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Mechanical Testing Laboratory Management: ISO 17025 and Software
Mechanical testing laboratories are facilities that carry out destructive testing (DT) — tensile, hardness, impact, bend, and metallographic tests — on an accredited basis. Being audited by TÜRKAK under ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation requires complete record traceability for every test. A gap in record management during an audit can result in the narrowing or suspension of the accreditation scope.
What ISO 17025 Requires of Laboratory Management
TS EN ISO/IEC 17025:2017 defines the technical and management requirements of a laboratory management system. Critical clauses for mechanical testing laboratories:
Method Approval and Control
Every test standard applied (e.g. EN ISO 6892-1 tensile test) must be validated in-house and use the current version. When a standard version changes, affected procedures must be updated and tests carried out under the new version.
Equipment Calibration
Calibration records for tensile testing machines (load cell, extensometer), hardness testers, and Charpy pendulums are mandatory. A test performed with equipment whose calibration validity has lapsed is considered invalid.
Critical requirement: The calibration date of the equipment used must be traceable in every test report.
Measurement Uncertainty
ISO 17025 requires measurement uncertainty to be calculated and reported for each test parameter. A test report cannot be issued under accredited scope without this calculation.
Personnel Competence
Records of personnel authorised for each test method must be maintained. Authorisation is based on training, experience, and competence assessment. Tests performed by unauthorised personnel are not considered accredited.
Sample Traceability
Every stage from sample receipt to test completion must be recorded: received from whom, when it arrived, how it was labelled, under what conditions it was stored, and which personnel tested it.
Common Management Challenges
Calibration tracking: When was the tensile machine last calibrated? When is the next calibration due? Keeping this information current requires separate spreadsheets and is easily overlooked.
Standard version control: Is the EN ISO 6892-1 version you are using current? Has the standard change been reflected in your procedures? This is difficult to track in paper-based systems.
Report consistency: Is your tensile test report template aligned with the latest ISO 17025 revision? Are all technicians using the same template? Does the measurement uncertainty section meet standard requirements?
Audit preparation: Before a TÜRKAK audit: "Can you provide a list of all tensile tests conducted in the past year and the calibration certificates for the equipment used?" — manually compiling this information takes hours.
The Digital Process in a Mechanical Testing Laboratory
ceres-ndt's DT module supports mechanical testing laboratories end-to-end:
Work order and sample receipt: Incoming specimens are matched to work orders and recorded. Specimen identity, raw material certificate reference, and test scope are entered.
Method and standard control: The valid standard version for each test method is defined in the system. When a transition to a different version occurs, a procedure update notification is issued.
Equipment verification: Calibration validity of the test device is automatically checked when the work order is opened. Work orders cannot be completed with equipment whose calibration has expired.
DT report generation: Standard templates are available for 13 different DT report types (tensile, hardness, impact, bend, metallography, chemical analysis, etc.). Reports are auto-populated from the work order; the measurement uncertainty section is structured to meet standard requirements.
Archive and audit preparation: All work orders, reports, and equipment calibration records are held on a single platform. Audit preparation before a TÜRKAK visit is completed in minutes.
Difference Between ISO 17025 and ISO 17020
Inspection firms may often hold scope under both standards:
| | ISO 17020 | ISO 17025 | |---|---|---| | Scope | Inspection body | Test / calibration laboratory | | Core activity | NDT inspection, conformity assessment | DT testing, calibration | | Output | Inspection report | Test report, calibration certificate | | Specimen | Actual equipment (not destroyed) | Test specimen (may be destroyed) |
For firms providing both NDT and DT services, ceres-ndt manages work orders under both scopes on a single platform.
Explore ceres-ndt's ISO 17025 laboratory and DT modules. Contact us for a demo.
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