The non-profit American Association for Laboratory Accreditation – or A2LA – is the only independent, internationally-recognized organization in the country that offers comprehensive laboratory accreditation services.
The A2LA’s mission, according to its website, is to provide “independent, world-class accreditation and training programs that inspire confidence in the quality of services and acceptance of results from accredited organizations.”
Accreditation is important, because it tells you that you’ve chosen a calibration lab that can give you accurate, reliable results.
The A2LA lists a few reasons why a lab’s technical competence should matter to manufacturers, suppliers, and other customers:
1. There’s Less Risk Involved
Your customers want their transactions to meet certain standards, whether they’re paying for a product, or hiring you to do work for them. Choosing a technically competent laboratory minimizes the risk of using a defective tool for a job or distributing a substandard product.
2. You Can Avoid Costly Retesting
Testing products or materials costs you time and money, and if these tests aren’t done correctly, the cost can grow even higher. And as costs go up and time goes by, your reputation as a supplier or manufacturer recedes. Choosing a technically competent lab minimizes the chance you’ll need retesting.
3. Your Customers Will Be More Confident
Knowing your work has the backing of an independent, experienced testing facility will make your customers more confident in your work. More and more customers are seeking outside evidence of a product’s reliability, rather than simply accepting a supplier’s assurances.
4. Have Your Products Accepted Overseas
The lab you choose might be based 10 miles from your headquarters, but its accreditation will be accepted in countries 10,000 miles away. The International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation allows accreditations from various countries to be recognized around the world. This recognition helps lower your costs by eliminating the need for retesting in the country where you’re sending your product.
So how does accreditation work? The accreditation organization will conduct a thorough evaluation of everything in a lab that affects the production of test or calibration data. The criteria are based on internationally accepted standard of ISO/IEC 17025.
Accreditation groups use this standard specifically to evaluate factors that are pertinent to the lab’s ability to produce accurate calibration data, including:
- The staff’s technical competence
- The validity of test methods
- The testing environment
- The sampling, handling and transport of the items being tested
- The quality assurance of test/calibration data
- The suitability, maintenance and calibration of the test equipment
- The traceability of measurements and calibrations to national standards
Choose Maxpro for A2LA accredited calibration services
When Maxpro sought accreditation for its calibration lab, we went with A2LA, the premier ISO 17025 accreditation organization in the country.
The A2LA certification process has no equal. Companies that work with labs that carry this certification know they are working with a lab that is driven by quality.
We’re proud of the investment we’ve made in our state-of-the-art calibration equipment, and of our ability to put the A2LA label on everything we do.
