why Calibrate?
“I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about and express it in numbers you know something about it; but when you cannot express it in numbers your knowledge is a meager and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge but you have scarcely, in your thoughts, advanced to the stage of science, whatever the matter may be.” -British scientist Lord Kelvin (William Thomson 1824-1907), quoted from his lecture to the Institution of Civil Engineers, May 3, 1883.
Equipment naturally out of specification as stress is placed on it through use and age. Equipment can oftentimes be repaired as it drifts out of calibration, particularly when it is regularly monitored, preventing permanent damage. When you calibrate equipment, it provides confidence that your products and services meet expectations and specifications; it optimizes your resources, assures consistency in your product, and increases production rates.
How are Calibration Intervals Determined?
The owner of the instrument or equipment determines the interval of calibration based on manufacturer recommendations, the required accuracy vs. the actual accuracy, performance history of the instruments, the owner’s in-house standards and preferences, and other factors.
A Calibration laboratory can help recommend intervals, but are not as familiar with the details of the instruments application as the owner. Consultations from trained calibrators can provide insight on how to maintain productivity levels and protect equipment.
What is Calibration Traceability?
Calibrations need to be done on a scheduled, periodic basis with evidence of the comparison results being recorded and maintained. Records of calibration must include identification of the specific standards used, as well as the methods/conditions used in the calibration process. These records should demonstrate an uninterrupted chain of comparison that ends with the national standards. This demonstrable relationship to national standards, with known accuracy, is known as traceability.
What is Uncertainty?
Uncertainty is an estimate of the possible error in a measurement. More precisely, it’s an estimate of the range of values that contain the true value of a measured quantity. Uncertainty is usually reported in terms of the probability that the true value lies within a state range of values. For the sake of analysis, the lack of knowledge is often considered to be normally distributed around the nominal value of the measure.
Learn more about calibration management from A-Star Calibrations.
What is the Typical Calibration Process like?
1. We notify our customer that equipment is due for calibration.
2. We pick up the equipment and bring it back to the lab.
3. The equipment goes through shipping and receiving. We create documentation required for the calibration (checking equipment into the lab, creating work orders, etc.)
4. The equipment is temperature stabilized by sitting in the lab for 24 hours.
5. The calibration technician does an “as found” test and documents the results on the work order.
6. If the calibration is found to be within standards during the as-found testing, it passes and the tech cleans and labels the equipment. If the calibration is found to be out of specification during the as-found testing, the equipment is judged to be repaired or adjusted. Repair: Fixed in the shop if possible. If not, the customer is notified and a plan of action is established, oftentimes resulting in sending the equipment to another facility. Adjustment: Minor fixes. A second calibration is performed after the repair or adjustment has been made the equipment will remain as an “as found” calibration and the results are recorded. The equipment is cleaned and labeled if it passes the second calibration.
7. Equipment returns to shipping and receiving and prepares to be returned to the customer.
8. Paperwork goes through invoicing and quality control.
9. Equipment, certificates of calibration and invoices are delivered to the customer.
Why Calibrate?
“I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about and express it in numbers you know something about it; but when you cannot express it in numbers your knowledge is a meager and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge but you have scarcely, in your thoughts, advanced to the stage of science, whatever the matter may be.” -British scientist Lord Kelvin (William Thomson 1824-1907), quoted from his lecture to the Institution of Civil Engineers, May 3, 1883.
Equipment naturally out of specification as stress is placed on it through use and age. Equipment can oftentimes be repaired as it drifts out of calibration, particularly when it is regularly monitored, preventing permanent damage. When you calibrate equipment, it provides confidence that your products and services meet expectations and specifications; it optimizes your resources, assures consistency in your product, and increases production rates.
How are Calibration Intervals Determined?
The owner of the instrument or equipment determines the interval of calibration based on manufacturer recommendations, the required accuracy vs. the actual accuracy, performance history of the instruments, the owner’s in-house standards and preferences, and other factors.
A Calibration laboratory can help recommend intervals, but are not as familiar with the details of the instruments application as the owner. Consultations from trained calibrators can provide insight on how to maintain productivity levels and protect equipment.
What is Calibration Traceability?
Calibrations need to be done on a scheduled, periodic basis with evidence of the comparison results being recorded and maintained. Records of calibration must include identification of the specific standards used, as well as the methods/conditions used in the calibration process. These records should demonstrate an uninterrupted chain of comparison that ends with the national standards. This demonstrable relationship to national standards, with known accuracy, is known as traceability.
What is Uncertainty?
Uncertainty is an estimate of the possible error in a measurement. More precisely, it’s an estimate of the range of values that contain the true value of a measured quantity. Uncertainty is usually reported in terms of the probability that the true value lies within a state range of values. For the sake of analysis, the lack of knowledge is often considered to be normally distributed around the nominal value of the measure.