The Six Axes Of Calibration

About this Paper

During the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801 the English Royal Navy's most famous admiral, Horatio Nelson, ignored orders to cease action by putting his telescope to his blind eye and claiming he couldn't see the commander's flag signal. The expressions "I see no ships" and "turning a blind eye" both originate from this act.

But what has this story got to do with calibration?! Find out by reading this paper, written by Martin Aust of Agilent in the UK, which examines the important considerations necessary when choosing a supplier of calibration services.

Introduction

Selecting a supplier of calibration services may seem fairly straightforward - it would seem that a calibration is a calibration and, as long as the supplier has the usual badges of office (ISO9000 registration, ISO17025 accreditation etc.), the service ought to be reasonably similar whichever service or supplier you choose. However, this is not the case and the lack of regulation on calibration allows for a wide variance in the deliverables and value of calibration.
To help demonstrate these variances and help lead the non-technical buyer to appreciate the importance of each, I have split them into six different axes, each of which can have an impact on the usefulness of the calibration or the direct or indirect cost to the organization buying the service. This document discusses each of these axes, which are:

1. Extent of testing (How many parameters? How many test points per parameter?)
2. Information provided (What data is provided? Pre and post adjustment data?)
3. Measurement uncertainty (How good is the testing?)
4. Periodicity (How often does it need calibrating? Can this vary?)
5. Speed (How long are you without the instrument?)
6. Packages (What financial and service packages are there? What is included in the service?)

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The Six Axes of Calibration