Traceability - We forgot the customer!

Everyone in the field of metrology talks about traceability, what it means and how it relates to the calibrations they perform. How often do metrology labs talk about how it affects the customers? The customer is left to figure out what traceability means with little guidance from the people who are supposed to understand it the best, the metrology labs. Sure, there are papers that discuss traceability and many FAQ pages that attempt to help the customer understand the link to them. It’s understandable how the customer might be confused. We in the metrology field shouldn’t be surprised by the fact that a customer doesn’t understand what it means to be traceable to NIST especially since the phrases, “traceable to NIST” and “NIST traceable” are so deeply rooted in the US measurement community history. It isn’t a surprise when customers request copies of all the certs for all the assets used on their calibration because that is what they think is needed to show traceability even though the calibration lab may be accredited. We shouldn’t be surprised when customer’s look to us to help them understand. I can tell you first hand that pointing people to the NIST’s website of FAQs doesn’t help. In this paper, I will attempt to explain how the customer’s traceability is linked through the metrology lab process allowing the customer to understand how the traceability chain works and affects their process or product.