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JUNE 2006 NEWS

 

e-learning Opportunities in Temperature Calibration

To help users involved in temperature calibration, Isotech is offering a comprehensive 'e-learning' program. The e-learning has been developed as part of the e-Learning Place. This £3-million project has enabled Isotech, in partnership with the University of Liverpool and Connect Internet Solutions, to create high-quality courses incorporating multimedia features and on-line interactive assessment. The benefits of the course include increased understanding of temperature calibration, the methods of calibration, the types of equipment available, how to select the appropriate equipment and how to avoid common pitfalls. The website is www.isotech.co.uk/elearning.

For more information contact Jon Hughes, Lenton Laboratory & Scientific Equipment, 011 476 4662, jon@lenton.co.za, www.lenton.co.za

 

Calibration Dynamics

As of January 1 2006, Calibration Dynamics will act as sole UK distributor for Scanivalve Corporation of Spokane, Washington State. Established in the USA in 1955, Scanivalve produce one of the most advanced and complete ranges of intelligent pressure and temperature instrumentation in the world. Scanivalve have been operating directly in the UK through their technical support offices in Bath for almost twenty years while their comprehensive range of accessories has been distributed via Instrumentation Design Services of Bristol.

The new appointment will consolidate Scanivalve’s activities in the UK offering a single source for products, supporting accessories and after sales service. We are working very closely with Scanivalve in the US and UK in order to smoothly transition the agency to Calibration Dynamics to ensure continued, reliable service from Scanivalve in this period.

Calibration Dynamics have also formalised their relationship with MB Dynamics of Cleveland Ohio are now the exclusive distributor for the United Kingdom. MB produce one of the most comprehensive and innovative ranges of Vibration Sensor Calibration and Modal Analysis Excitation systems in the world and we are pleased to have been appointed.

There is excellent strategic fit with the other instrument test and calibration products that we deal with and we look forward to promoting this product into the UK’s respective markets.

 

New T&M Company Formed

SMARTCAL and Trio Test & Measurement Solutions have merged to form Trio-Smartcal, specialising in test equipment sales, service and calibration.

Smartcal is a Tektronix service, repair and calibration provider. It was formed by ex-employees of the Tektronix service department when Tektronix closed its Australian T&M office in 2001. Smartcal is also an authorised calibration provider for National Instruments.

Trio, formed 40 years ago in Adelaide, is a national T&M distributor, representing suppliers such as Fluke, Yokogawa, LeCroy, Hameg and Rohde & Schwarz. Trio also manufactures portable appliance testers.

The new company has offices in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne. Visit their website, http://www.smartcal.com.au/index.html, for more company information.

 

National Instruments Hosting the Military and Aerospace Solutions Conference

This free one-day conference and accompanying exhibition features technical demonstrations and case studies of the latest technologies for automated test and control design for military and aerospace applications. The conference explores how virtual instrumentation delivers open, flexible frameworks, through platforms such as PXI and Labview FPGA, to help engineers take advantage of the rapid evolution of commercially available technology with minimal disruption. Engineers in the military, government and aerospace arenas face a unique set of demands, such as the management of maintenance costs and technology insertion over long project life cycles.

At the Military and Aerospace Solutions Conference, engineers meet with key players in the industry to discuss solutions that meet these demands. Last year, more than 100 engineers gathered to gain insight into emerging industry trends and see the latest technologies in action.

This year’s conference is being held at Twickenham Rugby Ground, UK, on Wednesday July 19, 2006. The topics covered include trends and developments in test; control and design; defining future test system architectures; virtual and synthetic instrumentation; electronics test; communications system test; and new NI Compactdaq USB data acquisition system.

 

Good News Stories from ILAC Signatories

For some years now, the ILAC MCC has been asking its members to provide "good news" stories that emphasize the benefits accreditation and the ILAC Arrangement have brought a variety of stakeholders. A collection of good news stories is now available on the ILAC website for you to use to promote the benefits of accreditation.

Visit ILAC’s website at http://www.ilac.org/indexPrev.php?daurl=indeciesSummary.php&theId=2&archId=9 to read the stories.

 

2006 PDA/EMEA Joint Conference- Understanding the European GMP Environment
10-13 October 2006
London, England

Mark your calendars for this opportunity to meet European regulators and learn about the latest developments in GMPs and inspection activities in the European Union. Continuing its tradition of service and leadership, PDA is proud to celebrate its 60th anniversary by partnering for the first time with the European Medicines Agency (EMEA). This is a unique opportunity to interact and network directly with top European health authorities and industry representatives in a neutral, science-based forum and learn about:

  • The current status of the GMP requirements in Europe
  • How inspections are managed and executed for the EU and its member states
  • The future direction of GMP trends in Europe, and their impact on inspections
  • The role of the Qualified Person

Visit pda.org for more event details at http://www.pda.org/calendar/courses/pda_emea/166.html.

 

Boost Quality Call to Firms

BAHRAIN risks losing foreign investment if it fails to deliver high standards in metrology, testing and quality, a senior government official warned yesterday. Commerce and Industry Minister Dr Hassan Fakhro says companies must strive to meet international standards in order to protect the country's position as the financial hub of the Middle East.

