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Qrometric is a UK metrology company based on the Sussex coast that specialises in the measurement and calibration of humidity and temperature, with instrumentation used over a wide range of applications including calibration laboratories, pharmaceutical, power utilities, aerospace and defence.
Qrometric has formed strategic partnerships with manufacturers of humidity and temperature instrumentation and offers state-of-the-art equipment that delivers high accuracy measurement and calibration capability. The company has also conceived, designed and developed its own innovative dew-frost point calibrator.
The Qrometric FPG Dew Point Calibrator is used for calibration of dew point sensors and all types of hygrometers from -100 ºC to +10 ºC dew point, which is a game-changer for industries that rely on humidity dependent processes thanks to its transportability and speed of operation.
Qrometric has been granted accreditation by UKAS in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025:2017 as a calibration laboratory for both humidity and temperature.
Driving measurement standards to a higher level
Qrometric was founded 10 years ago by Robin Farley, Blue Ramsey and Ned Hawes, who between them have more than 65 years’ experience in metrology, instrumentation, fundamental research and product development.
Their mission is to drive measurement standards to a higher level through the application and development of innovative products and processes to better serve industry, while striving for improved measurement capability and lower uncertainty.
The team at Qrometric collaborate with national standards institutes including the UK, Spain and Italy and a global network of business partners to advise on optimised measurement capability, calibration system development and process control optimisation.
Qrometric is committed to working with UKAS through the accreditation process to further enhance the levels of measurement capability through reduced measurement uncertainties, challenging the levels set by National Metrology Institutes. Having UKAS accreditation delivers increased confidence to industry in the quality of service offered.
The significance of accreditation
UKAS accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025:2017 for calibration laboratories provides significant confidence through the provision of competence through peer review and access to a network of international technical expertise. Accreditation ensures that the laboratory has the technical competence, appropriate equipment and the right quality control procedures in place to produce accurate and reliable results.
Qrometric director Robin Farley says: “It was important to us to be accredited by UKAS as the UK’s National Accreditation Body. We are at the cutting edge of calibration innovation with the development of the FPG and our laboratory; we strive to have our performance and operations verified by accreditation that is recognised internationally.”
A lab built on digital transformation
Qrometric moved to new premises near Brighton in summer 2023 and developed a state-of-the-art calibration laboratory that includes some of the most advanced calibration systems available. The laboratory was developed around a cloud hosted software platform used to manage the calibration of scientific equipment, complete with automated control systems that eliminates human error and provide a reproducible calibration conditions.
Callum Morgan is Qrometric’s Laboratory Manager. He says: “The Calibry metrology and quality system software we based the lab on was developed in collaboration with INTA Spain as part of government funded project to support digital transformation in industry. INTA is the Designated Institute for Humidity in Spain and was originally accredited by BCS (forerunner to NAMAS and UKAS) in the 1970s, so there’s a long history of collaboration between the UK and Spanish humidity metrology. Our advanced data analytics and quality system are fully digital, and this has been a significant contributing factor to minimising the timescale our measurement uncertainty’.
The accreditation journey
Qrometric applied for UKAS accreditation in humidity and temperature calibration in March 2023 and was given an estimated time scale of nine months. Accreditation was achieved in six months from application, an exceptional achievement and a credit Qrometric and UKAS assessment teams.
Qrometric Technical Director Ned Hawes comments: “One of our primary motivations to be accredited was so we could deliver the FPG dew point calibrator in the UK and overseas with accredited calibration certification in place. To achieve this, we put in a lot of long days and worked weekends to meet the rigours of the process. A further challenge was that we moved into our new premises only four weeks before the assessment.
Of most significance in our achievement in such a short timeframe was the implementation of the Calibry calibration laboratory management platform that we developed the lab upon. Calibry is based on the 17025 standard so we were guided to do things correctly as we set up procedures, so we didn’t waste time. The uncertainties we have achieved are due to the expertise of our team and the equipment we have used – namely the FPG, CGS-240 and MBWSLX, each of which are pushing the boundaries of measurement science in our field. We now have one of the best equipped, certified humidity metrology laboratories in Europe and can offer low uncertainty humidity calibration services to customers in the UK and further afield with substantially reduced timescales.”
Navigating through the process: The role of UKAS Assessment Manager and Technical Assessor
UKAS Assessment Manager Chris Bowman and Technical Assessor Chris Aicken worked with the team at Qrometric throughout the accreditation process.
Ned says: “The support we had from Chris and Chris was extraordinary. They guided us through every step of the process and informed us of our options. Based on this, we took the practical option of initially limiting the frost-dew point range from -75 ºC to +85 ºC; although our ambition is to be accredited for calibration to -100 ºC we didn’t want to delay the process.”
“Working with the UKAS team was a truly collaborative experience.”
Both Chris Bowman and Chris Aicken had a previous career within two of the leading manufacturer calibration laboratories in the UK. Their experience in the area of thermo-hygrometry brings assurance of comprehensive assessment and continued compliance with the required standards.
Expanding the scope of accreditation
Since achieving accreditation for ISO/IEC 17025:2017 in September 2023, Qrometric has already extended accreditation scope to include dry block temperature calibration and analogue output signals and is working towards a range extension to cover to -100 ºC dew-frost point.