NMPhils now certified to calibrate instruments

CEBU, Philippines - In its bid to provide cheaper cost of doing business and increase the competency level especially for exporting companies, the National Metrology Laboratory (NMLPhils) announced its international certification to calibrate instruments and apparatus.

NMPhils is now certified to calibrate temperature, mass and pressure instruments by the Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle GmbH (DakkS), an internationally respected German accreditation body recognized by the European Cooperation for Accreditation and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation.

Local firms, from food exporters to manufacturers of semi-conductor chips, may now have their instruments and apparatus calibrated in the Philippines– bypassing expensive and time-consuming calibrations abroad.

About 440 calibration laboratories have been accredited by DakkS, including similar national metrology institutes in Thailand, Chile, Jordan, and Kenya. DAkkS supports metrology institutes around the world, including NMLPhils.

The NMLPhils, of the Industrial Technology Development Institute-Department of Science and Technology (ITDI-DOST), maintains national physical standards for mass, length, temperature, time interval, voltage, and resistance.

It is equipped with high precision standards and measuring instruments for use in its calibration and measurement activities that are regularly calibrated to ensure international traceability.

It can now apply the DAkkS stamp on calibrated products, translating to savings on high freight costs and long turnaround time before calibrated items are returned by calibrating institutes abroad.

NMLPhils laboratories are now at par with other national metrology institutes in other countries, said Andrea Ulbrich of DakkS.

Ulbrich said the NMLPhils laboratories will follow during the second phase of German assistance this year.

“It's a very specialized accreditation, a way of showing competence,” said Ulbrich, who is the project coordinator.

DAkkS is a semi-government body which brought under one wing several accreditation bodies in Germany, as required by the European Union (EU).

With German government funding, DAkkS is supporting NMLPhils in upgrading calibration standards.

"As the national laboratory in the Philippines, NMLPhils is at the highest level of metrological hierarchy,” said Ulbrich.

“Having a DAkkS accreditation is one way of establishing third-party accreditation for competence, giving assurance that calibration capabilities are as good as claimed,” Ulbrich added.

According to Ulbrich, with DAkkS accreditation, local companies may expect easy access to the global market.

“Other national metrology institutes are looking at each other, where the accreditation is coming from, if it’s internationally recognized, with higher levels of competence,” she said.

When devices or artifacts used in production are properly calibrated, the final product suits the international market, so there is no problem in marketing abroad when their products are calibrated by an ISO recognized institute like ours, said ITDI director Nuna E. Almanzor."

Local competency and our products are now equal to international competence, we're inside the circle,” Almanzor added.

For his part, DOST secretary Mario G. Montejo said that this move is a very important step which will help the Philippine industry cut both cost and time and enlarge its competitiveness in the global business environment. (FREEMAN)