Quality System
Quality System & Standards
The standards, traceability and management arrangements that govern the work described on this site.
Overview
Calibration is performed by laboratories accredited to ISO/IEC 17025, and certificates are issued under the performing laboratory's accreditation scope. Each request is scoped against that scope before it is accepted, matching the instrument's type, range and required uncertainty to what the laboratory is authorized to certify. Accredited and non-accredited items are identified separately on the quote and again on the certificate, so an audit can distinguish the two without cross-referencing a separate document.
Standards Referenced
Work described on this site is performed under ISO/IEC 17025:2017.
Statements of accreditation on this site describe the laboratory doing the measuring. That accreditation is bounded by its published scope, and work outside those bounds is reported as non-accredited and shown as such on the certificate. The distinction is recorded on the document so it survives being filed and read later.
Metrological Traceability
Measurements are traceable to the SI through NIST, and each certificate states the reference standards used along with the reported measurement uncertainty. Gauge blocks, step gauges, ball bars and reference spheres carry their own calibration history, and the artifact's calibration uncertainty is one of the contributors accounted for in the reported figure. Where a statement of conformity is given, the decision rule applied is stated on the certificate, consistent with ISO/IEC 17025:2017. The laboratory's scope CMC is checked against the reported uncertainty before that figure is treated as valid for the tolerance being inspected.
Every measurement is traced individually: the reference standard is named on the certificate together with its calibration status and the unbroken chain to the SI unit. An out-of-tolerance finding on a reference sets off a review of all work performed against it since its last calibration, and the customers concerned are notified.
Equipment and Maintenance
Equipment covered includes bridge, gantry and cantilever coordinate measuring machines, portable articulated arms, granite surface plates, gauge blocks, and ring and plug gauges. Documented procedures govern request review, method selection, result review and release, and a complaints-and-appeals process for any dispute over a result or a certificate. Out-of-tolerance findings are recorded as-found, before adjustment, with enough detail to support a reverse-traceability impact assessment against parts accepted since the last passing calibration. Records are retained and indexed by equipment identifier so a certificate can be retrieved on short notice for a customer's own audit.
Every reference carries a unique identifier, is stored and used under controlled conditions, and is recalibrated on a stated interval that is tightened when its drift history warrants. Anything damaged, overloaded or producing doubtful results is taken out of service and tagged, and it returns only on a written release.
Management System
The work sits inside a documented management system:
- 01
Controlled documents
Procedures carry issue and revision status.
- 02
Retained records
Retained for a defined period and retrievable against a certificate number.
- 03
Audit and review
Internal audit and management review run on a schedule.
- 04
Corrective action
Nonconforming work and improvement actions are tracked to closure, and their effectiveness is checked afterwards.
Impartiality and Complaints
Threats to impartiality are identified and managed, and every result is reported on what the measurement shows rather than on what would be commercially convenient. Complaints and appeals feed formally into the same system — the process, including the response commitment, is set out on the complaints policy page. How results should and should not be read is covered on the disclaimer page.
Need paperwork for an approved-supplier file?
Scope, method statements and traceability detail are supplied with the quotation.