Basic question regarding measuring tool calibration (help please)

Greetings - I'm a new member and I have a question for the experts.

Under ISO 9001:2008, is a manufacturer (machining) permitted to perform self calibration of its own tools permitted? This question assumes the tooling and/or gauges that are used for said "self calibration" have current cert’s of accuracy.

My current understanding is that self-calibration is permitted, however, I have an associate who says otherwise. This individual claims that all calibration must be performed by an A2LA certified individual and/or third party organization.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

 

Yes, thank you. I updated my original post to reflect the fact I have/had a QA manager demanding that self calibration is not permitted despite the fact I have provided our very detailed calibration process for basic micrometers that is exactly consistent with how an A2LA certified lab would use to determine accuracy. I am also no expert but my reading of the reg’s (at the time), was that it was permitted. No measure of demonstration to this individual, including the reg I cited (at the time) was enough to overcome his increased contractual demands despite the fact my contract did not require ISO CERTIFICATION in the first place. We were required to be generally consistent with ISO 9001:2008. This person held our feet to the fire and this dispute is now in litigation.

To clarify - the dispute does not specifically revolve around the calibration disagreement, however, the events took place during performance of a contract and I acquiesced to the individual by sending all of our tooling to an A2LA lab for cal to alleviate the individuals concerns. Honestly, it felt as though this person was simply trying to cover his own *** due the fact the contract had already been consummated several years prior and performance was underway.

 

Thank you for the concise and simple response. My interpretation did, and still aligns with yours. I guess I’m seeking a little validation from the pro’s during the craziness of it all. All of the items were indeed returned from the lab “in tolerance” (i.e.,various Mitutoyo & Starrett micrometers of different shapes + Mahr bore gages acquired brand new at contract inception). All gages were used exclusively for the contract items.

I’ll refrain from additional details due the fact this matter is currently in dispute and there is certainly more to this.

That said, I’d like to add (on both a personal & professional level) that it was a very disappointing experience because I wholeheartedly believe QA plays a vital role in the manufacturing process and have never, nor would I tolerate from an employee any type of “us vs them” mentality with inspectors - we’re supposed to be on the same team! I’m a machinist (by trade) and from my earliest days as an apprentice I always felt it was my job to know what is being submitted to inspection. Trying to “slip one through” has never been my game and that same level of professionalism carried into my professional life as a business owner.

 

Funny you point that out, and thank you. I am not in the automotive industry, however the QA manager to which I refer came from the Automotive industry. Moreover, I see no particular issue with a third party tooling validation because in some instances, it makes a lot of sense from an objectivity standpoint, especially if the contract included “inspection at source”, which my contract was not. In my situation it really didn’t make sense for him to force it onto us through the contract and I am now trying to recover the costs in time & money associated with his demands.