Tag Archives: Calibration

4 Ways Test Stands improve Measurements

Table of Contents

test stand

What Is a Test Stand?

Force Test Stands are devices used to control measurement variables in force testing and other measurements. A test stand usually has a force gauge mounted on it or a load cell which is then used to measure multiple force parameters. The stand moves vertically and horizontally, to push against the force gauge or load cell to record measurements. Test Stands increase your efficiency and effectiveness in testing and allow for complete test control. Here are four ways they improve your measurements.

Increased Control

Force Test Stands are designed to allow for tests to be run in the same way every time, which eliminates external variables and bias. Instead of manually applying force, test stands eliminate the possibility of human error when testing product. Did you know the angle at which you press into a load cell can make a difference in your measurement results? Controlling your variables in your measurement process is a sure way to get more accurate results and improve your force measurements. Want more control over your testing? Get a Mark-10 Test stand, click here.

Testing Efficiency

Pressing a button and watching a stand do the work for you sounds like a fairy tale, but a simple configuration automates everything. Test Stands reduce the need for manpower and the need for specially trained operators to run them. Doing measurements by hand and writing them down is time-consuming and old-fashioned. Automatic test stands improve your testing process efficiency by five times. Manually testing product, writing down results, and mentally crunching numbers takes much more time than pushing a button and having a device automatically recording your measurements in a database. Test stands simplify and optimize how you take measurements.

Reliability of Results

Effective tests are based on repeatability, and test stands are the best way to achieve repeatable results. Completing force tests by hand the exact same way is near impossible and isn’t a good practice for quality measurements. Test stands reduce the number of variables in your testing method and allow you to record reliable data. Repeatable, accurate tests ensure your results can be trusted and potential problems are identified. A test stand will eliminate errors and give your team confidence in the results.

Testing Capabilities

If you are testing at a high capacity and don’t have a test stand, you run the high risk of having inaccurate measurements. High-capacity testing should be done by a test stand for safety and measurement quality purposes. On the other side, if you are testing at extremely low capacities, for example, a hypodermic needle, measurements are difficult to replicate by hand. When the force is manually applied, your testing capabilities are limited. A test stand allows for precise results across all applications and provides the accuracy and safety your company, team, and customers need.

Summary

Test Stands are one of the most simple and efficient ways to increase your testing accuracy and provide you with valuable data insights. Test Stands help control variables and eliminate errors in the testing process. Switching from a manual force test to an automated process increases control, improves testing efficiency, provides reliable results, and expands your testing capabilities. If you are performing manual force tests and are interested in a test stand demo,

Contact us, we would love to help you find the perfect fit for your application.

Choosing the Correct Rocker Column Load Cell Cups

Load cells used in truck scales or rail scales are exposed to temperature-induced expansion and contraction. Canister load cell technology couldn’t account for the temperature-induced errors, so rocker column load cells were developed to replace them.

Rocker column load cells have rounded upper and lower loading surfaces that are spaced out from the strain gages. This is to avoid stresses from the high contact areas. Spherical radii are either placed on the loading surface or where the load measurement is made and at the outer extremities. This is to avoid dispositioning as the column rocks and minimize errors caused by weighbridge shortening. It is important to choose a rocker column load cell that will compensate for when the load cell is offset. Rocker column load cells should also be hermetically sealed at both the strain gage location and cable entry. Compensating for load errors are vital to obtaining accurate measurements and meeting quality standards.

Truck scales are often used to sell products by weight, so they need to meet NTEP quality standards. It is important to have the correct load cell cup installed! Here’s a video to help you make sure you have the right cups for your rocker column load cells. Contact us for your truck scale calibration or installation. We’d be happy to help!


5 Reasons to Outsource Calibration

 

Calibration is a necessity in many industries. The question that comes into play is whether to do it in-house or to outsource it. There are arguments for both, but the best option depends largely on your company’s resources.

You’ll need to consider the many costs of in-house calibration. It’s not abnormal for a new facility and lab equipment to cost over $250,000 let alone the $75,000 to run it annually. That’s just for the calibration lab itself. Employees will need additional training. Increased responsibility will assume increased wages. Hiring new employees to perform calibration procedures will tack on salary and healthcare costs. Routine calibration is necessary to maintain quality standards. This could lead to 10 or 20 instruments needing calibration at a time. Time is taken away from daily tasks and production. If your company is large enough to take on these costs and utilizes several instruments that need calibration, over time these costs will even out, and the company may save money. Though some companies could afford to take on in-house calibration, here are 5 strong arguments for outsourcing calibration services.

