UKAS ISO 17025:2017 Accreditation!

Background

Peak NDT is a high end technology company specialising in the development, production and support of multichannel and phased array ultrasound controllers for use in the Non-Destructive industries. Peak is technology driven and customer focused and as engineers we are excited by our technology and what it can do and we want to provide what our customers actually need, not just ‘shift boxes’.

With its particular expertise in ultrasonics, Peak also provides consultancy services, including feasibility studies, technique development and ultrasonic inspection modelling. Peak can boast an accumulated 100 years (at least) of MicroPulse and ultrasonic NDT experience.

The Project

At Peak, we set ourselves a goal to achieve UKAS accreditation for our calibration laboratory to further meet our customer requirements and add overall value to the operation. Having a UKAS accredited laboratory reassures the customer that the risk of something going wrong or receiving a faulty product is minimised.

The Approach

Over the past few years, we have recognised an increase in customer requests to have their MicroPulse products calibrated in a United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) accredited laboratory. As customer satisfaction is vital to us at Peak, we decided to look into this seriously with a view to becoming accredited against ISO 17025. This is an industry standard which sets out the criteria that we must meet to satisfy UKAS and be awarded their stamp of approval on our laboratory.

Peak NDT has been calibrating its own products since they began manufacturing, providing a reliable and repeatable service for our global customer base. Attention to detail has always been a key part of Peak NDT’s values and working methods. Already a competent, traceable laboratory, Peak NDT have always met the highest standards in service through our own developed procedures. Pushing those standards even higher took recognisable effort from many team members.

From start to finish, procedures were reviewed and aligned, adding lab-specific management tools to ISO 9001, (which Peak NDT already hold). New procedures had to be written and followed, the laboratory infrastructure had to change in effect become its own entity rather than being just another room in the building.

The overall project took around 2 years to complete in parallel to ongoing work. On initial assessment we were delighted that UKAS recommended our laboratory for accreditation with an expected shortlist of findings to remedy.

Once these were complete and after a follow up audit, Peak NDT were awarded accreditation on 30^th June 2021. The accreditation we hold is for the calibration of ultrasonic conventional channels. Peak will continue to grow the service to offer UKAS accreditation on all products including Phased Array elements.

Testimonial

“We take pride in all of our work, through Product Design, Production and the Calibration of our products throughout their life cycle. We are thrilled we can now offer this accredited service to our customers!” Paul McConaghie, Operations & Quality Manager.