Why Manufacturers Should Care About Calibration (2023)

FAQs

What is calibration and why is it important? ›

Calibration ensures that a measuring device provides accurate results. It is a process that compares a known measurement with a measurement produced by the instrument used in a lab. Calibration ensures that equipment used in laboratories produces accurate measurements.

The goal of calibration is to minimise any measurement uncertainty by ensuring the accuracy of test equipment. Calibration quantifies and controls errors or uncertainties within measurement processes to an acceptable level.

Accuracy and reliability of all such measurements would be doubtful if the instruments used were not calibrated. Calibration ensures that a measuring instrument displays an accurate and reliable value of the quantity being measured. Thus, calibration is an essential activity in any measurement process.

Despite what proponents of calibration tell you, the difference between calibrated and uncalibrated settings for most TVs isn't huge. This difference is getting even more narrow, as the better modern TVs tend to be relatively accurate out of the box (i.e. before calibration) in their best picture settings.

Validation ensures a system satisfies its stated functional intent. Verification ensures a process or equipment operates according to its stated operating specifications. Calibration ensures the measurement accuracy of an instrument meets a known standard.

The bottom line is that calibration improves the accuracy of the measuring device. Accurate measuring devices improve product quality.

INACCURATE RESULTS: If you do not calibrate your equipment, it will not give accurate measurements. When the measurements are not accurate, the final results will also be inaccurate, and the quality of the product will be sub-standard.

Calibration Principles:

Calibration is the activity of checking, by comparison with a standard, the accuracy of a measuring instrument of any type. It may also include adjustment of the instrument to bring it into alignment with the standard.

Calibration is the process of testing and adjusting the instrument or test system readout to establish a correlation between the instrument's measurement of the substance being tested and the actual concentration of the substance.

How do you know if equipment needs calibration? ›

When determining if equipment requires calibration, your first step should be checking for any existing procedures, customer contracts, or regulations that define maintenance guidelines. These preexisting quality procedures should serve as the minimum standard for your equipment's calibration needs.

While calibrators are used to adjust customer systems to an established reference system or method, controls verify the recovery level of the standardized reagents and calibrators.

A calibration service is a service aimed at detecting the inaccuracy and uncertainty of a measuring instrument or piece of equipment. In calibration, the device under test (DUT) is compared to a reference of known value to determine the deviation of the measurement from the true value.

Since monitor adjustment is conducted by the user, problems with precision can occur, with minor variations occurring each time calibration is conducted. It can also take a while to gain a grasp on how the software works making it time-consuming until the process is completed a few times.

Monthly, quarterly, or semi-annually - If you do critical measurements often then a shorter time span between calibrations will mean there is less chance of questionable test results. Often calibrating at shorter intervals will afford you with better specifications.

Accuracy is what is adjusted when an instrument is calibrated. Coefficient of variation: The coefficient of variation (CV, or precision) is a measure of the reproducibility, or closeness in value of repeated measurements.

Ambient environmental factors — like pressure, temperature, and humidity — have significant effects on the results of calibration. Instruments should be calibrated in an environment that resembles the one during which they're going to operate.

Sensors and measuring systems, among other measurement tools, are calibrated to check their accuracy and repeatability. Calibrated sensors are necessary for precise, consistent, and repeatable measurement outputs. Calibration is one of the crucial conditions for effective quality assurance.

Metrology labs strive for a minimum 4:1 TAR. Simply put, this means that the standard is 4 times more accurate that the tool being calibrated. A test accuracy ratio of 1:1 indicates the UUT and the standard have the same tolerances.

What happen if equipment is not calibrated? ›

Utilizing uncalibrated equipment can lead to unexpected failures that can affect and damage other machine parts and lead to wastage. Additionally, inaccurate measurements can be risky for operators and can lead to severe injuries.

Systematic error (also called systematic bias) is consistent, repeatable error associated with faulty equipment or a flawed experimental design. These errors are usually caused by measuring instruments that are incorrectly calibrated or are used incorrectly.