 

1. Faster turnaround time

Not only does internal calibration take time away from daily tasks, but the daily tasks take time away from calibration. Outsourcing consistently gets faster results. Third-party facilities operate all day focusing solely on calibrations. In-house labs have a limited time and employees to dedicate to calibration causing a longer turnaround time which could be detrimental to operations.

 

2. Lower OPEX

Outsourcing has a faster turnaround time which decreases the downtime of production costs. Rental costs are decreased because companies won’t have to use them as often or for as long. Spares and rentals can cost companies millions of dollars a year. Calibration labs must comply with ISO 17025 standards. Outsourcing eliminates the costs associated with in-house audits. Companies commonly save 10 to 25% on overall operating expenditures by outsourcing calibration services.

 

3. Lower CAPEX

Calibration is not a core competency of many businesses, but it is for third-party providers. Calibration service providers make substantial capital investments on upgraded equipment, technicians, and climate-controlled labs. In-house calibration labs may be limited to due budgets. This could force internal labs to use outdated equipment at the edge of its lifecycle. Outsourcing calibration will give companies access to state-of-the-art equipment to calibrate their instruments to the highest degree of quality standards.

 

4. Improved Audit Compliance

Outsource partners maintain calibration records in a centralized database and will often grant you access to check your calibration certificates 24/7. This helps prove standard compliance at the most critical time, the quality audit.

 

5. Higher Quality

Calibration labs must meet industry standards and regulations. Third-party accredited labs use strict measures to test and audit their calibration equipment. These accredited labs ensure higher quality assurance and more accurate results. Inaccurate calibrations could result in product recalls.

 

When comparing the overall costs and risks associated with in-house calibration to outsourcing, the benefits of outsourcing are evident. Emerging technologies and stricter regulations create a constant need to upgrade and audit calibration labs. If you’re still considering implementing an in-house calibration lab be sure to take into account hardware, floor space, employees, training, and turnaround time. If you decide to outsource, Grand Rapids Metrology has five different locations across the state including two calibration labs. Our labs are A2LA ISO/IEC 17025 accredited, and we provide emergency service 24/7/365.

 

SOURCES:

Why it’s time to outsource

In-house vs Outsource

Are You Questioning Calibration?

Most companies have a quality department that ensures their measuring equipment is calibrated on a regular basis, but occasionally an item is questioned on whether or not it should be included in the calibration program. Calibration is also questioned when it comes to certain situations. Companies are sure to include their own equipment in the quality program to be calibrated on a regular basis, however, they often overlook employee-owned instruments which are occasionally used. If these instruments are being used to qualify product, they must also be calibrated. Companies that encourage or permit the use of employee-owned tools, must include these tools in their calibration program. The owner of these tools may not want the equipment to have a calibration sticker on it or be held accountable to a standard. This should be discussed on the front end. In fact, it may be better to prohibit the use of employee-owned tools to better track the equipment used in your process. Equipment often overlooked and called into question are hard gages. This includes gage blocks, plug gages, pin gages, ring gages, and thread plug gages. If an item is in question, think of what it’s used for. If it’s used to qualify something, it must be calibrated on a regular basis. Don’t attempt to cut costs by only calibrating tools that are used for the final inspection. Uncalibrated instruments can end up being used accidentally, and it is often hard to prove that every feature of the product is verified at final inspection. Attempting to cut costs could, instead, end up increasing costs. If final inspections reveal product is off, this could result in recalls or thousands of finished products ending up as scrap. One way to cut costs without jeopardizing the quality of your product is to analyze equipment calibration reports. Compare the results over time to see if there’s room to lengthen the calibration cycle for your equipment. If an item is costing more money in calibration compared to others, it may be time to replace the equipment. Our customers have access to their equipment calibration reports 24/7 through our online customer portal. They are able to view their previous calibrations and when calibration is due next for each piece of equipment. If you have any questions regarding calibration, equipment, or CERTLINK, don’t hesitate to reach out! SOURCES: Quality Magazine

Learn What An Oscilloscope Is, How To Choose The Correct One, & Properly Take Care Of It

