European calibration laboratory meets new ISO17025:2017 standard

Yokogawa’s European Calibration Laboratory has achieved accreditation to the latest revision of ISO 17025:2017 standard, for power measurements at up to 100 kHz. This accreditation offers quantifiable proof of the laboratory’s advanced calibration offering, ensuring users of the facility achieve the world’s most accurate measurement results from their power measurement equipment. It offers quality assurance and a trust in measurement results, allowing engineers to develop the next generation of technologies that combine energy efficiency with leading performance.

The standard ISO/IEC 17025:2017, General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories, enables both Yokogawa’s European Standards Laboratory and its customers to demonstrate that they operate competently and generate valid measurement results, promoting confidence in their work both nationally and around the world.

As a result, test reports and certificates can be accepted from one country to another without the need for further testing. This makes ISO/IEC 17025 accredited calibration useful for any R&D team, university, research centre or product certification organisation that performs testing, sampling or calibration and which requires reliable measurement results.

Yokogawa’s laboratory, based at the company’s European Headquarters in Amersfoort, Netherlands, is one of the few industrial (i.e. non-government or national) organisations in the world to offer accredited power calibration at frequencies up to 100 kHz. As such, it forms a key part of Yokogawa’s strategy to maintain and grow its market-leading position in the European digital power analyser market.

These abilities are driven by a growing market demand to remove uncertainty in power measurements, caused by inverters used in automotive, railway or aerospace applications that switch at high speeds, introducing harmonics at higher frequencies. These effects have led to a demand for high-frequency power measurements on devices such as switch-mode power supplies, electronic lighting ballasts, soft starters in motor controls and frequency converters in traction applications.

As a result, power calibration at 50 Hz is no longer sufficient, and accredited power calibration at up to 100 kHz is necessary to ensure the accuracy of the measurement results. This accreditation is in addition to the laboratory’s unique ability to offer high-accuracy calibration at 50 Hz, particularly at very low power factors (down to 0.0001) and at high currents, used for example in power transformer applications.

Obtaining this new accreditation for the laboratory is proof of Yokogawa’s continuing commitment to giving engineers confidence that the measurements they make are correct.

Without high-quality in-house calibration facilities, most other power instrument manufacturers cannot provide the sort of evidence that is available to Yokogawa to show that their instruments offer stability of measurement and perform within their specifications.

 “Yokogawa is determined to stay at the forefront of testing and providing the most precise and accurate instrumentation on the market,” says Terry Marrinan, Yokogawa’s Vice President, Test & Measurement, for Europe & Africa. “By achieving accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025:2017, we have shown we are keen to take on new concepts and maintain our facilities in the front rank of calibration service providers.” 

Erik Kroon, Yokogawa’s European Standards Laboratory Manager, says: “The new accreditation confirms the European Standards Laboratory as the world’s leading power calibration facility and ensures we continue to offer the best possible service to test engineers across many industries.”