Edit Equipment Screen
The main edit screen for our calibration management software
You will use the Edit Equipment screen and its dialogs to edit all data related
to your tool / test equipment. You also have the ability to change the names
of all fields in the Edit Equipment screen by updating the 'user-defined-field-names.xml'
file in the application data (AppData) path. The AppData path is usually the
same location as the database and we already have a find the database help page.
Review of All Fields
- Equipment ID: The unique identification you give your own
tools / test equipment.
- Serial No: The unique identification the manufacturer gives
their tools / test equipment. You will periodically find that some manufacturers
do not assign serial numbers or that a serial number label has fallen off.
In this case, it is usually a good idea that you assign one of your own.
- Model No*: The model number of the tool / test equipment
assigned by the manufacturer.
- Description: Read-only description of the tool model number, which automatically changes to reflect the description of the model field (above).
- Department*: The department in your organization where the
tool is currently located.
- Location*: The location within the department where the tool
is currently located. This could be a specific work area or even an engineer's
desk.
- Status*: The status of the tool / test equipment (e.g., accepted,
removed from service, failed calibration, or any other status you need).
- Frequency / Units: The frequency between calibrations, like
yearly or semi-annual. If you choose a frequency that requires a unit multiplier
(e.g., week, day, or month), the Units field will enable where you can adjust the
number of units (weeks, days, or months, etc.).
- Calibration Last: The date of the last calibration is set automatically
when you enter a new acceptable calibration (Calibrations tab). You can also
set the Calibration Last manually, which automatically updates the Calibration Next
field based on the value of your Frequency field.
- Calibration Next: The date of the next calibration is set automatically
when you enter a new acceptable calibration (Calibrations tab) or when you manually
update the Calibration Last field. In either situation, the next calibration
date is calculated based on your chosen Frequency.
- Calibrated By: Identify the individual, department, company
(or whomever) that regularly calibrates this instrument. For instance, you
may have someone in the Fabrication department regularly calibration all calipers,
someone in the Assembly department calibration all multimeters, and an external
company that calibrates all of the more complicate equipment, like oscilloscopes.
This is a useful field when you want to create a report of all the equipment due
in a given period for a specific calibration resource.
- User Fields: Use these fields for whatever additional data
you team requires. You can change the field names by updating the user-defined-field-names.xml
file in the AppPath folder.
- Notes: Like the user fields, use the notes field for whatever
purpose your team needs.
- Tolerances: Define the overall tolerances for the standard
measurements of this test / measurement equipment. Since the plus and minus
tolerances are set individually, you have the ability to create two sets of unilateral
(e.g., +/- 0.005) or bilateral (aka split) (e.g., + 0.005 and - 0.002) tolerances.
Don't be confused by the second set of tolerances (i.e., Tol 2) since most users
will probably never use them. Nevertheless, if the actual measurements you
enter are out of either set of tolerances, your equipment will be identified as
out-of-tolerance.
- Measurements: Click on the link button to define the standard
set of measurements you plan on using for this piece of test or measurement equipment.
For instance, you have a six-inch caliper that you want to check at 1 inch, 3 inches,
and 6 inches every time you confirm it's calibration. Therefore, you would
define three standard measurements for 1, 3, and 6 inches.
- Procedures: Relate your calibration procedures to your equipment
by clicking on the Procedures link button and selecting the desired procedure.
* If the field name looks like a link,
you can click that link to edit the available values in the dropdown.
Edit Standard Measurements
Click on the Measurement link button (bottom-left hand corner of the Edit Equipment
screen) to access the following dialog where you add and edit the standard measurements
for each tool / test equipment. Note the description of a standard measurement
above (Measurements field).
As you see below, you can use any base-10 unit of measurement you can imagine, be
it 1 inch, 15 monkeys, or 27 elephants! When entering text in the Name field,
enter it using a number and letter combination, something like '3 inches'
and the dialog will recognize the number 3 and automatically enter it in the Value
field for you. Of course, even if it defaults the value, you can change the
value to anything you need.
Now that you have these values entered, you can enter actual measurements during
you calibration exercise.
Link Procedures to Tools
Click on the Procedures link button (bottom-right hand corner of Edit Equipment
screen) to show the following dialog. The checked procedures in this dialog
are the procedures linked to the current tool / test equipment. If the procedure
you need is not already listed, you can click the [Add to List] button at the bottom
of the dialog to do exactly that. You can also click on the Procedures menu
item from the Screens group to edit, delete, or add procedures.
If you have an actual document stored on your network, you can add the location
of that document to the procedures so when you click the Link button inside the
Procedures dialog, you will open the procedure.
Adding Measurements
From within the Edit Equipment screen, select the Calibrations tab and click the
[New] button and the following dialog will appear. If you are entering a new
calibration, the dialog will say Add Calibrations instead of Edit Calibrations,
as it does below. The following is an example of a typical record, if rejected.
Click on the [Measurements] button in the Calibration dialog (above) and the following
Edit Measurements dialog will appear where you can enter measurement based on the
standard measurements defined in the Edit Equipment screen or on-the-fly.
If you enter an out-of-tolerance measurement, based on the tolerances you defined
in the Edit Equipment screen, the record will show yellow and will force a Reject
status in the Calibrations dialog. The Calibrations dialog will then ask you
if you want to transfer that status to the tool, rather than just the calibration
activity.
Last updated: 7/4/2011
Compatibility: Calibration Control version 5.8 to current