Calibration system must meet ISO 10012, ISO 17025 or ANSI/NCSL Z540?

[AshleyE]

Howdy All,

Need a little clarification on this one.

A customer just changed their supplier requirements and requesting that Calibration systems meet ISO 10012, ISO 17025 or ANSI/NCSL Z4540-1

I'm not familiar with these standards or what the requirements might entail. Can anyone offer guidance of what our customer is looking for, or where I should start? We're an ISO9001:2008 company that performs most measuring equipment verification in house.

Thanks,
Ashley

 

[Hershal]

Howdy All,

Need a little clarification on this one.

A customer just changed their supplier requirements and requesting that Calibration systems meet ISO 10012, ISO 17025 or ANSI/NCSL Z4540-1

I'm not familiar with these standards or what the requirements might entail. Can anyone offer guidance of what our customer is looking for, or where I should start? We're an ISO9001:2008 company that performs most measuring equipment verification in house.

Thanks,
Ashley

ISO 10012 is a guidance document that is a nice reference and provides no real direction. No one in the calibration lab world places any actual reliance on it.

ANSI/NCSL Z540-1-1994 is an American National Standard. The Z540-1 is officially retired in 2006, however, it is the typical document met by almost every calibration lab in the US. ANSI/NCSL Z540.3-2006 is the official replacement for Z540-1, however, its acceptance is currently still limited, and required only by a few organizations such as NASA. That will change over time, but it is unclear how long that will take. A lab can self-certify to either version of Z540.

ISO/IEC 17025:2005 is the internationally-recognized accreditation Standard, and must be granted by an accreditation body (AB). Accreditation under ISO/IEC 17025:2005 is considered fully compliant with all applicable requirements of ISO9001:2008 and addresses all requirements of Z540-1 Part 1. As with your ISO9001 registration, an accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025 includes on-site assessment. However, additional steps are required during the assessment, including demonstration of technical competence, and such demonstration requires a metrology professional proficient in the discipline(s) for the scope. Also, the Calibration and Measurement Capability (CMC) must be calculated and listed in the scope.

Hope this helps.

 

[Mikishots]

Howdy All,

Need a little clarification on this one.

A customer just changed their supplier requirements and requesting that Calibration systems meet ISO 10012, ISO 17025 or ANSI/NCSL Z4540-1

I'm not familiar with these standards or what the requirements might entail. Can anyone offer guidance of what our customer is looking for, or where I should start? We're an ISO9001:2008 company that performs most measuring equipment verification in house.

Thanks,
Ashley

That's a tall order - it is essentially requiring you to have a certified calibration lab in-house.

It's a big investment; is this customer a significant part of your business? We have also had this situation come up (we're an aircraft manufacturer), but we're simply not in the position to go to those lengths in-house. We'll use ISO 17025 labs when required.

 

[Kales Veggie]

That's a tall order - it is essentially requiring you to have a certified calibration lab in-house.

It's a big investment; is this customer a significant part of your business? We have also had this situation come up (we're an aircraft manufacturer), but we're simply not in the position to go to those lengths in-house. We'll use ISO 17025 labs when required.

I did not read "certified" only "meet", which means self-certify to me.

 

[Kales Veggie]

Howdy All,

Need a little clarification on this one.

A customer just changed their supplier requirements and requesting that Calibration systems meet ISO 10012, ISO 17025 or ANSI/NCSL Z4540-1

I'm not familiar with these standards or what the requirements might entail. Can anyone offer guidance of what our customer is looking for, or where I should start? We're an ISO9001:2008 company that performs most measuring equipment verification in house.

Thanks,
Ashley

I would read carefully what your customer requires. There is a big difference between the mentioned standards. Also determine is certification by a 3rd party is required or if you can "self-certify" and be compliant.

10012 is the easiest to do. Start doing some research on Elsmar here.

Depending on your instruments and the actual requirement, it maybe more cost effective to calibrate using an outside calibration house.

 

[AshleyE]

My 30,000 ft view of the requirement is that our internal calibration requirements must be tightened up, or they are looking for all measuring tools to be calibrated by an accredited lab.


Herhsal - Thank you for explaining the differences in the three standards.

Mikishots - That is about what we were thinking. We manufacture components for a variety of industries and this requirement came from an aerospace customer.

Kales Veggie - The actual requirement states "calibration systems shall meet the applicable requirements of..." said standards.

This customer is not a significant amount of our business but we are moving at a glacial pace towards AS9100 and looking to expand our customer base.

Several of our Aerospace customers have pushed down additional requirements recently, not sure if this is just the annual review and updating documents or is something else is kicking around in the industry.


Thanks everyone for your insight. Found a copy of ISO 10012 to start with and move from there.

 

[Mikishots]

I did not read "certified" only "meet", which means self-certify to me.

The requirements wouldn't differ - unless someone's hiding something. The other thing that may be causing confusion is the header - it says "must meet".

I think some clarity from the OP is in order - is certification mandatory under the customer's revised plans? The body says "requesting that Calibration systems meet...."

 

[Kales Veggie]

The requirements wouldn't differ - unless someone's hiding something. The other thing that may be causing confusion is the header - it says "must meet".

I think some clarity from the OP is in order - is certification mandatory under the customer's revised plans? The body says "requesting that Calibration systems meet...."

There is a huge cost difference !!!!

 

[AshleyE]

Customer Purchase Order Conditions state:

Calibration Systems shall meet the applicable requirements of ISO 10012, ISO 17025 or ANSI/NCSL Z540-1.


I'm wondering now, could this be specifically for calibration houses when this company is purchasing calibration services?

 

[Hershal]

Customer Purchase Order Conditions state:

Calibration Systems shall meet the applicable requirements of ISO 10012, ISO 17025 or ANSI/NCSL Z540-1.


I'm wondering now, could this be specifically for calibration houses when this company is purchasing calibration services?

Based on this, your conclusion appears to be likely.