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With so many Calibration Management Software packages available, finding the ideal system for your needs may prove difficult.
To help you find the Calibration and Gauge Management Software package to suit your requirements, Richard Tatlow of Retriever Technology has written the following guide.
CALIBRATION MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
SYSTEM CHECK LIST
Introduction
There are many software packages on the market which are put into the categories ‘calibration management software’ and ‘gauge management software’.
In my view we should distinguish between
· Calibration management software
· Calibration laboratory management software
· Measuring equipment manufacturer software
· Calibration software
Calibration management software is used by owners of measuring equipment to maintain quality assurance standards relating to the use of such equipment in their organisation.
Calibration laboratory management software is used by subcontract calibrators for order processing and job control in their calibration laboratories.
Measuring equipment manufacturer software is used to confirm fitness for use and provide traceability for equipment leaving a manufacturer’s premises.
Calibration software is used (by anyone) with a computer-based calibration system and is generally used in conjunction with, or as part of, the first three types of software. It comes in various forms, ranging from fully integrated computer-driven calibration systems to simple computation programs or spreadsheets requiring manual input of readings.
Calibration software plays a significant role in calibration laboratories. However, it will be irrelevant in calibration management systems where calibration results are not required to be part of the calibration records maintained by the system. This would apply where all calibration is subcontracted and subject to certification or where individual calibration measurements are of no interest to the owners and users of the measuring equipment.
On the other hand, calibration measurements and error values are of direct interest to the calibration management system user who wishes to use error or wear trends to assess the condition of measuring equipment and make decisions concerning its value, reliability and usefulness.
Of course, many calibration laboratories issue reminder/recall lists to customers, but, in my view, this does not represent calibration management in anything other than a superficial sense.
