Are You Always "Investigation Ready?"

An overweight aircraft crashes, a bridge fails, a building collapses. Accidents occur as the end product of a chain of events; a series of small failures, each one linked to the next. Prevent any one of them, and you break the chain; the accident cannot occur.

After every major accident, investigators examine every link in that chain of events. These investigations are detailed and comprehensive; they will include manufacturer's calibration records for testing instruments used in the production of materials and structures. Public reports of poor calibration management and record keeping, whether contributing to the accident or not, promote doubt and distrust among your customers about your quality standards.

It's clear that the more you know about how testing equipment is calibrated and verified the better prepared you are to effectively assess a calibration service's qualifications and capabilities. However, even the basic terms calibration and verification are confusing to many people.

So what is the difference between calibration and verification? You can leave your comments below or stay tuned for Instron's answer tomorrow....