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DECEMBER 2007 INDUSTRY NEWS

 

Endevco receives key ISO certifications for quality management systems

Endevco Corporation, the leader in sensing solutions for demanding vibration, shock and pressure applications, has successfully passed the latest ISO 9001:2000 maintenance for 2007 with a score of 960 out of 1000. In addition, the company has received accreditation of the laboratory quality management system for its sensor calibration laboratory, also based on ISO requirements.

“Many Endevco customers require ISO certification to demonstrate that we continue to maintain an acceptable quality system audited by a certified third party,” said Alan Manara, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Endevco. “However, this rigorous international standard serves as the quality system benchmark for Endevco to the benefit of all its customers across a wide range of industries globally. It’s their assurance that quality is at the forefront of what we stand for.”

In 1994 Endevco was one of the first eight companies in the United States to obtain certification under ISO 9001:1994. In addition to being one of the first to receive this certification, it was accomplished during the first audit with no major findings. In 2000 the company obtained registration under ISO9001:2000 and AS9100, also with no major findings. The ISO/AS9100 certification is recognized worldwide as the best known quality system. The current certification will remain in effect until 2009

Endevco has also received certification from the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation for the company’s sensor calibration laboratory. This accreditation is awarded in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025:2005 General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories. It also certifies that the laboratory meets the requirements of ANSI/NCSL Z540-1-1994 and any additional program requirements in the field of calibration as well as demonstrating technical competence in the operation of a laboratory quality management system.

 

Laboratory Accreditation Bureau (L-A-B) Becomes a Signatory to APLAC MRA

Laboratory Accreditation Bureau announces that it has become a signatory to the Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC) Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) effective December 6, 2007, after formal recognition at the recent APLAC meeting in Malaysia. L-A-B now advances to be a full member of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) whereby L-A-B will recognize, and be fully recognized by, the 58 ILAC signatories worldwide.

Signatories of ILAC and the APLAC MRA accredit laboratories to the International Standard ISO/IEC 17025: General Requirements for the Operation of Calibration and Testing Laboratories. Current United States signatories are: 1) the American Association of Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA), 2) National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP), 3) International Accreditation Services (IAS) and 4) AClass Accreditation Services. Laboratory Accreditation Bureau (L-A-B) is the 5th accreditation body recognized by APLAC in the United States.

L-A-B Managing Director, Doug Leonard, stated: “We appreciate the efforts and hard work of our L-A-B staff, accredited laboratories and advisors in achieving this recognition. We all look forward to continuing to conduct effective, efficient and highly competent calibration and testing laboratory assessments.” www.L-A-B.com

 

IAS Announces Transition from ANSI/NCSL Z540-1-1994 TO ANSI/NCSL Z540.3-2006

IAS is pleased to announce transition from ANSI/NCSL Z540-1-1994 TO ANSI/NCSL Z540.3-2006. Beginning in January 2008, IAS accreditation certificates issued to its accredited calibration laboratories will reference the updated version of the standard.

The predominant American National Standard for calibration laboratories, Z540-1 was retired in the summer of 2007, in favor of Z540.3. Many of the requirements from Z540-1 remain in Z540.3, and the new Standard is aligned much closer to ANS/ISO/IEC 17025:2005. The provision for allowing the 4:1 Test Uncertainty Ratio (TUR) also remains and is contained in Clause 5.3 of the Standard.

Assessment of calibration laboratories by IAS includes all requirements of ANS/ISO/IEC 17025:2005; and under Z540.3 Clause 5.3, IAS will ensure that the laboratory meets the requirements of that clause. Specific assessment and documentation of the 4:1 TUR will be included as applicable. Assessment to all the requirements of Z540.3 may not be needed for most calibration laboratories; however for those laboratories needing to demonstrate compliance, an assessment to all requirements of Z540.3 will be provided upon specific written request. For more information, please contact Hershal Brewer at (562) 699-0541, extension 3309.

 

AMETEK Acquires California Instruments Corporation

AMETEK, Inc. announced it has acquired privately held California Instruments Corporation. Based in San Diego, California Instruments is a leader in programmable alternating current (AC) power sources used to test electrical and electronic products. California Instruments has annual sales of approximately $22 million.

"California Instruments is a leader in the niche market for programmable AC power sources with an especially strong position in the high-power segment of the market and a solid roster of long-standing blue-chip customers," notes Frank S. Hermance, AMETEK Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

"This acquisition broadens the scope of our Power Instruments business, which produces power quality monitoring and metering instrumentation, and further expands our presence in the attractive electronic test and measurement equipment market," adds Mr. Hermance.

California Instruments is the global leader in programmable AC power sources used to test electrical and electronics products by simulating various input voltages, frequencies and potentially harmful line transients. These products are used in design verification testing, manufacturing, quality assurance and regulatory compliance by its customers in the computer, consumer electronics, industrial controls, and aerospace and defense industries.

California Instruments joins AMETEK as part of its Electronic Instruments Group (EIG) --a recognized leader in advanced monitoring, testing, calibrating, and display instruments. AMETEK EIG sells its instruments to the process and analytical, aerospace, power, and industrial markets worldwide and had 2006 sales of more than $1 billion.

 

Thermo Fisher Scientific Selected by China Doping Control Center to Supply Testing Instrumentation for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that the China Doping Control Center (CDCC) has selected the company as one of its major suppliers of instrumentation and software for the testing of athletes at the 29th Olympic Games in Beijing. The CDCC has been accredited by the Chinese government and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to conduct all doping control analyses during the 2008 Summer Olympics.

