Benefits of Accreditation:
Formal recognition of competence of a conformity assessment body by NABL in accordance with international standard has many advantages:
❖ International recognition,
❖ Access to Global market,
❖ Time and money efficient,
❖ Enhanced customer confidence and satisfaction,
❖ Robust Quality Management System,
❖ Continual improvements,
❖ Better operational control,
❖ Assurance of accurate and reliable results,
❖ Cost Reduction,
❖ Prevent loss due to defects
Benefits of Laboratory Accreditation
Formal recognition of competence of a laboratory by NABL in accordance with international criteria
has many advantages:
❖ A ready means for customers to identify and select reliable testing, measurement and calibration services that are able to meet their needs.
❖ Increased confidence in Testing/ Calibration Reports issued by the testing, calibration and medical testing laboratories which emphasise on accuracy and reliable results.
❖ The results from accredited laboratories are used extensively by regulators for the public benefit in the provision of services that promote an unpolluted environment, safe food, clean water, energy, health and social care services.
❖ Better control of laboratory operations and feedback to laboratories as to whether they have sound Quality Assurance System and are technically competent.
❖ Helpful in participating in tenders that require independently verified laboratories.
❖ Potential increase in business due to enhanced customer confidence and satisfaction: Accredited laboratories receive a form of international recognition, which allows their data and results to be more readily accepted in overseas markets. Accreditation helps to reduce costs for manufacturers and exporters who have their products or materials tested in accredited laboratories, by reducing or eliminating the need for retesting in another country.
❖ Users of accredited laboratories enjoy greater access for their products, in both domestic and international markets.
❖ Savings in terms of time and money due to reduction or elimination of the need for re-testing of products.
Benefits of Accreditation for Proficiency Testing Providers
The benefits of proficiency testing are widely recognized. These include:
➢ Many laboratories operate in isolation from other laboratories and do not have ongoing opportunities to compare their data with others. Without such opportunities there are risks that the data of a laboratory may have errors, biases or significant differences when compared to data from other similar laboratories. Proficiency testing provides an opportunity to undertake such comparisons and to have an independent appraisal of the laboratory’s data compared to reference values (or other performance criteria) or to the performance of similar laboratories. The results from such participation provide laboratory managers with either a confirmation that the laboratory’s performance is satisfactory or an alert that an investigation of potential problems within the laboratory is required.
➢ Comparison of the performance of a facility’s performance with that of other participating (peer) facilities
➢ Monitoring of the long-term performance of a facility.
➢ Improvement in the performance of tests/calibrations following investigation and identification of the cause(s) of unsatisfactory PT performance, and the introduction of corrective action to prevent re-occurrence
➢ Staff education, training and competence monitoring
➢ Evaluation of methods, including the establishment of method precision and accuracy
➢ Contribution to the facility’s overall risk management system
➢ Confidence building with interested parties, e.g. customers, accreditation bodies, regulators, specifiers.
Proficiency testing providers play an important role in the value chain for assurance of products and services. Being an NABL accredited PTP in accordance with ISO/IEC 17043 gives the organization credibility for their PT services.
Benefits of Accreditation for Reference Materials Producers
Formal recognition of competence of an RMP by NABL in accordance with international criteria (ISO 17034) has many advantages like:
✓ Confidence in measurements by establishing traceability to appropriate measurement standards such as the use of certified reference materials (CRMs) produced by a competent producer to give a reliable physical or chemical characterization of a material.
✓ It provides assurance that the accredited RMPs are competent to produce the RMs as listed in the scope of accreditation. It provides confidence to RM users that the reference materials (RMs), and certified reference materials (CRMs) in particular, are produced according to technically valid and internationally recognized principles, and fit for the intended uses.
✓ CRMs offer a most effective means to assess the trueness and precision of a measurement process.
✓ Reference materials (RMs) provide one of the most effective ways of assessing and demonstrating that the measurement process is in statistical control because the homogeneity and stability of RMs have been confirmed to be suitable for use as quality control materials.
✓ Accreditation is a means of determining the technical competence of RMPs to produce specific RMs. It also provides formal recognition to competent RMPs, thus providing a ready means for RMs users to identify and select the most suitable RMs that meet their needs. This recognition of competence relates to the properties of the reference materials that the accredited RMP produces, and may include, if applicable, the ranges of the assigned values and their associated uncertainties. It may also include the RMPs involvement in the performance of testing, calibration and measurements in relation to homogeneity, stability and characterization assessments and their use of subcontractors in these tasks. These are the factors that RM users need to know and consider when selecting RMs
✓ Accreditation is an effective marketing tool for RMPs
✓ Accreditation provides assurance that the accredited RMPs are competent to produce the RMs as listed in the scope of accreditation
✓ It provides confidence to RM users that the reference materials (RMs), and certified reference materials (CRMs) in particular, are produced according to technically valid and internationally recognized principles, and fit for the intended uses.
✓ These uses include the assessment of precision and trueness of measurement methods, quality control, assigning values to materials, calibration, and the establishment of conventional scales. This eliminates the needs of the users to evaluate the quality of the RMs themselves
✓ RMs are used globally. Many economies around the world have accreditation bodies offering accreditation to RMPs. These accreditation bodies have adopted ISO 17034: 2016 as the criteria for RMP accreditation. This has helped economies to adopt a uniform approach for determining RMP competence. This uniform approach allows accreditation bodies in different economies to establish arrangements among themselves, based on mutual evaluation and acceptance of each other’s RMP accreditation systems.