Why is calibrating temperature sensors important?
Sneak Peek: Withnell’s Instrument Calibration Services
Ensuring that your equipment is working with precision and reliability is not just a matter of best practices—it's a fundamental requirement. This is particularly true for many of the advanced sectors we operate within.
One of the key processes that ensures equipment accuracy is equipment calibration services. At Withnell, we pride ourselves of offering a complete solution for a variety of calibration requirements, regardless of whether your business priority is traceability, quality assurance or equipment longevity.
In our latest blog we have captured our internal calibration Engineer’s insight and expertise to address why many customers conduct calibrations to the highest standards, aside from the obvious need to meet regulatory standards.
How are calibration services of equipment performed?
The UK’s National Accreditation body for competence of testing and calibration laboratories is UKAS. Not to be confused with a certified standard such as ISO 9001, the UKAS ISO17025 accreditation is a comprehensive standard that provides a framework for laboratories to demonstrate accurate, traceable, and reliable calibration services.
Independent audits of a provider's facilities ensures that the requirements of the applicable standard have been met. As well as checking for compliance within a Quality Management System, technical assessors will also observe the competence of calibration technicians.
These equipment calibration services compare the measurements or readings of a piece of equipment to a known and traceable reference standard. The purpose is to compare the measurements of the two pieces of equipment and determine any deviations or errors.
If errors are identified, then where possible an adjustment might be necessary to bring it into alignment with the reference standard. By performing these comparisons routinely, businesses can maintain the reliability and accuracy of equipment, ensure their equipment performs consistently over time.
Here’s exactly what is included in equipment calibration services:
Recognised, international standards: As the foundation of calibration services, the reference standards are subject to their own controlled inspections.
Comparison processes: By performing a thorough comparison investigation between the UUT and the reference standard, documentation can be produced to outline the threshold.
Adjustment: If a deviation is recorded then equipment can be viewed as ‘out of tolerance’ and will be adjusted to bring its measurements in line with the reference standard.
Adjustment follow-up: Adjustment is not always possible, but if it has been completed by a competent engineer, then another set of comparison results is required to confirm that the adjustment was successful. This is known as As Left measurements. You can read more about the difference between As Found measurements and As Left measurements in our blog post here
Documentation: Detailed records are maintained throughout the calibration process to demonstrate the specific conditions of the calibration as well as identifying components for the measurement uncertainty budgets.
Why do businesses require calibration services?
Calibration is required to maintain the accuracy and precision of instruments and equipment and ensure that all instruments comply with the regulatory standards which govern the manufacturing process, the storage process and the testing conditions.
In many scientific fields or advanced manufacturing environments, even minor errors in measurements can lead to significant discrepancies in results, which is why regulations including GMP, FDA, MRHA, ICH and other bodies detail the requirements of highly accurate equipment.
But what are the other reasons that a business may perform calibration and recalibration aside from their regulatory, routine assessment being due?
Reliability and efficiency! Simply put, as well as accuracy, calibration will also ensure the reliability of equipment and the efficiency of equipment. Both of these are imperative factors in wider business success.
Quality assurance
Calibrating equipment shows that their performance is reliable. Reliable, calibrated equipment forms the basis of many quality assurance programs. As well as the obvious compliance with QA/QC protocols, assured quality of a business laboratory or working environment is that customers trust their products or samples. Quality assurance build trust and ensures that companies are delivering the very best.
Equipment longevity
Regular calibration can help identify problems or irregularities in equipment performance. Addressing these issues promptly can extend the lifespan of the equipment and reduce the need for costly repairs or replacements. It also ensures that for the time that a piece of equipment is in your facility, it is running efficiently and having no detrimental effect on production.
Risk reduction
In certain industries, such as healthcare and aviation, inaccurate measurements can lead to catastrophic consequences. Calibration is therefore an important risk mitigation strategy, minimizing the chances of equipment-related errors and their potentially disastrous outcomes.
Traceability and data integrity
Calibration establishes a traceable connection allowing a user to demonstrate an unbroken chain of measurements which are useful during auditing. In R&D and other life science applications, data integrity is paramount. Accurate calibration equipment data ensures that results are not impacted by measurement errors and helps researchers trust the data they generate.
Which equipment calibration services shall I opt for?
Temperature and humidity are two of the most monitored and controlled parameters in industry to date. Fluctuations in either can have an impact of a variety of factors outside of regulatory compliance, including personnel safety, product quality and sustainability/environmental contributions.
Some of the leading brands in temperature and humidity monitoring include SenseAnywhere, Vaisala, LogTag, Elitech, Testo, Comark, Hanwell, Omega, Fluke and more. With some of the biggest suppliers of temperature relating equipment including Farrar, Kambic and Haier. All of these brands require calibration. Better yet, our expert team of Engineers are well versed in calibrating a variety of their equipment and instrumentation all from our UK-based, UKAS accredited calibration laboratory facility.
We perform 10,000+ annual calibrations and have been accredited for over a decade. Whether it’s your data logger, fridge, freezer, testing chamber, or thermal validation equipment, we can work with you to ensure that our equipment calibration services are exactly what you need when you need it!
In many scientific fields or advanced manufacturing environments, even minor errors in measurements can lead to significant discrepancies in results, which is why regulations including GMP, FDA, MRHA, ICH and other bodies detail the requirements of highly accurate equipment.
But what are the other reasons that a business may perform calibration and recalibration aside from their regulatory, routine assessment being due?
Reliability and efficiency! Simply put, as well as accuracy, calibration will also ensure the reliability of equipment and the efficiency of equipment. Both of these are imperative factors in wider business success.
