Local firms – from food exporters to manufacturers of semiconductor chips – may now have their instruments and apparatus calibrated here.
Bypassing expensive and time-consuming calibrations abroad, local companies may now have instruments and apparatus calibrated by the National Metrology Laboratory (NMLPhils).
NMLPhils 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.
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.
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, says Andrea Ulbrich ofDakkS, adding other NMLPhils laboratories will follow during the second phase of German assistance this year.
“It’s a very specialized accreditation, a way of showing competence,” says Ulbrich, the project coordinator.
A German firm in Laguna supplying electronic spare parts for German auto makers can now have its equipment or instruments calibrated NMLPhils instead of sending these to other countries, she says. “It costs less, involving less time, which is an important factor.”
DAkkS is a semi-government body which brought under one wing several accreditation bodies in Germany, as required by the European Union. 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,” says 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.”
“With DAkkS accreditation, there is easy access to the global market,” she says. “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.”
“When your 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,” says Dr. Nuna E. Almanzor, ITDI director.
“Local competency and our products are now equal to international competence, we’re inside the circle,” she adds.
“Our laboratories have now the internationally recognized competence to calibrate for temperature (for liquid, glass and industrial platinum resistance thermometers, for example); mass (from 1 to 10 kilograms); and pressure (for example, hydraulic and pneumatic gauges), ” says NMLPhils head Aurora V. Kimura.
“It has been a long process, but it now signals our readiness to serve industry,” she says. “Industries are now confident of sending their instruments and equipment to our laboratories.”
German Ambassador Christian-Ludwig Weber-Lortsch called it a sophisticated joint venture.
“It is a very important step because it is an international recognition, a milestone, which will help Philippine industry cut both cost and time and enlarge its competitiveness in the global business environment,” he said during the turn-over of the accreditation certificate to Science Secretary Mario G. Montejo.
“This is a significant event, reflective of the German culture of orderliness. It ascertains international traceability on mass, temperature and pressure,” said Montejo. “It is affordable access right here in the Philippines, ensuring our global competitiveness.” (Paul Icamina, S&T Media Service)
