The Four Faces of the ISO 17025 Calibration Standard
Design and manufacturing companies from virtually every market
rely on calibration of their test instruments to give them confidence
that they are producing quality products. Quality calibration plays
a critical role in all aspects of the product design and manufacturing
process, and can significantly impact a company's bottom-line. Calibration
helps to increase production yields, optimize resources, and ensure
consistency so that final products perform as expected and are compatible
with those made elsewhere.
Calibration is the process of measuring test instrument performance
against a known reference standard and reporting the results. Calibration
may include adjustment, which is the process used to correct any
deviations and bring the instrument back into specification. The
ISO/IEC 17025 standard focuses specifically on technical competence
in calibration and testing laboratories.
The ISO 17025 Standard
The ISO 17025 standard helps maintain the quality of calibration
by governing calibration laboratory operations and procedures, as
well as the technical quality of data provided by calibration service
suppliers. Quality consultants, auditors and internal quality departments
are increasingly requesting calibration services from laboratories
that adhere to the standard.
All national accreditation bodies have adopted ISO 17025 as a way
to ensure standardization. Several industries and countries have
incorporated it into their industry-specific or application-specific
regulations. For example, ISO 17025 has been incorporated into the
QS-9000 and ISO/TS 16949 quality standards for the automotive industry,
and FCC Part 15, a U.S. government regulation for qualification
testing of computers and peripherals.
The Advantages of ISO 17025 in Calibration
The ISO 17025 standard offers key advantages for both users and
providers. Users of ISO 17025 calibration services benefit from
enhanced data reporting that makes it possible to compare measurements
from different laboratories -- even those from multiple countries.
The enhancement and standardization of calibration data provides
companies an increased level of confidence in their test instrument
accuracy.
The ISO 17025 standard helps calibration service providers by reducing
the need for customer audits. In the past, calibration laboratories
could demonstrate their competency and adherence to standards by
undergoing separate external audits from each of their major customers.
These audits consume a considerable amount of time for both the
calibration labs and their customers. With ISO 17025, labs can now
schedule a single third-party audit and become accredited to a standardized
set of requirements that are recognized by their customers.
Introducing the Four Faces of ISO 17025
There are four applications of ISO 17025 within a calibration environment,
which we call 'The Four Faces of ISO 17025.' These ISO 17025 calibration
applications include:
| ISO 17025-compliant laboratories |
A calibration laboratory can follow ISO 17025 processes and
claim to be ISO 17025 compliant without obtaining external validation.
ISO 17025 compliance satisfies the needs of users who require
a level of confidence in the lab's competency and want to be
sure that it has good quality built into its processes. |
| ISO 17025-conformant calibration services |
A calibration laboratory following ISO 17025 processes can
sell ISO 17025-conformant calibration services that include
enhanced data reports showing measurement uncertainties. Services
conforming to the ISO 17025 standard provide customers a higher
degree of confidence that the calibration follows the procedures
set out by the manufacturer. Agilent is one of a very few companies
that are able to offer ISO 17025-conformant services, and is
the only one publicly offering them for complex instruments
on a worldwide basis. |
| ISO 17025-accredited laboratories |
A calibration laboratory following ISO 17025 processes can
get external validation by becoming accredited to ISO 17025.
ISO 17025-accredited laboratories are able to provide high-level
accredited calibration services, which are necessary for some
users. Accreditation also satisfies the needs of users who do
not necessarily require an accredited service, but know that
an independently accredited laboratory is likely to provide
higher quality calibration than a non-accredited laboratory. |
| ISO 17025-accredited calibration services |
An accredited calibration laboratory can sell accredited calibration
services. Accredited services offer the highest degree of confidence
that calibration measurements are trustworthy. Companies most
likely to require accredited services are those whose business
depends on the measurements they make, such as calibration labs
and EMC conformance testing labs. |
Agilent's Calibration Laboratories
Our existing worldwide network of calibration service centres follows
ISO 17025 procedures for calibration laboratory operation. Many
of these are also independantly accredited -- click the link under
the Related Material banner.
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