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Fluke 754 [4/5] How can calibration and documentation be done more efficiently

4 Fluke Corporation Calibration and documentation for process manufacturing: Costs, beneﬁts and feasibility

Meanwhile, many facilities still need two

technicians for each in-situ calibration—one at

the transmitter and one at the control system. The

Fieldbus Foundation estimates that commissioning

requires two techs for a minimum of two hours.

Calibration requires similar time and manpower.

In the United States, the typical automation main-

tenance technician in the process industries is

paid about $30 an hour. Two technicians working

two hours at $30 an hour equals a cost of $120 for

every calibration. Average-sized process plants

performing regular calibrations on two to three

thousand devices will spend approximately

$300,000 per year on calibration labor, where

large plants with 10,000 or more calibrations

may spend up to $1.2 million.

How can calibration and

documentation be done more

efficiently?

Use multifunction, documenting

calibrators

A new generation of “smarter” field calibration

tools introduced in the late 1990s began increas-

ing worker productivity by consolidating multiple

tools into one and performing functions beyond

basic test and measurement, such as assisting

with analysis and documentation.

Multifunction “documenting process calibrators”

are handheld, electronic test tools that consolidate

multiple calibration steps and functions into a

single device, sourcing simulating and measur-

ing pressure, temperature, and a wide variety of

electrical and electronic signals.

Benefits:

• Fewer tools that technicians need to train on

and carry into the field

• Similar calibration processes and data output

across multiple devices, compared to a different

process to collect a different set of data from

each tool and device

• Automated procedures replace many manual

calibration steps

• No second technician required to record the

as-found and as-left state of the field device.

• Faster calibration time per device

• Calculate the error of a single tool rather than

adding the errors of several tools

Calibrate in place when possible

In the words of engineer, columnist and cur-

rent Fieldbus Foundation User Group chair John

Rezabek, “The introduction of documenting calibra-

tors is a chance to revise past practices and maybe

switch to calibrate-in-place. That is, you isolate the

device from the process, verify that it’s depressur-

ized, and apply signals with a hand pump.”

Use calibration routes

The biggest savings from using a documenting

calibrator comes in the route management tool

built into the device. Using a single set of permits

and paperwork for an entire set of calibrations

reduces costs considerably. As one lead I&C

engineer at a prominent reﬁnery put it, “If some-

body goes out to calibrate a single instrument,

that’s expensive. If he’s going to do a route

with maybe twenty instruments, and then come

back, the cost per calibration is much less.”

Rezabek agrees. “The main efﬁciency gained from

the documenting calibrator is that it loads up a

‘round’ of calibrations and walks the techs consis-

tently through the steps of each procedure.”

Implement an asset management, cali-

bration management, or computerized

maintenance management system (CMMS

)

Unlike paper documentation, calibrator data is

never illegible, cryptic, or partial. Documenting

calibrator data can be directly downloaded into

a variety of different CMMS systems with no

transcription or filing. According to Verhappen,

automatic documentation commonly reduces

errors by 80 % to 90 %. Data downloaded from a

documenting process calibrator into a CMMS can

even automatically trigger work orders for repair

of field devices.

Increase the productivity of calibration

technicians

Because documenting process calibrators auto-

matically record the as-found and as-left state

of each field device, in situ, and can be operated

by a single technician, route-based documenting

calibrators can save as much as 50 % of the time

and cost of traditional manual, single-device cali-

bration methods. Stated differently, the same lean

team can accomplish twice as many calibrations

in a given period of time.

Running a lean team under the traditional

operational requirements is a recipe for error.

Calibrations simply don’t happen the way they

should. Instead of ignoring the looming threat,

investigate how existing practices can be made

more efﬁcient. Implement route-based calibra-

tion, paperless documentation, and CMMS data

management. More calibrations will occur more

consistently, knowledge will be transferred from

the individual to the team and to the institution,

and both productivity and quality will increase.

“Dollars and sense”

The plant’s institutional knowledge is often kept

by individual technicians and engineers and it

departs with them when teams change. Instituting

a robust route based paperless calibration

management practice helps mitigate that risk,

facilitates knowledge transfer and helps less

experienced technicians get up to speed quicker.

Fluke 754 [4/5] How can calibration and documentation be done more efficiently

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