Oscilloscopes test, measure and display voltage signals. Signals are plotted on a graph to demonstrate how the signal changes over time. Oscilloscopes provide reliable results over an extensive period of time and are used in a variety of industries ranging from healthcare to automotive. Health care workers use oscilloscopes to monitor a patient’s heartbeat and to observe brain waves. Physicists and other research scientists use oscilloscopes to track tiny particles and to analyze the impact of various signals such as mobile or television. Engineers and electronic technicians use them the most out of any occupation. Electronic and electrical engineers rely on them for designing electrical equipment. Sound engineers use oscilloscopes to observe vibrations in engines and computer design engineers use them to determine processor speed and frequency. Even automobiles advance to incorporate more electronic equipment each year and need oscilloscopes to troubleshoot automotive issues. There are many oscilloscopes to choose from. To choose the best option for the application, consider the bandwidth, input channels, sample rate, record length, vertical resolution, and other various features. The bandwidth needs to capture all frequency components of the signal. A good rule of thumb is the bandwidth should be greater than 5x the highest signal frequency. More input channels increase awareness around what’s going on in the design. Mixed signal oscilloscopes offer both digital and analog channels to increase visibility. The faster the sample rate, the greater the wavelength resolution. This helps ensure critical information isn’t lost. It is recommended that the sample rate is greater than 5x the highest frequency component to capture all signal details. Record length is the number of samples stored in a single acquisition. Due to storing a limited number of samples, the waveform duration is inversely proportional to the sample rate. A longer record length allows for a longer duration to be captured at high resolution. Vertical resolution is greatly important when converting a signal from analog to digital. Higher bit converters capture and measure more detail. Taking into consideration the different features of an oscilloscope compared to what needs to be measured should lead to the right choice. Due to the extreme sensitivity of an oscilloscope and the importance of reliable results, professional calibration services are imperative to the quality of the equipment. When purchasing an oscilloscope, most of the time it comes calibrated and ready to use. After about a year it is time to have it professionally calibrated. This assures the user, the measurements recorded are accurate and within specification limits. Equipment may need to be tested regularly to be in compliance with specific standards. An oscilloscope that is out of tolerance will result in false information when a product is measured. Your oscilloscope may need to be calibrated more or less than a year. Calibration intervals should take into account the accuracy of the instrument, the impact an out of tolerance oscilloscope would have on the process and the instruments performance history. Analyzing the calibration reports should give insight into this information. Grand Rapids Metrology would be happy to help you determine which oscilloscope best meets your application, and we’ll care for it every year after your purchase. We work with the purpose to uphold quality standards and want to ensure your measurements are accurate. SOURCES: Oscilloscope Functions Oscilloscope Industries Oscilloscope Calibration

How to Increase Quality of Food Production and Avoid Potential Recalls

According to the USDA, 1.5 million pounds of meat & poultry were recalled in 2018 due to extraneous material (plastic fragments, metal shavings, latex pieces, or other foreign materials). “The average cost of a recall for a food company is $10M in direct costs” according to a joint study by the Food Marketing Institute and the Grocery Manufacturers Association.

Grand Rapids Metrology helps you keep your profit and avoid potential recalls in two ways: through metal detector systems and calibration! We were presented with an opportunity to make a customer’s food manufacturing process more efficient while mitigating extraneous material risk. As finished product is passed along a conveyor belt, the installed in-motion checkweigher simultaneously weighs the product, and the metal detector ensures product quality.

Metal detectors are an extremely useful tool. When utilized within your current process flow, product is efficiently checked. However, one should not overlook the power of calibration. The food industry prioritizes accurate weight and quality of substance, and therefore, food manufacturing standards are among the most heavily regulated.

Routine calibration helps to avoid potential recalls, due to bad batches, through obtaining reliable and accurately measured values. Many regulation and management standards for food quality stress the importance of calibration. Hazard Analysis and Critical Control (HACCP) regulations that are mandated for meat and poultry, seafood and juice references “verification records that document the calibration of process monitoring instruments.” ISO22000, the food safety management system’s requirements, states in Section 8.3, “The organization shall provide evidence that the specified monitoring and measuring methods and equipment are adequate to ensure the performance of the monitoring and measuring procedures”. Both require documentation of calibration activities to monitor the performance of equipment. Effective procedures for calibration and quality assurance can help achieve this.

Due to wear over time, instruments require calibration at set intervals. This is to ensure equipment is running at prime conditions. Putting off calibration can cause a variety of quality and compliance issues which could result in product recalls and heavy costs.

Don’t be a recall statistic. Our custom engineered solutions team will analyze your current production process and look for ways to increase efficiency as well as quality! Rely on us to keep track of your calibration needs. When a year has passed, we’ll remind you to schedule calibration! Not to mention the new and improved CERTLINK. CERTLINK is our customer portal that will allow you access to all of your calibration certificates and schedules. Reach out to us for more information!

SOURCES:

USDA

Food Safety Magazine

Process Industry Informer

Updated Customer Portal for Better Tracking and Management of Equipment

CertLink is our customer portal system used to obtain calibration certificates, view service history, and calibration schedules. We heard your concerns about CertLink being outdated and made the appropriate adjustments. Continue reading for more information on the updates!

