Calibration

The quality management system of our calibration laboratory is certified according to the standard DIN EN ISO 9001:2015 and calibrates various measuring and test equipment. Many test instruments from PCE Instruments from the fields of measurement, laboratory, weighing and control technology are calibrated before they are shipped. If your company needs an ISO or DAkkS (German’s national accreditation body) calibration to meet the guidelines of the test equipment management according to DIN EN ISO 9001, this is optionally available for lots of instruments, if not included in the delivery scope.

Moreover, the German HQ PCE Deutschland GmbH has the permission to carry out DAkkS force calibrations within a range of 500 ... 10,000 N on behalf of the German calibration laboratory esz AG.

With our extensive calibration portfolio, we are able to calibrate a large number of measured variables. We calibrate, for example: manometers, hardness testers, force gauges, material thickness meters, coating thickness gauges, vibration meters, humidity meters, temperature meters, gloss meters, gas detectors, laser distance meters, scales, flow meters, redox meters, conductivity meters and many more.

A calibration means that a calibration laboratory compares the displayed value of a measuring instrument with a reference instrument or a standard or reference. In simple terms, a calibration laboratory performs a target/actual comparison.

A calibration includes exactly defining the procedure of the measuring process, listing the used standards or references, documenting the environmental conditions in the calibration laboratory, the date and name as well as including the signature of the technician who carries out the calibration. All this information is documented on the calibration certificate for each calibration performed at the calibration laboratory. Thanks to this information, it is possible to understand a calibration and to repeat it at the calibration laboratory when required.

A calibration can neither provide a statement about possible values and deviations in the past nor in the future. A calibration can only provide information about the measured values at the specified time under the documented ambient conditions. Furthermore, a calibration does not include any comparison or adjustment. It is also not the task of the calibration laboratory or purpose of a calibration to evaluate a comparison with the specifications. Although a reference to the manufacturer's specifications can be made and is often made in the calibration certificate, this does not replace an assessment of the specification by a company’s person responsible for test equipment as to whether the measuring instrument can be used for the intended measuring task without causing any problems. Depending on the measuring instrument and the measuring task, the result may be that a measuring instrument which does not comply with the manufacturer's specifications after calibration is still suitable for the measuring task or that a measuring instrument which is within the manufacturer's specifications is not suitable for the measuring task. Therefore, it is important to know before making a calibration what measuring points are more relevant than others so that the calibration laboratory can calibrate and document these on the calibration certificate.

In any user manual or data sheet of a measuring instrument, you will find some obligatory specifications of the instrument. So why should a measuring instrument be checked by a calibration laboratory? Firstly, the manufacturer only specifies a general deviation, which means that the exact deviation for relevant measuring points is sometimes only vaguely known. On the other hand, the manufacturer's specifications only refer to the meter’s condition at the time of delivery. Every measuring instrument is subject to a drift that depends on the time of use and the environment. Only regular calibration at the calibration laboratory can ensure that a test instrument still complies with the required parameters. Measurements are essential in the area of production or manufacturing. Companies that are certified according to DIN EN ISO 9001 are subject to the requirement to ensure a test equipment management system that includes regular calibration of the test equipment by a calibration laboratory.

In some cases law, professional associations or the VDE (German Electrical Engineering Association) specify calibration intervals. In most cases, however, the intervals are the sole responsibility of the user of the test equipment. Only the user and not the calibration laboratory knows all technical and economic factors. Technical factors include the measuring principle, the conditions of use, the requirements for the test equipment, historical trend data, the frequency of use and the relevance of the test equipment, i. e. a meter’s reference to the quality of the final product. Economic factors include possible costs of a product recall, calibration costs and the cost of downtime during calibration. In practice, a compromise between safety and cost of calibration is normally chosen. However, the user of a test instrument must be aware when making this decision that if the results of a calibration are not satisfactory, all previous measurements up to the last calibration must be questioned and the user has to deal with the consequences. One thing is often forgotten: if the validity date on the most recent calibration certificate of a measuring instrument is about to expire, the measuring instrument must be sent to a calibration laboratory for calibration once again before it is removed from the company's test equipment inventory because this is the only way to ensure that the measurement results since the last calibration performed are correct.

The question of whether a test instrument can be calibrated is relatively easy to answer as every instrument can be calibrated at a calibration laboratory and is therefore calibrateable. The term calibratable is often mistaken for the word adjustable. Not all devices have an adjustment function which is unfortunately often called calibration..