Creating A Calibration Schedule For Your Measuring Equipment: 3 Considerations
Posted on: 31 March 2020
Accurate measurements are vital to the production of certain consumer goods. Without the ability to measure ingredients accurately, some products could become dangerous or fail to perform as they should.
Measuring instruments are used to maintain consistency, but these instruments can lose their accuracy over time. It's important that you invest in calibration services often to ensure that your measuring equipment can continue to perform without issue in the future.
1. Operating Conditions
One factor that can determine how often you need to calibrate your measuring equipment is the environment in which the equipment operates. Operating conditions can influence the accuracy of sensitive measuring devices.
Atmospheric changes in humidity and air pressure can affect calibration. Exposure to excessive vibration can also cause your measuring equipment to lose accuracy. Evaluate your operating conditions to help determine how often you need to calibrate your equipment to guarantee the accuracy of each measurement.
2. Instrument Importance
Many manufacturing facilities or laboratories use multiple pieces of measuring equipment each day. The importance of each piece of equipment can vary, and this variation will influence your calibration schedule.
An instrument that has a direct impact on the quality and subsequent manufacturing processes will need to be calibrated more often than a piece of equipment that doesn't play a central role in production.
Keeping important measuring devices calibrated can help you prevent major processing malfunctions in the future, saving your company both time and money.
3. Warranty Requirements
Another critical factor that can help you create a calibration schedule for your measuring equipment is the warranty covering each device. Measuring devices can be quite costly, and a warranty helps to protect your investment.
Check the language in your warranty to determine if regular calibration is required to maintain the validity of the warranty coverage. Be sure that you adhere to the calibration schedule outlined in your warranty so that any repairs or replacement parts needed during the warranty period will be covered.
Calibration is an important, but often overlooked, factor when it comes to the accuracy of your measuring equipment. You must take the time to create a calibration schedule that will ensure your measuring devices perform as they should each time their services are needed.
By evaluating your operating conditions, identifying the importance of each piece of equipment, and being familiar with warranty requirements, you can better maintain your measuring devices through routine calibration in the future.
To learn more, contact an instrument calibration services company.
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