New in IMS-Audit Cloud: test equipment management
Some findings do not come from a bad process but from a number nobody was watching: the calibration date. The caliper in goods receipt, the micrometer in production, the pressure gauge on the test rig – each has its own interval, and if one of them expires, that is exactly where the auditor will be standing. With the new test equipment management module, IMS-Audit Cloud keeps every measuring instrument in one place and reminds you before anything falls due.
Everything about one instrument on a single page
Each instrument gets its own number from the number range and a master data page to ISO 9001 clause 7.1.5: category, manufacturer, type and serial number, measuring range, resolution and permissible error, reference standard, location and area of use, owner and site. Alongside it the calibration details – internal or external, with calibration laboratory, interval and warning period.
The overview shows your inventory with due-date colours, and one click filters it down to the cases that matter right now: due soon, overdue, blocked, on loan or withdrawn.
The system works out the due date
When you record a calibration you choose the result – passed, passed with limitations or failed – enter the certificate number, cost and inspector, and upload the certificate onto the instrument itself. The next due date is carried forward automatically from the calibration date and the interval. Intermediate checks are documented too, without shifting the due date.
If a calibration fails, IMS-Audit Cloud blocks the instrument immediately – and, with the same click, raises a corrective action with the deviation text prefilled. That is precisely what ISO 9001 asks for in clause 7.1.5.2: determine whether measurements taken with the faulty instrument were affected and take appropriate action.
A reminder before it is too late
A daily run reminds the owner by email – during the warning period and again on the due date. If nothing happens, the system escalates to the company administrators after a week and follows up every 14 days. If you prefer, overdue instruments can be blocked automatically.
At the same time the due dates appear in the calendar as their own category, on the dashboard as “due soon” and “overdue” tiles, and in the sidebar as a counter.
A timeline instead of a spreadsheet
Besides the list there is a second view: the timeline. Each row is one instrument, the bar runs from the last calibration to the due date – green while valid, amber during the warning period, hatched red once overdue. With a today marker, zoom by month, quarter or year, and grouping by category, location, owner or status. It shows at a glance what is coming up next quarter, and the view prints directly.
The life history is the evidence
Every event on the instrument is recorded and cannot be altered: calibrations, maintenance, repairs, damage, relocations, loans and returns, blocking and withdrawal – plus a field-level change history of the master data. An instrument can only be deleted while no records are attached to it; after that it is withdrawn rather than deleted. The evidence trail stays intact.
Certificates, photos and manuals are filed on the instrument by drag & drop, or photographed directly on a tablet.
A QR label on the instrument
For the measuring room there are QR code labels – as an A4 sheet of 24 or singly for a label printer. Point a phone camera at one and the mobile equipment card opens with status, last calibration and next due date. For the auditor there is also the record sheet with the complete life history as a PDF, plus the equipment list and due-date list – with the report language selectable for each print.
Bring your existing inventory in from Excel
If you have kept your equipment in a spreadsheet so far, the Excel import brings it across: download the template, upload your file, and the columns are matched automatically. Before anything is taken over, a validation step shows row by row what fits and what is missing. Category, location, owner and calibration laboratory are matched by name or email address, and the due date is calculated from the last calibration and the interval.
Test equipment management is included in the cloud price, like every other module. You will find the details on the test equipment management page – or see it live in a meeting.