Calibration of Equipment for Field Installers

[BradM]

I am about to audit and rebuild our calibration process (I already know it needs it, its been dropped for years, our re-cert date is next spring). The question I have is do we have to control the tools/equipment for the field installers? We manufacture equipment here on site then send either our own installers to install the equipment in factories or we contract out union installers when necessary.

How much will I need to attempt to control out in the field? I know its a vague question, I guess I am hoping everyone will say "don't worry about it" lol.

They could be using tape measures, pressure gages, meters, calipers (maybe) and maybe electronic testing equipment. Im not sure exactly yet because I have not audited it yet but there are at least 100+ people that we send out in the field to install. Controlling their equipment may be a nightmare.

G

If your field people went out to install the product and did not have any of the meters and devices, what would be the impact?

Did they complete a checklist with parameters on it?

Its just kind of hard to make any statements at this point without more info on how they use the equipment.

 

[Big Jim]

Before we all fire off on a debate about what we "THINK" needs to be done, it's more appropriate for you to decide based on what the requirements for what your organization says is important when installing/servicing your product. For example - as a past Xerox employee, when installing a copier, the instructions may say that it needs to be so many inches away from a wall. Measure with a tape is going to be satisfactory, right? Calibration needed? Not on your life!

The power outlet should be 115/120V ac. Multi-meter used, calibration? Nope.

The paper guides may need checking to see if the "pinch roller" is within certain limits. Feeler gauge used. Calibration? Hmmmm - maybe just a periodic verification against the micrometer the tech carries, which IS calibrated.

Did your activities fall under ISO 9001? If not, where is the calibration requirement?

 

[AndyN]

Did your activities fall under ISO 9001? If not, where is the calibration requirement?

What's your point, Jim? Mature management don't need ISO to tell them what to do! Xerox was waaaay ahead of most organizations, even back in the 70s, when I worked for them!

 

[Jen Kirley]

Returning to the original post, which included:

They could be using tape measures, pressure gages, meters, calipers (maybe) and maybe electronic testing equipment. Im not sure exactly yet because I have not audited it yet but there are at least 100+ people that we send out in the field to install. Controlling their equipment may be a nightmare.

Based on this I tried (did I not do well enough?) to stress that the OP's organization first identifies risk presented by uncalibrated instruments used to make installed equipment ready for expected performance for the customer. Only then do they know if, and with what, the requirements of 7.6 apply.

Once that's determined the job of establishing control is undertaken by figuring out how to establish frequency, traceability, protection of the instruments, and the means for tamper-proofing. This does not need to be really complicated, but a database approach would be needed for recall and some oversight for behaviors would probably be called for, at least at first.

 

[Big Jim]

What's your point, Jim? Mature management don't need ISO to tell them what to do! Xerox was waaaay ahead of most organizations, even back in the 70s, when I worked for them!

The point being that this experience may have no bearing on the discussion about calibration requirements of ISO 9001. Interesting perspective though, and from my background as an auto mechanic I often used a torque wrench with no thought about if it were calibrated or not.

If an organization wants to get registered to ISO 9001 they need to adhere to the requirements of ISO 9001 and you know it. Why am I preaching to the choir?

 

[AndyN]

The point being that this experience may have no bearing on the discussion about calibration requirements of ISO 9001. Interesting perspective though, and from my background as an auto mechanic I often used a torque wrench with no thought about if it were calibrated or not.

If an organization wants to get registered to ISO 9001 they need to adhere to the requirements of ISO 9001 and you know it. Why am I preaching to the choir?

Funnily enough, my father was a truck mechanic for many years and he taught me that calibration wasn't applicable to torque wrenches...

I still fail to understand your comments in this context.

 

[Big Jim]

Funnily enough, my father was a truck mechanic for many years and he taught me that calibration wasn't applicable to torque wrenches...

I still fail to understand your comments in this context.

And in your Dad's context it probably didn't matter, just as in your experience with a job that had no bearing on ISO 9001 conformance it didn't matter. It simply has no bearing on the conversaton at hand. It is a Red Herring. Intentional or not, it diverts attention from the matter at hand.

 

[BradM]

... It simply has no bearing on the conversaton at hand. ....

I agree.

Let return to helping this individual figure out what to do with these field instruments.

 

[AndyN]

You both seem to have missed, from my description, those activities which needed calibrated equipment compared to those which didn't! My field service related example is totally relevant to the topic at hand - some equipment used can simply be verified as working properly (voltage indication on power outlet) and others which would need calibration.

When you understand a systematic approach to quality management, you realize that the need for calibration doesn't simply comes from out of the blue - as in "you have to do it to comply" - it comes from other requirements, too. These are "planned arrangements" and include "quality planning", the need to plan for "process measurement" and "product measurement". Too many people haven't thought through the whole interaction of the various processes which result in a decision to have equipment which can be simply verified or which may need calibration. As a result, discussions then center only on a perceived need for calibration vs verification, without consideration of the processes which determined the need for the equipment's use in the first place...

 

[Jen Kirley]

Gentlemen. Let's please return to the original question and its context.

When reviewing the responses to the OP, I think there has generally been an appreciation that not everything may need calibration. Indeed, that's the case everywhere and 7.6 allows for that. For the record, I have been in an industry that requires its torque wrenches to be calibrated. Like always, it's about where and how the tools are used and how important accuracy is.

There is no one-size-fits-all premise to 7.6. I haven't seen one implied here. Let us approach this in a pragmatic way, please. :truce: