Guides
Learn Axiospec, step by step
Short, practical guides for getting your equipment into Axiospec, logging calibrations, and producing audit-ready records. Whether you are setting up for the first time or training a new technician, start here.
Choosing calibration software
Compare the real options and pick the right fit before you commit.
Switching to Axiospec from Spreadsheets or Legacy Calibration Software
What actually moves when you switch: your instrument registry and calibration history come over by import or free white-glove migration, your auditor sees tamper-evident records from day one, and the price is one flat number per workspace. This guide walks the whole path, including how you leave if you ever want to.
Read guide · 6 minCalibration tracking in Excel or Access: when it works and when it breaks
Most calibration programs start in a spreadsheet or an Access database, and for a small, single-owner program that is fine. This guide covers how to tell when it has stopped being enough, the ways it breaks as a shop grows, and how to move to software without a large bill.
Read guide · 7 minCalibration management software pricing: what it costs in 2026
Most calibration software vendors do not publish prices, which is why the question keeps coming up. This guide lays out how calibration software vendors charge, the published figures where they exist, the costs that sit outside the price tag, and a worked example for a five-person team with 1,000 instruments.
Read guide · 8 minCloud Calibration Software: What It Is and When It Wins
What cloud calibration software is, the honest tradeoffs against on-premise (data residency, control, IT burden), who it suits, and what to look for. Where Axiospec fits: browser plus native apps, a real free tier, and records built to hold up in an audit.
Read guide · 5 minFree Calibration Management Software: What You Get and What to Check
What a free calibration management plan should cover, how the free options compare, and what Axiospec Free includes: 50 active instruments, unlimited users and the whole platform, with no card and no end date.
Read guide · 6 minCalibration Software With a Mobile App: Logging at the Instrument
Why logging calibrations at the instrument beats retyping them at a desk, what a real mobile calibration app should do (scan to pull a record, log on the spot, voice input, printable labels), and how the scan-to-log flow works in Axiospec native iOS and Android apps.
Read guide · 5 minCalibration Software With an Audit Trail: What Assessors Actually Want
What an audit trail actually has to do in a calibration program, the three tests an assessor applies (attributable, timestamped, tamper-evident), why a spreadsheet fails them, and what tamper-evident really means. How a hash-chained ledger and one-click audit pack keep records defensible.
Read guide · 5 minHow to Track Calibration Due Dates in Software (and Stop Recalls Slipping)
How software computes next-due dates, surfaces due-soon and overdue instruments, and sends reminders so recalls stop slipping past an audit. Plus the at-a-glance readiness views (Due Calendar, due-soon and overdue counts) and how to keep the dates honest at the bench.
Read guide · 5 minAS9100 Calibration Software: What Clause 7.1.5 Asks For and Where the Evidence Lives
What AS9100 clause 7.1.5 asks of your calibration records, the evidence an auditor asks to see for each part, where that evidence should live in calibration software, and what to check before you buy.
Read guide · 6 minISO/IEC 17025 Calibration Software: The Equipment Evidence an Assessor Follows
What ISO/IEC 17025 clauses 6.4, 6.5 and 6.6 ask of a lab's equipment records, the evidence an assessor follows, where it should live in calibration software, and where equipment software stops.
Read guide · 7 minISO 9001 Calibration Software: Meeting Clause 7.1.5 Without a Spreadsheet
What ISO 9001 clause 7.1.5 asks of your measuring equipment, the evidence an auditor checks, where it should live in calibration software, and how to tell whether you need software at all.
Read guide · 6 minIATF 16949 Calibration Software: MSA, Gauge Records and Lab Scope
What IATF 16949 clause 7.1.5 adds to ISO 9001 for automotive suppliers, the evidence an auditor checks for MSA, gauge records and outside labs, where it should live in calibration software, and what stays your job.
Read guide · 7 minISO 13485 Calibration Software: Clause 7.6 Evidence and Software Validation
What ISO 13485 clause 7.6 asks of a device maker's measuring equipment, the evidence an auditor checks, where it should live in calibration software, and what the standard's software validation clauses mean for the tool itself.
Read guide · 7 minWhat Is Calibration Management Software, or a Calibration Management System?
What calibration management software is, what it does day to day, who uses it, how it is priced, when a spreadsheet is still enough, and what to check before you choose one.
Read guide · 7 minGage Management Software: What It Does and How to Choose It
What gage management software is, how it relates to calibration management software, what auditors ask about your gages, when a spreadsheet is still enough, and what to check before you choose one.
Read guide · 7 minGetting started
Set up your workspace and bring your equipment in.
Get your workspace set up
Walk through first-run setup: name your workspace, add your first instruments, understand calibration status, and invite your team.
Read guide · 7 minImport your asset registry
Bring your existing equipment list into Axiospec with the Bulk Import tool, from preparing a CSV through mapping, preview, and fixing rows.
Read guide · 7 minHow to migrate calibration data without losing history
A step-by-step plan for migrating calibration data from a spreadsheet or legacy system: export what you have, import your registry, bring calibration history and certificates over, and verify everything landed.
Read guide · 8 minDaily use
The everyday calibration workflow, at the bench and out on the floor.
Log a calibration
Record a calibration result, readings, reference standard, and certificate, then e-sign so the status and next-due date update automatically.
Read guide · 6 minUse the Axiospec mobile app
Install the iOS or Android app, scan an asset, and log calibrations with photos and e-signatures from the floor, even offline.
Read guide · 6 minCompliance and audits
Produce the records and packs an assessor expects to see.
ISO 17025 Accreditation vs Certification Explained
ISO/IEC 17025 is accredited by bodies like A2LA and UKAS, not certified like ISO 9001. This guide explains the difference, what accreditation actually involves, the surveillance cycle that keeps it honest, and what a 17025 traceable calibration certificate really tells you as a buyer.
Read guide · 8 minCalibration vs Verification: What Is the Difference?
Calibration and verification are two different jobs. Calibration measures an instrument against a reference and quantifies the error and uncertainty. Verification confirms the instrument meets a specified tolerance and is fit for use. This guide explains each, how they connect through as-found and as-left readings, when to use which, and how a calibration management system records both.
Read guide · 7 minAs-Found vs As-Left: What the Readings Mean
A plain explainer of as-found and as-left calibration readings: what each state means, why recording both matters for reverse traceability and impact analysis, how they drive pass, fail, and out-of-tolerance handling, and what auditors look for.
Read guide · 8 minGage R&R and measurement systems analysis (MSA), explained
What measurement systems analysis is, the difference between Gage R&R, bias and linearity, and attribute agreement studies, what %GRR and NDC thresholds mean, when to run each study, and how MSA relates to calibration.
Read guide · 8 minHow to Choose Calibration Management Software: A Buyer's Guide
A vendor-neutral buyer's guide to choosing calibration management software: the capabilities that matter, the questions to ask any vendor, how pricing really works, how to migrate your data without losing history, and where standards fit.
Read guide · 9 minExport an audit-ready pack
Generate a ZIP audit pack from the Audit Center, plus per-asset certificates, to produce records for an audit.
Read guide · 6 minCalibration requirements by ISO standard
What each major quality standard asks for calibration, from ISO 9001 clause 7.1.5 to ISO/IEC 17025 and ISO 13485 clause 7.6, compared in one place.
Read guide · 9 minISO 9001:2026 and calibration: what changed and what to check
What the 2026 edition of ISO 9001 changed for calibration and measuring equipment, clause by clause from the public UKAS and Global ACI documents, with the transition dates and what a quality manager should check.
Read guide · 9 minISO 10012:2026: what a measurement management system is and who needs one
ISO 10012:2026 sets requirements for a measurement management system. What the 2026 edition changed from ISO 10012:2003, how it relates to ISO 9001 clause 7.1.5 and ISO/IEC 17025, whether it can be certified and who uses it.
