Agilent 5990-9191EN English 2014-08-01 PDF 175 KB c20141003 [8] free download

File name 5990-9191EN English _ 2014-08-01 _ PDF 175 KB c20141003 [8].pdf

Keysight Technologies Business Considerations of Equipment Refresh in a Calibration Laboratory White Paper Abstract-- Calibration laboratories operate in a world of constant change, and this is never more evident than in the products that are requested to be calibrated. Technology producers survive on innovation and constantly pushing measurement demands to new limits. This creates a constant need for better measurement standards, and calibration laboratories are all too familiar with the dilemma of whether or not to update the existing test equipment that they use. This paper acknowledges the upgrade costs, but then focuses on identify- ing advantages achievable from such an upgrade effort. Those advantages are further explored to identify underlying factors that can realize a benefit. 1. Introduction Speaker/Author: Richard Ogg Managing a calibration laboratory presents numerous challenges. One of these Keysight Technologies, Inc. relates to updating the lab to handle new products with higher performance Santa Rosa, CA, USA that demand better measurement standards. This is a never-ending process as several instrument companies operate predominately in the space of new measurement capability. Therefore, these performance innovation companies constantly strive to introduce new instruments that will stretch the measure- ment capabilities of even their own calibration laboratories. The higher performance can appear in different respects. Sometimes it is the demand to extend a parameter (e.g., frequency) coverage of the lab to higher frequencies. Or maybe the demand is to measure smaller values than previously offered. Sometimes neither the range nor sensitivity is improved, but the accu- racy is improved, requiring better measurement uncertainties. Regardless of where the performance enhancement lies, the improved capability often requires the purchase of newer and higher-performing measurement standards. Whether or not to expand a laboratory's capability is not the focus here. The question is whether or not to leverage that expansion to a general refresh of the