How to Calibrate Gages and Certify Calibration Programs

All gaging equipment must be calibrated periodically to ensure that it is capable of measuring parts accurately. This has always been necessary to maintain quality, but there are now additional, external reasons to establish and maintain a regular program of gage calibration: customer requirements. More and more OEMs demand that suppliers document their quality efforts from start to finish. ISO 9001 is one manifestation of this trend, requiring companies to examine their calibration programs, identify weaknesses and improve them wherever possible.

Some large companies with thousands of gages can cost-justify hiring or training specialists in gage calibration methods and supplying them with equipment and resources to perform virtually all calibration duties in-house. For most machine shops, however, the economical approach is to hire a calibration service.

ISO 9001, which applies to all manufacturing operations, requires suppliers to calibrate “all inspection, measuring and test equipment and devices that can affect product quality at prescribed intervals, or prior to use, against certified equipment having a known valid relationship to nationally recognized standards — where no such standards exist, the basis used for calibration shall be documented,”  (ISO9001.7.1.5.2a)  Let’s elaborate on some of these points:

As shown in Figure 1 below, these certificates are essential for users to document their calibration programs. At minimum, they must include the following:

Some providers automatically remind their clients which gages must be calibrated and when. Most gages can simply be boxed and shipped to the calibration house, although in the case of large, elaborate gages (for example, circular geometry gages, CMMs and so on), the calibration service will come prepared with NIST-traceable gage blocks, precision balls, a thermometer and any other standards needed to perform the job.

How can a machine shop without expertise in calibration intelligently select a provider? Naturally, cost and turnaround time are important, but don’t sacrifice quality for convenience. Above all, ISO 9000 requires that consistent procedures be applied, and any professional calibration house should be able to document its methods in a procedures manual. Ask to see it, and if it’s unavailable, look elsewhere.

Today, there are a number of certifying organizations such as NVLAP, A2LA, ANAB and others whose function is to ensure accredited laboratories are assessed against the management and technical requirements published in the International Standard, ISO/IEC 17025:2017. However, even though a laboratory may be certified, don’t be afraid to ask questions — lots of them.

If certified, they will have a scope of capabilities available. This should be easily obtained from their website. From this, you can learn what their areas of expertise and capabilities are, such as, what test equipment is used and to what standards test methods can be certified (for example, MIL, GGG or ANSI), along with what the uncertainties of measurement are for the various types of measurements. Uncertainties are critical when verifying dimensional standards and should be a point to explore.

When doing an in-depth evaluation, check processes such as how are the technicians trained, and what is their experience level? What quality control methods are in place? What is the physical design of the facility, what are the control tolerances on temperature and humidity, and how is the equipment protected from the effects of outside vibration? Figure 2 shows an example of state-of-the-art isolation from dynamic forces: how does the facility under consideration compare? Additionally, in any long-term relationship, it’s good to visit, see the facility and get to know the team you will work with.