Read guide · 10 minHow to set calibration intervals
How to determine and justify a calibration interval: manufacturer guidance, risk and usage, reliability from your own as-found history, and what auditors look for.
Read guide · 8 minHow to reduce calibration costs without adding risk
Calibration spend is the number of instruments times how often each is calibrated times the cost of each event. This guide covers the levers on each: taking instruments out of the program that do not need to be in it, extending intervals where the history supports it, verifying in house, and buying calibration in batches, with what an auditor will want to see.
Read guide · 8 minWhat is metrological traceability? The traceability chain, explained
What metrological traceability means, how the calibration chain to NIST and the SI works, and what "NIST traceable" really proves.
Read guide · 8 minCalibration certificate requirements: what a certificate of calibration must contain
The required elements of a calibration certificate under ISO/IEC 17025 clause 7.8, what as-found and as-left readings and uncertainty mean, and how to read one you receive.
Read guide · 9 minThe calibration audit prep checklist
A working checklist for anyone who owns a calibration program. Fifty questions phrased the way an auditor tends to ask them, each with a one line picture of what a good answer looks like. Six universal sections plus supplements for ISO 9001, ISO/IEC 17025, AS9100, ISO 13485, and IATF 16949.
Read guide · 12 minGuard Banding in Calibration Explained
A guard band narrows your acceptance limits by a share of the measurement uncertainty so a borderline reading cannot be falsely passed. Plain definition, the common methods, how it connects to TUR and ISO/IEC 17025 decision rules, and a worked example you can check with our free calculator.
Read guide · 7 minApproving a calibration supplier and keeping an approved supplier list
How to evaluate, approve and re-approve an external calibration lab, what to check on the scope of accreditation, and what an approved supplier list needs to carry for a calibration provider.
Read guide · 13 minTolerance Stack-Up Analysis: Worst Case and RSS
How to run a linear tolerance stack-up. Closing the loop, rebasing unequal tolerances, the worst case and root sum square methods, what RSS actually assumes, and how far wrong it goes when those assumptions fail.
Read guide · 11 minPress Fit Tolerance, Transition Fit and Clearance Fit
How to choose a fit from what the joint has to do, rather than by picking something that looks about right off a table. Clearance, transition and interference, why bearing seats follow the bearing catalogue instead of the fits system, and what gauge uncertainty does to the accept or reject decision.
Read guide · 15 minNIST traceable calibration: what it means and what to ask your calibration provider
What NIST traceable means and what it does not, what a traceable calibration certificate should show, how ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation fits in, traceability outside the US, and the questions to ask a calibration provider.
Read guide · 9 minCp and Cpk Explained: Formulas and Worked Examples
What Cp and Cpk measure and how to calculate them, with two worked examples. How Pp and Ppk differ, what Cpk says about out-of-spec parts, where the 1.33 and 1.67 targets come from, and the assumptions behind every index.
Read guide · 10 minHow to build a measurement uncertainty budget: steps and a worked example
What an uncertainty budget is and when you need one, how to list the sources, Type A and Type B evaluation, the divisor for each distribution, sensitivity coefficients, root sum of squares, effective degrees of freedom and the coverage factor, with a worked micrometer example.
Read guide · 13 minIn-house vs outsourced calibration: how to decide what to calibrate yourself
What in-house calibration involves, what ISO 9001, ISO/IEC 17025, IATF 16949 and AS9100 allow, what you need before you start, which instruments usually stay in-house and which go out, the hybrid model, cost factors, risks and the records you need either way.
Read guide · 11 minTorque wrench calibration: ISO 6789 interval, tolerances and records
How often to calibrate a torque wrench under ISO 6789-2, what ISO 6789-1 and ISO 6789-2 cover, the tool types and classes with their ±4% and ±6% limits, what a calibration checks, checks between calibrations and what to do with a wrench found out of tolerance.
Read guide · 12 minCalibration and metrology glossary
Plain definitions of about 40 calibration and metrology terms, grouped by theme and based on the VIM, the GUM, JCGM 106, ILAC guidance and the AIAG MSA manual, with links to the guides and calculators that go deeper.
