Traceable calibration of instruments
Calibration services
Electrical quantities
Voltage, current, resistance, etc.
Temperature
Digital thermometers, data loggers, thermocouples, resistance sensors, etc.
Pressure
Gauge, absolute, differential
Relative humidity
%RH and dew point
Conductivity
Electrolytic conductivity
Mass
Scales and weights
Tracable Calibration
Traceable calibration is an unbroken chain of comparisons linked to internationally recognized standards. This ensures that the measured values are reliable.
By regularly calibrating your measuring instruments, you reduce the risk of making incorrect decisions based on measurement data. It can also help your business improve both efficiency and profitability.
It is quite common to confuse the terms calibration with adjustment.
- – Calibration means finding out the measured deviation.
- – Adjustment means correcting the measured deviation.
After an adjustment has been performed, the instrument is calibrated again to verify that the
adjustment had the intended effect.
Calibration
Example of instruments that are calibrated are electrical instruments such as multimeters,
electrical safety testers, clamp meters, oscilloscopes, and insulation testers.
Other common instrument types are pressure gauges, thermometers/temperature sensors,
humidity sensors, flow meters, mass, mechanics, pipettes, and more.
Some companies have specific instruments for their processes, while other companies use
instruments that are common in most industries.
The food industry, medical device companies, and medicine manufacturers often have
requirements that the environment, in terms of temperature and humidity levels, remains
within the acceptance criteria.
Many companies use systems that alarm when the levels exceed or fall below the
acceptance criteria so that the fault can be quickly corrected.
Training and competence within calibration are important to ensure that calibrations have
been correctly performed. It provides a greater understanding of metrology and ensures
increased quality and reliability. It also increases the understanding of documentation and
measurement results.
To review and understand a calibration certificate can be difficult if you don’t have any
experience. A short training course in calibration/metrology increases the understanding of the
importance of having instruments calibrated.
Partly, it can be the customers and/or regulatory requirements, but it can also be about
reducing costs in a process by knowing that your measurements are correct. You also gain
insight into what a calibration certificate should contain and how to review the specifications.
FAQ
What is traceability?
Traceability is an unbroken chain of comparisons linked to internationally recognized
standards.
Traceability is documented in a calibration certificate, which confirms that your instruments
have been calibrated according to a specific method with specific equipment.
Every comparison contributes to a measurement uncertainty that must be taken into account.
By regularly calibrating your measurement instruments you are minimizing the risk of taking
wrong decisions based on measurement data is minimized.
What is accredited calibration?
Accredited calibration means that the service provider has been examined and approved by
an accreditation body, such as Swedac.
The assessment verifies the calibration laboratory’s ability to perform calibrations according to ISO-17025.
An accreditation applies to a physical quantity within a specified range for which the
associated accuracy has been stated.
A company offering accredited calibration may be accredited within a certain measurement
area but often offers services that extend outside this area.
It is in the customer’s interest to find out which physical quantities are included, as the
customer often provides the requirements that, in turn, are imposed on the customer by
different authorities.
One example is that the service provider is accredited for temperature between 0-50°C but
offers calibration from -30 to 600°C.
If the customer then wants to have their temperature meters with sensors calibrated outside the accredited range, they need to take this into account if they have chosen to set this as a requirement.
Why should you calibrate your instruments?
To be able to make correct decisions based on measurement results and reduce the risk of
undesired outcomes.
The feature of your measuring instruments can change over time which can cause quality
issues and increase costs in form of waste.
Authorities can require that calibration is performed to prove that the products or processes meet their limit values (or threshold values).
Why is the choice of measuring instrument important?
Correct and reliable data collection requires that the measuring instruments are suitable for
the specific purpose and capable of measuring a reliable result.
Using an incorrect or
uncalibrated instrument compromises the validity of the measurement values and can result in invalid conclusions.
Contact Us
Please contact us if you would like to know more about the services we can offer.