Low-cost calibration services come with hidden instrument costs. Tektronix will help you to avoid the pitfalls of calibration services.

If you only consider price when choosing a calibration service provider, it may lead to increased hidden costs and potential risks caused by quality issues, which will affect product quality or service experience.

If you only consider price when choosing a calibration service provider, it may lead to increased hidden costs and potential risks caused by quality issues, which will affect product quality or service experience.

What is your risk tolerance for product recalls or consumer complaints? This article provides some tips on how to evaluate calibration service providers and their services, and explains why choosing the lowest-cost calibration service provider may not result in the lowest total cost for your business.

What is (and is not) included in a “low-cost” calibration service?

Calibration service providers, like many businesses, operate and compete based on profit margins. “Low-cost” calibration service providers face greater internal pressure to keep costs as low as possible. Investing in high-quality calibration standards, automated software, and professionally qualified personnel may not be a top priority for these calibration service providers. The less time a “low-cost” calibration service provider spends calibrating an instrument, the less they need to charge and the more competitive they appear.

When a "low-cost" calibration service provider does not have the equipment or expertise to perform a full calibration, they may consider taking shortcuts, such as "functional testing only" on certain parameters, using calibration standards that do not fully meet the requirements stated in the calibration procedure, or having inexperienced or incompletely qualified technicians perform the work. "Low-cost" calibration labs may also shorten calibration time and gain higher profit margins by "cutting corners" on industry recommended procedures. For electronic products, the procedure most likely to be omitted is the warm-up time.

It is important that a calibration service provider has the financial resources, technical expertise, and customer commitment to fully meet customer expectations and needs. The supplier must also have a quality philosophy that is consistent with customer expectations. To ensure this, you can ask the following questions:

• Do you have the capability to calibrate all the equipment we need calibrated? (Check carefully the laboratory's published ISO/IEC 17025 scope of accreditation)?

• If you don't have

What do you do when all calibration standards specified in the comprehensive calibration procedure are lost - how do you find suitable replacement standards?

• Are you part of a large network of laboratories from which you can obtain the right equipment and technicians with the expertise to best service my equipment?

• Do you have access to subject matter experts who can advise on the correct procedures?

A qualified calibration service provider should always be prepared to thoroughly review their technical capabilities and quality processes with their customers.

How to determine the quality of calibration services?

To find the best service provider for your equipment, contact the calibration supplier directly to fully understand their quality management system. It is also best to ask the supplier to explain their internal quality assurance. Ask the supplier what external assessments, if any, have been conducted on the laboratory.

Calibration service providers need to manage the calibration procedures for their laboratory equipment. Ask the provider how they determine the calibration cycles for their laboratory standards. Does the provider perform mid-term checks on laboratory equipment between calibration intervals to ensure measurement accuracy?

How does the calibration service provider manage lab standards that are seriously out of or out of deviation? Are there too many or too few incidents? Asking these questions can help determine if the provider is doing a good job of process control. You don't want a calibration service provider with a history of "false pass" or "false fail" reports. Both of these results indicate potential hidden costs or risks to the quality of your product or service.

Why choose a full calibration procedure?

Achieving high-quality calibration requires the use of a comprehensive calibration procedure. These procedures are usually available from the instrument manufacturer or other trusted sources. These procedures specify the uncertainty of the calibration standards used, as well as the pre-calibration steps to ensure that the equipment is operating properly. They also define the necessary calibration points to verify the full operating range of the instrument.

"Low cost" calibration service providers may only provide calibration to "face specifications", or the specifications found on the instrument's marketing data sheet. Data sheets usually only show high and low values, which the end user can use to evaluate the application range and performance of the instrument when making a purchasing decision.

A defined full calibration procedure for the same instrument includes calibration points that cover the entire operating range of the instrument. While there is no regulation that prevents the issuance of a calibration certificate that uses only "surface specifications," metrology professionals have recognized that such procedures rarely test all points of an instrument or meet the customer's customized requirements. If a service provider advises you that a full calibration is not necessary, be wary.

To ensure that your calibration service provider is using a defined and comprehensive calibration procedure, you can ask the following questions:

• Can you provide traceability of the calibration procedures used and the source of these procedures?

• Does your quality policy ensure that these procedures will continue to be used for a period of time into the future?

• How do technicians select calibration procedures?

• Can you provide complete calibration data and uncertainties for all test parameters?

Tektronix's commitment to quality has produced many results. Tektronix's laboratory ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation has never been withheld or revoked by a certification body. Tektronix operates Tektronix, Keithley and Fluke original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and multi-brand commercial calibration and repair service laboratories around the world. Our laboratory network has the industry's most extensive instruments, standards, comprehensive calibration procedures and qualified calibration professionals to achieve optimal performance of products after calibration and maintenance. Tektronix's laboratories are accredited in the countries and regions where they are located and adhere to the international ISO/IEC 17025 standards. The laboratories are also staffed with technical experts who follow the correct procedures when calibrating any brand of equipment.