Test and Measurement
How a skilled workforce shortfall is shaping the future of calibration
By Wim Sibon, technical sales manager for electrical calibration products and software in Europe, Fluke I
t has been said that there would be no life without the discipline of measurement science. Accurate measuring prevents planes from falling from the sky, bridges from collapsing and phones from overheating in our hands. Hospital equipment would be useless and day-to-day activities that are taken for granted – such as putting fuel into a motor vehicle or switching on a cooking hob – would become processes governed by guesswork and even prone to disaster. The most curious aspect of measurement science is that it operates in virtually every area of society and human interaction. It goes on all around us every second of the day and yet to most people it is simply invisible. In short, while it operates behind the scenes, it holds everything together and is absolutely crucial to modern day life on earth. A very important tool in the world of measurement science is the humble calibrator which can be found in almost every electrical calibration laboratory in the world. It isn’t as humble as it may seem, Global Industry Analysts Inc. predicted that the world’s calibration services market would be worth $8.2bn by 2026.
Depending on the degree of measurement that is required and to which specific national and international standard (namely ISO 17025 and ISO 9000), a wide variety of calibrators
can be used to do the job, from the most basic to the highly sophisticated. Because the market is so vast, the smart calibration laboratory technician knows that there is little point in using a technologically advanced calibrator when the work can be carried out adequately with a piece of equipment that operates at
much lower specifications (and costs much less). Likewise, in industries such as nuclear, pharmaceuticals and aviation, only the highest level of calibration will suffice, and the investment will pay for itself many times over.
Skills of the workforce
Whichever sector users are operating in, one of the main drivers influencing expansion of the calibration market has been the growth in the need to comply with ever-stricter safety legislation and quality standards. It follows that as the accuracy of equipment used across the various sectors reaches new highs, then the accuracy of calibration devices must rise accordingly.
The increased demand for more effective calibration has also been driven by a greater variety of products on the market that need to be tested, as well as the multiplicity of tests that are now required. The continual need to boost productivity and efficiency across a wide range of sectors has meant calibration equipment and devices are becoming increasingly sophisticated to deliver greater accuracy, superior versatility and better recording of data for compliance purposes.
46 April 2023 Components in Electronics
In the laboratories themselves, work bench space is increasingly at a premium and the need to free up more room and/or to make calibrators easier to use in the field has been another key consideration, as has the ability for a wide range of equipment to be tested using a single calibrator.
However, concerns have been raised over recent years within the calibration industry that while the demand for more accurate and more immediate calibration results increases, the skills levels of personnel tasked with carrying out those crucial measurements has been gradually reducing and is now at a critical level.
Skills shortages in the engineering and technical sector have been well reported across Europe. The shortages have coincided with growth in demand for calibration services, which has increased the need to find highly skilled calibrators for all laboratories. Ideally, operators need to be well versed in all the processes and equipment involved in calibration as well as all the processes involved in data recording. Equally, technicians need to be flexible and capable of operating mobile testing tools, recording data
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