The company will provide the CDCC with a range of high precision and high performance Thermo Scientific brand mass spectrometry (MS) instruments, including DFS Sector Field GC/MS systems, the DELTA V isotope ratio mass spectrometer and triple-quadrupole TSQ Quantum(TM) Access LC/MS systems. These instruments and associated software will enable the CDCC to respond to the high volume of samples expected at the Summer Olympics. Thermo Fisher has also agreed to provide technical and application assistance to the CDCC to ensure uninterrupted operation and secure handing of athlete samples throughout the event.

"Identifying illegal performance-enhancing substances that are used in sports competition is a growing global challenge -- one made even more difficult by the development of sophisticated drugs that are increasingly difficult to detect," said Marijn E. Dekkers, president and chief executive officer of Thermo Fisher Scientific. "Our analytical instrumentation is ideally suited to meet this challenge, providing the high specificity and sensitivity, high throughput and reliability required in today's sports environment."

The CDCC testing program will start before the opening of the competition, and continue from the athlete check-in at the Olympic Village until the end of the games. All samples will be analyzed strictly in accordance with the IOC anti-doping rules for banned substances.

 

 

NIST Measures Performance of Auto Crash Warning Systems

Engineers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed and tested a laser-based ranging system to assess the performance of automobile collision warning systems. Researchers in industry and at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) will be able to use the NIST technology to accelerate the development and commercialization of safety systems that alert drivers to multiple, and sometimes virtually simultaneous potential crash hazards—both from forward or side collisions as well as from running off the road. DOT believes that such warning systems could reduce substantially the number and severity of injuries to motorists and save lives

Preliminary tests of prototype collision detection systems with the NIST technology have revealed both potential benefits of the systems and areas that need improvement.
According to DOT, of the 3.6 million rear-end, road departure and lane change crashes that occur each year in the United States, 27,500 result in one or more fatalities—about three-quarters of the nation’s yearly auto-related deaths. DOT estimates that widespread deployment of advanced integrated driver assistance systems may reduce such collisions by 48 percent. The department has formed a partnership with the automobile industry called the Integrated Vehicle Based Safety Systems (IVBSS) initiative to hasten deployment of advanced warning systems in the U.S. vehicle fleet.

To evaluate the performance of crash warning systems, which generally use radar, researchers needed an accurate measurement tool based on entirely different principles. NIST researchers developed an independent measurement system (IMS) consisting of a camera and microphone in the cab to detect the driver warning, a suite of calibrated cameras to measure the distance to lane boundaries and laser scanners to measure the distance to obstacles forward and to the side of the vehicle. The system can be mounted on cars or trucks with trailers and requires no modifications or connections to the warning system being tested. The NIST system can detect an object to within about eight-tenths of a meter from up to 60 meters away at speeds up to 25 m/s (within 33 inches at a distance of 197 feet and speeds up to 56 mph.)

NIST used the IMS to evaluate the performance of two systems built by IVBSS industry partners for a light vehicle and a heavy truck. Researchers collected data in representative crash-imminent driving scenarios in which a crash warning should be issued as well as scenarios that might cause a system to issue a false alarm. Both systems passed most of the more than 30 tests conducted this fall in East Liberty, Ohio and Dundee, Mich. However, the IMS revealed some warning system problems in detecting whether forward vehicles were in-lane or out-of-lane on curves or during lane changes. The IMS also measured significant warning delays that resulted in test failures. Such problems are common in automotive crash warning systems that must operate in real-time, at highway speeds, and use multiple low-cost sensors to measure complex three-dimensional scenes.

DOT is currently analyzing the IMS data and if the results indicate the warning systems pass DOT muster, the next step calls for the IVBSS to equip approximately 20 automobiles and 10 trucks with the warning systems. Volunteer motorists and truckers would be asked to use vehicles on the highway for a month. The DOT will analyze the data to refine estimates of benefit if these systems are deployed in most vehicles.

For further information see www.its.dot.gov/ivbss

 

Complete collection of generic ISO 9000 standards available in new book and on CD

The 14 ISO International Standards currently comprising the ISO 9000 family of generic quality management standards are now available in new paper and CD editions of The ISO Standards collection. Two standards now at the final draft stage, plus a technical corrigendum, are also included.

The ISO 9000 family is best known for ISO 9001:2000, the standard that establishes the requirements for a quality management system and which can be used for certification by organizations that wish to have their conformity to the standard verified by an independent auditor. At the end of 2006, at least 897 866 ISO 9001:2000 certificates had been issued in 170 countries and economies.

However, ISO 9001:2000 is complemented by a comprehensive family of standards addressing the following specific aspects of quality management:

  • Fundamentals and vocabulary,
  • Performance improvements,
  • Quality plans,
  • Projects,
  • Configuration management,
  • Measurement processes and measuring equipment,
  • System documentation,
  • Realizing financial and economic benefits,
  • Training,
  • The selection and use of consultants,
  • Quality and/or environmental management systems auditing,
  • Complaints handling,
  • Codes of conduct for customer satisfaction, and
  • Dispute resolution.

The ISO Standards collection – ISO 9000 Quality management groups this entire family of generic quality management system standards and supporting tools developed by ISO technical committee ISO/TC 176, Quality management, in a handy book, and on CD. The book (ISBN 978-92-67-10455-3), English only, and the CD (ISBN 978-92-67-10456-0), in English and French, each cost 300 Swiss francs. They are available from ISO national member institutes (see the complete list with contact details) and from ISO Central Secretariat through the ISO Store or by contacting the Marketing & Communication department.
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