Difference between written calibration procedures and calibration work instructions?

T

Timmers

:bonk:
Can anyone tell me ( in easy to understand terms ) the difference between written calibration procedures and calibration work instructions. I have been given the responsibility ( yeah ) of writing these for our in house tool calibration ( verification ). Does anyone have any sample procedures or instructions they would share with me. This is new to me and I have read several articles on the subject and I am still confused and not sure how to go about starting these.

HELP!

Thanks,
Timmers
 
R

Russ

Calibration procedures should be a general-overall procedure of how you calibrate equipment, and what you do if it doesn't pass etc. Work instructions should be tailored to the equipment being calibrated. You will want a seperate work instruction for each class of equipment. I have attached our procedure and one of our work instructions as examples of what have worked for us.
 

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T

Timmers

:bigwave:
THANKS Russ, that was quick and will be a huge help to me. I wish I had found this site a lot sooner, it would have saved me a lot of aspirin.

Thanks again,
Timmers
 

Jerry Eldred

Forum Moderator
Super Moderator
You guys are fast. I just got in to work. Guess you have the Eastern Standard Time advantage (I'm on Central Time).

Interesting input on "Procedure" versus "Instruction". I don't disagree with the input. But my perspective has always been that a "Work Instruction" is specific step by step instructions on how to perform a task. A procedure can be a work instruction, but a work instruction is not always a procedure. I have used the term "Calibration Procedure" as the name given to the work instructions (the more generic quality systems term) I write with step by step calibration instructions.

I think it may be as simple as the dependence on the language in a particular company's quality policy as to what term is used for the step by step instructions on how to perform calibrations.

I'm leaving on vacation in a few days (17 days in Haiti). Including a week training technicians at a radio network on how to use and maintain their test equipment, the other week doing work up in the mountains. So I probably won't respond to any inputs on this.
 
N

Norm

Calibration Procedures

Timmers,

There is an organization called GIDEP (Government-Industry Data Exchange Program) that has an abundance of calibration procedures (er...work instructions) available on the Web and on DVD. Membership (including the DVD) is free, but your company must directly or indirectly supply goods or services to any branch of the government (federal, state, or local) or to a government contractor. I have found GIDEP to be very useful.

I notice you are in Sidney, Ohio. I am in Troy (Panasonic). If you would like to visit our calibration lab, I would be glad to demonstrate GIDEP for you, and show you how we have utilized this resource.

Email me if you are interested.

Norm
www.Panasonic.com
 
R

Ruebenn

Re: Difference between written calibration procedures and calibration work instructio

Dear Sir,

I am in Asia and my company does not have any businesses(both direct or indirect ) with the US Federal govt.
I guess i am deprived from accessing to Gidep to browse and download all its procedures.
I would be sincerely obliged if you any one of you could share with me some of the procedures if not all of it?
Appreciate the help.
Rgds
Ruben
 

Colin

Quite Involved in Discussions
Re: Difference between written calibration procedures and calibration work instructio

Its an 'age old' discussion about the difference between a procedure and a work instruction and it sometimes seems to be industry specific.

For :2cents: I don't think it really matters what they are called. They are simply a means to help someone conduct a task in a desired fashion. I generally think of procedures to provide guidance on the Who, does What and Why, whereas a work instruction gives the detail of How to do it. On the other hand, it is quite OK to put the How in a procedure as long as it does not over-complicate the procedure.

The main reason for having separate instructions is so that procedures do not get 'clogged' with detail and as instructions are more likely to change more often, it makes them more manageable that way.
 

CalRich

Involved In Discussions
Re: Difference between written calibration procedures and calibration work instructio

Dear Sir,

I am in Asia and my company does not have any businesses(both direct or indirect ) with the US Federal govt.
I guess i am deprived from accessing to Gidep to browse and download all its procedures.
I would be sincerely obliged if you any one of you could share with me some of the procedures if not all of it?
Appreciate the help.
Rgds
Ruben

Ruben,

It is a violation to distribute GIDEP procedures to non-GIDEP participants. The program is open only to US and Canadian government and industry.

From GIDEP's FAQ's:
Q: Can I give a non-registered person in my company access to GIDEP's sites?

A: No. You are violating government information security to a controlled computer database and internet site.

Q: Is redistribution or selling of GIDEP documents allowed?

A: No.

Why not try to form some collaborative effort from industry in Malaysia (or across Asia) to create a information/procedures database? Good Luck
 
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