Read guide · 14 minCaliper calibration: procedure, standards and how often to calibrate
How to calibrate a vernier, dial or digital caliper against gauge blocks: the outside, inside, depth and step checks, jaw flatness and parallelism, what ISO 13385-1 and ASME B89.1.14 cover, daily zero checks, as-found and as-left readings, intervals, TUR and resolution.
Read guide · 13 minMicrometer calibration: procedure, standards and how often to calibrate
How to calibrate an outside micrometer: the zero and the measuring force, face flatness and parallelism with an optical flat and optical parallels, spindle error with gauge blocks at points around the thread, what ISO 3611 and ASME B89.1.13 cover, daily checks, as-found and as-left readings, intervals, TUR and resolution.
Read guide · 13 minGauge block calibration: grades, methods and how often to calibrate
How gauge blocks are calibrated: the central length and the variation in length, mechanical comparison and interferometry, the ISO 3650 grades K, 0, 1 and 2 and the ASME B89.1.9 grades, flatness and wringing, the 20 °C reference temperature, uncertainty, damaged blocks, intervals and the record to keep.
Read guide · 13 minDial indicator calibration: procedure, standards and how often to calibrate
How to calibrate a dial indicator or a lever-type dial test indicator: the error at points across the range in both directions of travel, hysteresis, repeatability and the short-span error, the test points in the PTB/DKD guideline and the CEM procedure, ISO 463, ISO 9493 and ASME B89.1.10M, measuring force, as-found and as-left readings, intervals and the record to keep.
Read guide · 12 minPressure gauge calibration: procedure, accuracy classes and intervals
How to calibrate an analog or digital pressure gauge against a deadweight tester or a reference gauge: test points up and down the range, hysteresis, mounting position and height, what an accuracy class allows under OIML R 101, the DKD-R 6-1 calibration sequences, how often to recalibrate and the record to keep.
Read guide · 12 minThermometer calibration: temperature probes, RTDs and thermocouples
How to calibrate thermometers and temperature probes by comparison with a reference thermometer in a bath or dry-block calibrator: Pt100 tolerance classes under IEC 60751, thermocouples under IEC 60584-1, digital and liquid-in-glass thermometers, the ice point check, immersion depth, stability and uniformity, intervals and the record to keep.
Read guide · 13 minInfrared thermometer calibration: blackbody, emissivity and spot size
How to calibrate infrared thermometers and pyrometers against a blackbody source: ASTM E2847, cavity and flat-plate sources, emissivity settings, distance to spot ratio and the size-of-source effect, ambient temperature, accuracy checks versus calibration, narrowband pyrometers, intervals and the record to keep.
Read guide · 11 minpH meter calibration: buffers, slope, offset and electrode care
How to calibrate a pH meter and electrode with buffer solutions: two-point and three-point calibration, slope and offset, NIST buffer values by temperature, temperature compensation, electrode care and replacement, how often to calibrate and what to record, for water, food, plating and shop chemistry.
Read guide · 11 minOut-of-tolerance calibration: what to do when a gage fails
What to do when a gage fails calibration as found: what out of tolerance means, what ISO 9001, IATF 16949, AS9100 and ISO/IEC 17025 ask for, containment, the impact assessment on product measured since the last good calibration, failed reference standards, customer notification, the gage itself and the record to keep.
Read guide · 11 minCalibration audit findings: how to answer a nonconformity
How to answer a calibration nonconformity from an audit: reading the finding, major and minor grades, correction and corrective action, the extent check, root cause, examples of calibration findings, the written response, the evidence that closes a finding and what laboratories add.
Read guide · 11 minCalibration labels and stickers: what goes on them and what the standards require
What belongs on a calibration status label and what ISO/IEC 17025:2017 clause 6.4.8 and ISO 9001 clause 7.1.5.2 actually ask for: status, calibration and due dates, who calibrated, limited calibration and do-not-use labels, tamper seals and when a code or QR lookup can do the job.
