5 common calibration mistakes and how to avoid them

Why worry about calibration mistakes?

In manufacturing, tool calibration isn’t just a compliance checkbox to be ticked just before your audits are due, it’s a major factor in preventing unplanned downtime, optimising productivity and ensuring product quality.

With downtime costing many thousands of pounds per hour, no organisation can afford such interruptions, especially when they’re preventable. Yet, even experienced teams make mistakes that cost time, money, and reputation.

This blog covers the five most common calibration mistakes in manufacturing, their impact and how to avoid them.

Mistake 1: Skipping scheduled calibrations

Whether it’s the pressure of tight deadlines, a drive to hit the numbers, cost-saving attempts, individual laziness or just down to a lack of visibility, skipping calibrations always end up costing the organisation more in the long-run. Whether it results in increased measurement errors, equipment malfunction or breakdown, product rework or quality issues, safety incidents or failed audits, they all hurt the organisation.

Avoiding it can be simple. Implement automated schedules, which send out early and overdue reminders and increase their visibility via dashboards that are shared across the management team, so that nothing is left to chance.

Mistake 2: Using incorrect standards or reference equipment

Whilst staff turnover and training can certainly be a factor in not adhering to correct calibration standards, this is usually down to either not having a clearly documented procedure and nominated test equipment and referring to outdated standards or ways of working, just because that’s “the way we’ve always done it”.

By not keeping up with the latest standards or equipment, tools can often seem like they are giving the right results, only to later find that the results were inaccurate and tools were out of tolerance. In severe circumstances, this can lead non-compliances, fines, product defects and other reputational damage.

By always calibrating against certified, traceable standards and with a clear calibration policy outlining measurements, expected results and nominated test equipment, there can be no confusion.

Mistake 3: Poor records and documentation

Relying on manual logs and practices that can be traced back decades is still commonplace. Logs filed away somewhere in old lever arch files, held on clipboards scattered around the shop floor or even on various spreadsheets stored on different servers never create the right impression on an auditor who wants to see records that are complete, legible and controlled.

This can cost the organisation dearly, with audit failures and inability to prove compliance leading to sanctions, fines or a complete cessation of production until practices are changed and shown to be under control.

Avoiding this needn’t be scary. Having a simple centralised digital record system for managing tool calibration records not only makes calibrations easier to manage, but it will inspire confidence in your auditor that you have it all under control.

Mistake 4: Ignoring environmental conditions

When calibrating tools, environment conditions such as temperature, humidity and air quality can impact the consistency and accuracy of your calibration test results just as much as dirt, wear or damage on the tool or the test equipment.

Avoiding this is usually means observing the manufacturer’s guidelines and logging the test conditions under which the calibrations took place. On highly specialist or sensitive equipment, fluctuations in conditions can lead to tool damage or malfunction, so engaging external calibration services who can conduct such tests under ultra-controlled conditions may be necessary.

Always ensure that regardless of whether conducted internally or externally, environmental conditions are captured as part of the calibration record in case you need to rule out such factors in any root cause analysis for any failures.

Mistake 5: Lack of ownership, buy-in and control

Ownership of key tasks like tool calibration can often be de-prioritised when in a pinch. But it is skipping these steps that is likely to lead to errors in production or safety hazards that slow down or even halt production. However, if the team are bought into the process and made to feel that it is important to the organisation, as detailed in our earlier blog on “7 ways to ease the pain of calibration”), then this can be avoided.

Equally, visual tool control solutions like foam inlays in tool cabinets and shadowboards twinned with digital tool management solutions ensure that tools don’t get mixed up or lost between shifts or lines and out-of-calibration tools are taken out of use thus avoiding costly usage errors. This investment gives teams confidence that they can trust their tools, andinvokes an added sense of pride, care and ownership in wanting to look after their tools properly.

Conclusion

Avoiding these mistakes isn’t just about compliance. It’s about providing piece of mind and confidence in every measurement. Adopting tool calibration best practices can be easier than it seems.

Recently awarded Calibration Product of the Year, KIT makes calibration management simple, visual, and audit-ready.

Here’s how KIT helps avoid these pitfalls:

1. Automated scheduling with reminders and dashboards for visibility.
2. User-defined digital calibration policies aligned with ISO and manufacturer standards.
3. Centralised records for calibration and audit histories.
4. Environmental data logging and certificate storage.
5. Visual control systems and a digital twin that promote ownership, accountability and pride.