He was speaking at the opening ceremony of the third Middle East Metrology Conference, held at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre. (http://www.middleeastmetrology2006.com)

"In this 21st Century, as you are aware, significant changes are taking place in the international and regional trading and industrial environment," Dr Fakhro told delegates.

"Countries all over the world are caught up in the process of trade liberalisation and globalisation. "The Middle East, and in particular the Gulf region, is fast emerging as a consumer market with a huge purchasing power.

"Metrology, the science of measurement, is then of crucial importance to our region as it plays a key role in facilitating both domestic and international trade.

"Accurate measurements are the underlying basis for the quality and reliability of products and services and play a crucial role in our day-to-day life.

"Measurement is of interest to consumers and governments in various fields, for instance medical diagnosis and treatment depends on reliable assessment of symptoms and accurate measurement of doses of medicines.

"Many decisions in our daily life are based on metrology. This is why it continues to have a high impact in safeguarding human health and safety and protecting the environment.

"Without credible metrology, conformity to national or international standards required by the marketplace and for the protection of consumers and the environment is not possible.

"A country's standardisation (standards, metrology, testing and quality) capacity has a direct bearing on foreign direct investment flows to that country.

"An investor setting up a manufacturing facility needs to calibrate the equipment and measuring tools to ensure that the measurements made in the factory are fully traceable to the international units of measurement.

"Products and samples have to be tested in reliable testing laboratories and the laboratory test certificates issued would need to be recognised internationally.

"If these testing and conformity criteria are missing in a country, the foreign investor would have to incur additional expenditure to set up such facilities, which are prerequisites for manufacture and export."

Bahrain Society of Engineers president Mohammed Khalil Al Sayed said that metrology was becoming a high priority in developing countries.

"The main driving forces behind this increased interest has been the globalisation and liberalisation of trade, the move towards international co-manufacture of goods and the greater technical complexity of most products and services," he said.

"Today, the economic success of nations and their competitiveness in world trade depends on their ability to manufacture and trade precisely measured and tested products and services.

"Bilateral and multilateral trade agreements often call for mutually recognised measurements and tests, thus increasing the importance of international co-operation in the field of metrology.

"In our profession, metrology and precision of measurements play an important role in all fields of engineering including construction projects and materials, industrial plants, power generation plants and petrochemical plans and testing laboratories."

 

Pfizer Sells Puerto Rico Plant to Abraxis

Pfizer has sold a large manufacturing plant in Puerto Rico to biopharmaceutical firm Abraxis for $32.5m (€25.4m), as it continues to consolidate its manufacturing operations.

Abraxis will receive a 172,000-square-foot validated manufacturing facility in Cruce Davila, Puerto Rico, with capabilities of producing EU and US compliant injectable pharmaceuticals, as well as protein based biologics and metered dosed inhalers (MOIs).

The acquisition also includes a computer-controlled 90,000-square-foot active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) manufacturing plant, and two support facilities with quality assurance and laboratories, totaling 262,000 square feet. Abraxis will now lease the chemical raw material plant back to Pfizer at least for a year to continue the manufacturing of the active ingredient for Celebrex.

The overall manufacturing complex, which is expected to employ approximately 400 to 500 people when fully-operational, will provide a third manufacturing site for Abraxis to produce chemotherapeutics such as its breast cancer drug Abraxane for injectable suspension.

The deal makes Abraxis one of the broadest injectable manufacturers of sterile injectable pharmaceuticals in the industry with the ability to manufacture products in diverse dosage forms such as vials, bag-fill, pre-filled syringe, lyophilized, powder-fill, liquid-fill (aseptically filled and terminally sterilised) and MOIs for both the U.S. and European markets.

The Puerto Rican facility adds to Abraxis' manufacturing capacity in Melrose Park, Illinois, Grand Island, New York, and Barbengo, Switzerland, expanding its European and cGMP manufacturing capabilities.

Visit http://appdrugs.com/index.cfm for more Abraxis Pharmaceutical Products Inc. company information.

 

Siemens and Carl Zeiss Collaborate in the Field of Calibration Services

Siemens AG and Carl Zeiss Industrielle Messtechnik GmbH are now jointly offering their calibration services to customers. For decades now, both companies have been operating extensively equipped calibration laboratories for quality assurance in the measuring field. The labs have been accredited by the German Calibration Service (DKD). The collaboration will result in a comprehensive spectrum of calibration services for a large number of electrical, physical, mechanical and optical measuring parameters.

For DKD and factory calibrations, the DKD lab of Siemens in Erlangen will be responsible for the electrical and physical parameters, and the DKD lab at Carl Zeiss in Oberkochen for the dimensional and optical parameters.

Calibrations serve as the measuring basis for the monitoring of measuring and test devices within the framework of quality management. Therefore, they are an important prerequisite for compliance with current and future quality standards in the development and production field. DKD-accredited labs give users the certainty that the results of their measurements are reliable, increase the trust of end customers and therefore enhance competitiveness.

For more information visit Carl Weiss, Inc. at www.zeiss.com.

 


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