Are you ISO 9001 certified and using metrology in your business? Then you probably need to calibrate your measuring equipment. Otherwise, you run the risk of receiving a remark during an inspection and having to urgently correct the error in order not to jeopardize your ISO 9001 certification.
This is what ISO 9001 says
Here you can read an extract from the terms and conditions of ISO 9001. The following text is taken from section 7.1.5.2 Measurement traceability:
“When traceability of measurement is a requirement, or when the organization considers it an important part of establishing confidence in the validity of the measurement results, measurement equipment shall be used:
(a) at predetermined intervals, or before use, calibrated and/or verified against measurement standards that are traceable to international or national standards. Where no such standards exist, the basis for calibration or verification shall be retained as documented information;
(b) be identified so that its status can be determined;
(c) protected from adjustments, damage or deterioration that would invalidate the calibration status and subsequent measurement results.
If measuring equipment is found to be unsuitable for its intended purpose, the organization shall determine whether the validity of the results of previous measurements is adversely affected and, if necessary, take appropriate action.”
What does this mean for you?
So if measurement is an important part of your business, you need to calibrate instruments, loggers and sensors. Furthermore, it should be an accredited calibration performed by a company certified according to ISO 17025 by the Swedish authorization body Swedac. The fact that the calibration is accredited makes it traceable. This means that it is traceable to a highly accurate national and international measurement standard. Last but not least, calibration should be done regularly. You decide how often, but most people choose to calibrate their equipment once a year.
Factory protocol vs. accredited calibration
All instruments and sensors you buy from us come with a factory protocol. It is a document showing that the measuring equipment has undergone rigorous functional testing during manufacture and that it delivers accurate measurements. However, there is no traceability in the factory protocol.
So why is accredited calibration not included as a standard part of a purchase? Above all, we want to give you freedom of choice. And we don’t think you should pay for more than you need. There are ready-made calibration packages that can be added to the purchase of our instruments. These calibration packages contain predetermined and commonly used measurement points. At the same time, we know that measuring points are very individual and therefore not suitable for everyone. If this is the case for you, you always have the option to choose the calibration of the measuring points used in your business. Get in touch and we will help you (see contact details below).
Select the measuring points you need
You can of course choose to buy an instrument without calibration, i.e. with only factory protocols, and let us calibrate the instrument after a certain period of use (in our lab or on your premises). But our recommendation is that you buy calibration from the start to find out how accurately your instrument really measures against our highly accurate reference equipment.
How do you choose which measuring points to calibrate? It is simply a matter of identifying which values are particularly interesting and important in your business. For example, if you just want to check that grilled chicken has a core temperature of +72°C, a calibration of that particular measuring point is sufficient. But if you might instead use a thermometer in a wide range, say between -18 °C and +120 °C, you need to choose a number of measurement points where accurate results are particularly important.
Are you wondering about something?
Email kalibrering@nordtec.se or call us on 031-704 10 88 if you are unsure about the choice of measuring points or have other questions about calibration.
To order a calibration, click here to access our calibration and service portal Access.
