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Running a maintenance programme

1. Set intervals by consequence, not by calendar. An instrument whose failure stops production or invalidates results deserves a shorter interval and a spares holding. One whose failure is an inconvenience does not. Grade the estate and spend accordingly.
2. Read what a certificate actually states. A useful certificate names the method, the tolerances tested, the as found and as left values, the environmental conditions and the traceability of the reference. A pass with no numbers tells you nothing.
3. Cost downtime, not parts. Compare contracts on guaranteed response and parts availability rather than on annual fee. For a critical instrument, a slower contract is more expensive than a faster one.
4. Decide in house against external per volume. Where enough devices of one type exist, in house calibration with a traceable reference is cheaper and faster. Below that volume, an accredited external service is cheaper and more defensible.
5. Keep one asset record with an owner. Serial, location, service and calibration status, certificates and a named owner per instrument. Without it nobody knows what is due, and an audit finds out first.
6. Plan for the failure that matters most. Very low temperature storage is the failure with the largest consequence. Monitoring, alarms that reach a person, spare capacity and a rehearsed transfer are worth more than any contract.

As found values matter most

The as left reading tells you the instrument is fine now. The as found reading tells you whether it was fine while it was producing data, and it is the value an investigation needs.

Insist on as found values in every certificate, and review them rather than filing them. An out of tolerance as found reading is a signal to look at what was measured since the last calibration.

Ownership is the whole programme

Maintenance fails on ownership rather than on money. Equipment with a named custodian gets cleaned, serviced and calibrated; equipment owned by everyone gets none of it.

Assign an owner per instrument at purchase, and make the asset record the place where that ownership is visible.

Common questions

What makes a calibration certificate useful?

Named method, stated tolerances, as found and as left values, environmental conditions and traceability of the reference standard. A certificate without as found values cannot tell you whether previous results were affected.

Should calibration be done in house?

Where the volume of similar instruments justifies a traceable reference and a trained person, yes. Otherwise an accredited service is cheaper and produces a certificate that carries more weight.

How should a service contract be compared?

On response time, parts availability and what is excluded, rather than on the annual figure. Downtime on a critical instrument costs far more than the difference between contracts.

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