Calibration Labs must monitor the calibration environment accurately to ensure calibration quality

Veriteq's Cal Lab Monitoring Solution

Cal Lab Solution Overview

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Why Veriteq for the Calibration Lab?

An overview of Cal Lab temperature & humidity monitoring & recording

Overview

Fluctuating temperature and relative humidity conditions in a calibration lab can significantly affect the quality of calibration processes. Measuring and documenting these conditions is therefore essential for complying with contractual or government regulations, maintaining laboratory accreditation to ISO 17025 standards, and for demonstrating good laboratory management practices.

Most calibration labs these days are still equipped with mechanical chart recorders. However, more and more of these labs are recognizing that these these devices do not provide sufficient accuracy to support high quality calibrations. They are also often time-consuming to operate and maintain.

Chart recorders are time-consuming to operate and maintain and often fall short of accuracy requirements

Challenge

The challenges in monitoring today's calibration lab include:

Having an effective monitoring and data collection system that not only supports quality calibrations but satisfies demanding auditors.
Obtaining and prominently displaying temperature (or temperature and humidity) data in real-time so that technicians are always aware of environmental conditions - and can thus stop calibration work if conditions are out of specification.
Measuring lab environmental conditions with enough accuracy to support repeatable calibrations.
Having an efficient system for archiving environmental records such that data is never lost and can retrieved quickly and easily.
Having a way to monitor the lab environment remotely so that problems do not cause expensive downtime.
Reducing the effort and risk associated with changing charts, checking pens, and calibrating the measuring and recording devices.
Having a system that is cost-effective and easy to install.

Solution

Veriteq offers a system specifically for Calibration Lab monitoring: Networked precision data loggers. Important factors in using this solution for calibration lab monitoring applications include:

Exceptionally small size of each data logger unit allows them to be unobtrusively placed as close as possible to calibration measurements. This avoids the errors caused by relying on measurement values from a distant chart recorder.
Accurate to +/- 2% RH and +/- 0.15° C., the data loggers can sense changes as minute as 0.05% RH and 0.05°C
Real-time monitoring, alarming, and historical data collection across an existing network. Tapping into an existing network minimizes the need for, and expense of, special wiring.
Immediate notification of out-of-compliance calibration conditions, including remotely by e-mail.
Large and resizable real-time and alarm windows that can be displayed on any PC desktop - for easy viewing across a lab.
Redundant data collection: data is collected locally at each chart recorder and backed up automatically to one or more network PC's.
Record keeping: Veriteq data loggers allow you to print, store, backup, or retrieve records automatically - without paper.
No charts or pens to change - ever!