CERTLINK: 2.0 – Available July 22

Wyoming, Michigan – 07/18/19 – Grand Rapids Metrology
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New/Updated Features

  1. Cert Availability: Easily access and print calibration certificates for equipment calibrated within the last 30 days
  2. Calibration Visibility: View equipment due in 7 days, 30 days, or past due to stay up to date on calibrations
  3. Equipment Tracking: View your asset within 7 various stages to stay updated on its whereabouts
  4. Equipment History: View all previous calibration certificates and dates for any given asset
  5. Obsolete Equipment: View equipment that is no longer manufactured and is recommended to be replaced
  6. Email: Ability to email point of contact directly from the page

Pricing and Availability

CertLink 2.0 is available free of charge to all customers and can be accessed from the homepage of our website. Those currently using CertLink will receive an automatic upgrade to CertLink 2.0 on Monday, July 22nd, 2019.  For further information, please reach out to our customer service line (800) 348-5701.

CertLink 2.0 has many new features and updates with the plan to keep improving! Customers can finally track their equipment throughout the calibration process while viewing calibration history and upcoming due dates.

About Grand Rapids Metrology

Grand Rapids Metrology is a premier distributor for over 25 weighing and measuring manufacturers. 2 out of our 5 different locations have calibration labs that are A2LA ISO/IEC 17025 accredited. Contact us if you need new equipment, need your equipment serviced, or are looking to make processes more efficient with our Solutions Team!

Surface Plates – The Types, Use, and Calibration

Surface plates provide a flat plane used as a horizontal reference point for your dimensional measurements. They can be made from granite, metal, cast iron, or glass. Granite is considered to be the best material for a surface plate due to its surface hardness, low thermal expansion, no rust or corrosion, little warping, and long wear life attributes. These attributes result in very accurate, stable and precise measurements.

Serving as the baseline for all measurements, surface plates play a vital role in quality control. The surface is required to be extremely flat with accuracy up to 0.00001 inches or 250 nm for grade AA or AAA plates. Surface plates often check and zero out other pieces of equipment, so accurate and precise measurements are imperative. Machine shops, automotive and aerospace manufacturers require tight tolerances for shop tools and use surface plates to asses for warped areas on manufactured parts.

Surface plates must be calibrated on a regular basis, at the very least once a year, but we recommend every six months. Though granite is the ideal surface, abrasive dust or repeated sliding of gages can create wear spots that are invisible to the naked eye. Problems most commonly occur at areas with frequent use, so frequent calibration will ensure chipping, warping or wear has not occurred. An uneven surface will impact the functionality of the whole plate causing error in measurements and the passing of defected parts.

To maintain quality, contact Grand Rapids Metrology. GRM is a premier provider of surface plate calibration. We can assist you in ensuring its accuracy for use in your processes.

Plug Gage Calibration

Cylindrical plug gages are used to gage calibrating equipment, and measure diameters of a hole or bore used to manufacture product dimensions. Cylindrical plug gages are available in six classes: XXX, XX, X, Y, Z, and ZZ. The classes differentiate the amount of deviation allowed in the manufacturing process for tolerance and geometry. Image result for tolerance chart Plug gages can wear down over time. You’ll want to routinely check and calibrate them depending on the frequency of use. Failure to do so could result in product recalls. GRM calibrates plug gages using master standards and our linear measurement machine. Each plug gage takes about 15 to 20 mins to do in order to ensure our findings are accurate. Using master standards, we set the datum to determine deviance. The datum used is based on the tolerance class of the plug gage. Readings are taken on each axis three times for a total of six measurements. This process is performed on both the go and the no-go ends. After taking three different measurements, rotating 90 degrees and taking three additional different measurements, the plug gage is adjusted to record the opposite side and the process is repeated. GRM precisely calibrates a wide scope of weighing and measurement equipment. If you need plug gages or any other equipment calibrated contact us! SOURCES: Pratt&Whitney Meyer Gage

What Are Dynamometers Used For?

Dynamometers are commonly referred to as a dynameter or dyno. They are used to measure power, output, force, and torque. A force is applied to the flexible metallic ring of the dynamometer, it bends, and the applied force is measured. They are used in a variety of industries from laboratory science to manufacturing. Dynamometers are extensively used in the automotive industry to determine horsepower, max power absorption, and max rotary speed.

Due to wear, temperature changes, or corrosion, sensors tend to drift away from the original calibration. Since dynamometers are often used in the manufacturing and assembly process, drifting away from the original calibration could result in defects and/or recalls resulting in thousands lost. Your dynamometers should be tested and calibrated annually.

To accurately calibrate a dynamometer, be sure to contact a registered calibration company such as GRM.  We will be sure to set all equipment to the correct power line input voltage if needed, and use our precision weights to do the calibration procedure.

 

 

SOURCES:

Dynamometer

Test and Measurement Dynamometer

Mechanical and Digital Dynamometers