Calibration is the comparison of a standard of a known uncertainty to another measurement tool of unknown certainty to detect, correlate, report or eliminate by adjustment any deviation from required performance specifications.

Today, many assume that because a piece of test equipment is working correctly, it must be calibrated and accurate. Only if the equipment has traceable calibration records can this be the case. But how can one be certain that equipment does indeed have traceable records when hundreds, if not thousands, of gages must be calibrated on a regular basis?