A good rule of thumb is to ensure an accuracy ratio of 4:1 when performing calibrations. This means the instrument or standard used should be four times more accurate than the instrument being checked.

Five Point Calibration

When calibrating an instrument, as a general rule, the instrument data points should include readings taken at 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of the calibration range of the instrument. This is often referred to as a five-point calibration.

FDA Requirements for Calibration

They must include proper provisions for handling, preserving and storing equipment. Calibration must be performed routinely and if there are any errors found, corrective action needs be taken and any adverse effects caused need to be evaluated and documented.

It is a legal requirement that organizations meet the calibration schcedule for all measuring equipment. This is to ensure that the integrity of the organization's work is within an allowable tolerance range at all times.

Lab instruments that require regular calibration are the ones that weigh, count or measure. Mostly, this means pipettes, scales and balances, centrifuges or pH meters. Basically, your equipment that produces data should receive regular calibration.

The calibration problem in regression is the use of known data on the observed relationship between a dependent variable and an independent variable to make estimates of other values of the independent variable from new observations of the dependent variable.

What are the two types of calibration? ›

Generally speaking there are two types of Calibration procedure. These are most commonly known as a 'Traceable Calibration Certificate' and a 'UKAS Calibration certificate'. For the most part, the procedures are very similar but there are distinct differences you should be aware of before purchasing.

There are two main ways of calibrating an instrument – these are the working curve method and the standard addition method.

ISO/IEC 17025 is the quality standard that calibration laboratories use to ensure they produce valid results. ISO/IEC 17025 is the quality standard that calibration laboratories use to ensure they produce valid results.

Bias can be eliminated or reduced by calibration of standards and/or instruments. Because of costs and time constraints, the majority of calibrations are performed by secondary or tertiary laboratories and are related to the reference base via a chain of intercomparisons that start at the reference laboratory.

Calibration can save you from all these without any hassles. It will ensure that all your equipment is working fine and measuring accurately against the standard values, reducing the chances of errors and product defects. It further helps reducing manufacturing costs and quality failures.

Calibration is a comparison between a known measurement (the standard) and the measurement using your instrument. Typically, the accuracy of the standard should be ten times the accuracy of the measuring device being tested.

Calibration is the process of configuring an instrument to provide a result for a sample within an acceptable range. Eliminating or minimizing factors that cause inaccurate measurements is a fundamental aspect of instrumentation design.

transitive verb. : to ascertain the caliber of (something) : to determine, rectify, or mark the graduations of (something, such as a thermometer tube) 3. : to standardize (something, such as a measuring instrument) by determining the deviation from a standard so as to ascertain the proper correction factors.

Calibration Principles:

Calibration is the activity of checking, by comparison with a standard, the accuracy of a measuring instrument of any type. It may also include adjustment of the instrument to bring it into alignment with the standard.

What is an example of calibrate? ›

The word calibrate means making precise measurement. For example, you might want to calibrate your bathroom scale now and then to be sure it's adjusted for exact weight. Or calibrate it to read five pounds light.

Contrary to popular belief, a calibration and an adjustment are two separate processes. Strictly speaking, the term 'calibration' is purely the act of comparison between a device and a known 'traceable' standard (otherwise known as calibration equipment).

Calibrations are normally performed at longer intervals (annual or semi-annual) set by instrument manufacturers, official standardizing agencies, or operating circumstances, while standardizations are typically done on a daily or weekly basis.

Ambient environmental factors — like pressure, temperature, and humidity — have significant effects on the results of calibration. Instruments should be calibrated in an environment that resembles the one during which they're going to operate.

Calibration requirements include the need to…

Establish and maintain documented procedures. Determine measurements to be made and accuracy required. Select an appropriate measurement instrument capable of measurement accuracy and precision. Identify and define measurement instrument for calibration.