Thread: Darn ISO certification...

So I was informed today by my supervisor that, because the company I'm working for has ISO9001 and AS9100 certification, all the nice mics I've been collecting over the past month are likely going to be a waste of time because it's way too much hassle to get them all registered on the system and calibrated. Wish I'd known that earlier

I would have that they would have coughed for calibration and certification! If the faces of a mike had become damaged needing lapping to repair, and if that damage was not fair wear and tear, but your negligence by careless handling for example, then I could imagine an employer not being overly keen to pay, but for normal routine calibration I would have thought that the employer would take responsibility.

As I understand it, it's not so much the cost that's the issue, it's the hassle of getting everything registered internally for traceability and auditing. They do calibration in-house, so the only cost there is time.

I'll have to make some more enquiries further up the management chain, maybe I'll be able to get at least some of them done.

Do you have to supply your own measuring equipment? If so, then I would have thought that they should be responsible for calibration to meet the certification standard
Kryn

Everything is provided, I just like to have my own

Fair enough. I realise this is a bit of mess around, but could you measure with your gear, and check against their equipment, just to make sure they read the same. Then for certification process use theirs for a final reading?
Kryn

Seems a bit like double handling to me? I might as well just use theirs for the whole process.

I've started off in their small gear department and I'm hobbing batches of 100s (on a beautiful old Mikron), so I've got to be checking the OD regularly through the batch to make sure I'm staying within tolerance as the machine warms up.

If things aren't done by the book it could risk their certification.

See if you can get yourself on the calibration team.

I'll see what I can do, I'm 3 days into my apprenticeship so it might take a little while

If they throw out any gear hobbs, please remember me, and probably most of the others on here.
Kryn

Having worked as the person responsible for the calibration and maintenance of measuring equipment in a place, I know this issue all depends on what's in the company procedure. Some companies say that all measurements must be made with (their) calibrated equipment. Others allow personal gear to be used provided it is not used for 'official' measurement (that is, I can use the personal steel rule in my pocket all I like but if the measurement is to be relied on to prove that the item meets specification, it must be done with calibrated gear)

The reason for calibration is to remove uncertainty. If something is calibrated, it can theoretically be traced up to international standards. A personal mic, whether it be brand new from a reputable supplier or bought from a junk stall at the local market could be wildly inaccurate - without calibration you don't know. The only accepted way of removing this uncertainty is to calibrate. I know one firm that will calibrate/ check (pressure) gauges before use and then after they come back. It is the only way they say that they know the gauge is reading correctly at the time of measurement, which literally lives depend on.

Calibration does cost - to do a Mic will likely take someone an hour or more (ours were around $150 each at a third party lab). If the company has servicable gear that they are providing, keep your own gear at home. Less likely to be lost, dropped, broken or stolen that way

Michael

I know why everything needs to be calibrated and I'm not suggesting that I'd use uncalibrated personal tools, I was just hoping that I could simply have my gear calibrated properly and go to it

Everything here is traced; serial numbers are recorded on the inspection sheets, even the batch and heat treat numbers from the mill are recorded.

Spoke with the general manager and the short answer is "calibrated measuring gear is supplied; you can bring tools in if you like, but we can't let you use your own mics"

He said they used to be more lenient, but now that they have aerospace certification, everything has to be by the book and maintaining calibration records for personal tools is not practical. Sigh.

Everything in the small gears section that I've come across is Mitutoyo digital. It's not TESA, but still nice

But you could probably use the official calibrated mics to check some transfer standards, and then calibrate your own mics off those, then take them home again. Make your own transfer standards and take them home too, carefully wrapped.

It's not the actual calibration work that costs, it's all the associated paper work. So be it.

Cheers
Roger

So I'll have all these nicely calibrated mics but still nothing to do with them

I don't have a home workshop, nor do I plan on having one any time soon