If it were possible to travel back in time a few years and ask people working in the quality field about measurement uncertainty and accreditation, the response would be blank stares and puzzled faces. If the same questions were asked today, most quality professionals would understand the reference, but their faces still might reflect the confusion that surrounds these issues. The concepts of accredited calibrations and estimation of measurement uncertainty have made a significant impact in the dimensional metrology arena in terms of documentation, traceability and the need for more technical know how.
The year 2000 will be remembered in dimensional metrology history as the year of the accreditation boom. Because of the Jan. 1, 2001, deadline for suppliers to meet the accreditation requirements spelled out in the Third Edition of QS-9000, an accreditation movement spread across the country last year. When QS-9000, Third Edition, was released in 1998, only a handful of calibration laboratories had considered accreditation. By the end of 2000, hundreds of calibration service providers had been, or were in the process of becoming, accredited. In addition, business opportunity hit the accreditation field, and many companies began offering ser-vices to accredit calibration laboratories. In a few short years, the U.S. accreditation business for dimensional calibration went from basically nothing to hundreds of companies across the country.