What is required to start a calibration service company

[Jneil]

Hello everyone, I am looking to start my own local calibration service after years of non-responsive and overbooked services in our area resulting in delayed calibrations of equipment, deviations and non-compliance (I have been a lab manager/general manager in laboratories for 20 years).
My question is, I would like to be an on-site service only; i.e without a home-based lab. I would travel and perform services at the company in question.
In your opinions, is this a viable option, would you contract with that type of service?
I believe in this scenario I would only require calibration technician certification and the required compliance documentation to accompany any equipment I used to perform calibrations (initially pipettes and balances), but are there any other pitfalls this community could convey I may not be considering?
I am well versed in calibration requirements and compliance requirements; R&D, GLP and GMP, just not from a vendor perspective.
Thank you, Jessica

 

[Steve Prevette]

You mentioned you would be "without a home based lab". If you are transporting your equipment to the faciilty to do the calibration, that involves the risk of not knowing the pedigree of the customer's equipment (and why would they not calibrate it themselves) or if you are transporting the calibration equipment, then it may get jostled (such as your balance) and may fall out of calibration during tranpsort. You also need to manage the calibration of your equipment against stricter standard sources.

There is also the issue of providing the correct documentation to the customer if their equipment is found to be out of calibration and would not be surprised if you needed to coach them on corrective actions.

 

[Ed Panek]

Get certified in your state for weights and measures. In Ohio its a day-long class and test for example. Also, some of ISo 17025 required me to use other weights (From another company) as a sanity check in addition to annual state recertification. That was only an OFI I think but that's 10 years ago now. Buy enough tools to allow some to be calibrated for several weeks.

 

[ChrisM]

What country are you referring to when you say you want to start your own business? What type of calibrations, mechanical instruments (eg thread gauges, micrometers) or electronic (eg multimeters, oscilloscopes) - or something else?

 

[Jneil]

What country are you referring to when you say you want to start your own business? What type of calibrations, mechanical instruments (eg thread gauges, micrometers) or electronic (eg multimeters, oscilloscopes) - or something else?

Hi Chris M, for clarity I am in central NC, USA; an active research area. I am finding the guidance confusing as to the requirements for accreditation. There are other companies in this area who provide on-site calibration of pipets, balances, centrifuge, gauges, CTU, and that would be my starting point. Thanks you

 

[dwperron]

Jessica,
The accreditation issues are going to be determined by the requirements of your customers. You can work towards 17025 accreditation as a feature for your business, something that can bring confidence for a new company, but if your customers do not require accredited calibrations (or an accredited lab) then you will be paying for and supporting a level of service that you will not get paid back for. Calibration technician certification is also something that is "nice", but rarely is required.

You can use 17025 as a guidance document, a collection of industry best practices, things that a customer will be looking for and expecting. Depending on how close you get to conforming to 17025 you can claim, like many other suppliers, to be 17025 "compliant" without actually going through the accreditation process. 17025 can guide you into what you will need to satisfy most of your customers' requirements.

You know who the competition will be in your area, study up on them. Get their certifications and quality manuals, see what they are offering. That will give you a better idea of what would be acceptable for your future customers.

 

[ChrisM]

There is a free guidance document available to download from ISO but 17025 is geared to laboratories and I'm nt sure that there is a Standard applicable if you do not have your own lab but purely offer on-site calibration:

ISO - ISO/IEC 17025 — Testing and calibration laboratories

Testing and calibration performed using standard methods, non-standard methods, and laboratory-developed methods

www.iso.org

Your biggest issue may be starting up and generating initial business with no reputation and no history of excellent customer service. I wish you luck, my experience of such labs in the UK is not good and great onsite service is IMHO highly preferable