Read guide · 10 minCustomer requests for calibration records: what to send and what they check
What to send when a customer or a supplier quality engineer asks for calibration records, what they check on each certificate, when the outside lab has to be accredited, which gaps to close before you reply and how to answer quickly.
Read guide · 9 minTaking over a calibration program: a plan for the first weeks
A practical plan for the first weeks after you inherit a calibration program: find every instrument, check the records and certificates, deal with overdue instruments, look at the out-of-tolerance history, then review intervals, procedures and reference standards and fix the causes of the gaps.
Read guide · 9 minMultimeter calibration: procedure, test points and how often to calibrate
How to calibrate a digital multimeter against a multifunction calibrator: the test points on each DC and AC voltage, current and resistance range, how specifications in percent of reading plus counts work, as-found and as-left readings, the 4:1 ratio, intervals and what the certificate should show.
Read guide · 12 minSound level meter calibration: field checks, lab tests and Class 1 vs Class 2
How to calibrate a sound level meter: the acoustic calibrator field check before and after measuring, the IEC 61672-3 periodic tests in a laboratory, Class 1 and Class 2 meters and calibrators, frequency weighting, intervals and what the record should show.
Read guide · 11 minScale calibration: procedure, test weights and how often to calibrate
How to calibrate an industrial weighing scale or balance: the repeatability, errors of indication and eccentricity tests in EURAMET cg-18, OIML R 111 test weights and the one-third rule, OIML R 76 accuracy classes and maximum permissible errors, NIST Handbook 44 for legal-for-trade scales in the US, intervals and records.
Read guide · 13 minIntermediate checks between calibrations: what to check and how often
How to run intermediate checks between calibrations: what ISO/IEC 17025 clause 6.4.10 and ISO 9001 ask for, choosing a check standard, typical checks for common instruments, how often to check, acceptance limits, control charts for check standard data, what to do when a check fails and what to record.
Read guide · 14 minGage bias and linearity studies: how to run them and read the results
How to run a gage bias study on one reference part and a linearity study across the operating range: the AIAG MSA method, the t test on the bias, the regression of bias on reference value with t tests on the slope and intercept, the acceptance check, a worked example and what to do when a gage shows bias.
Read guide · 11 minLoad cell calibration: procedure, classes and intervals
How to calibrate a load cell or force transducer against a deadweight machine or a reference transducer: force steps up and down, hysteresis, creep and zero return, the ISO 376 classes, ASTM E74 loading ranges, OIML R 60 classes for load cells in scales, how often to recalibrate and the record to keep.
Read guide · 12 minFlow meter calibration: methods, K-factor, turndown and intervals
How to calibrate a flow meter by weighing, volumetric tank, piston or pipe prover or master meter: the K-factor, test flows and turndown, what changes for gas, in-situ and laboratory work, the error limits in OIML R 117, R 49, R 137 and NIST Handbook 44, how often to recalibrate and the record to keep.
Read guide · 12 minISO/IEC 17025 & AS9100 calibration documentation for aerospace and automotive suppliers
What ISO/IEC 17025, AS9100 and IATF 16949 require in your calibration records, and which fields Axiospec captures and prints for each. It also lists what Axiospec does not do.
Read guideDecision rules, guard banding, TUR and calibration intervals
A practitioner guide to ISO/IEC 17025 decision rules and guard banding under ILAC-G8. It also covers test uncertainty ratio (TUR) and the 4:1 rule, consumer versus producer risk and risk-based calibration intervals, with worked examples.
Read guideThe US accredited calibration lab landscape, 2026
Counts of US calibration laboratory accreditation records across A2LA, ANAB, NVLAP, PJLA and IAS, built from each body's own public directory, with the 1,743-row dataset as a free CSV, the counting method shown, and the source defects disclosed rather than corrected.
Read guideAdministration
Manage sites, users, access, and your plan.
Put these guides to work
Set up your workspace and start logging audit-ready calibrations.
Got a gage list? Send it over and we load it for you, usually in a couple of business days. Free on every plan.