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VWR Calibration & Metrology Services A Leader in Lab Distribution A Leader in Calibration and Metrology Services

For over a century, VWR has been a leader in lab supply distribution. The company that you know and trust for sourcing your lab equipment and supplies now offers a full suite of calibration, metrology, and validation services. Now you can rely on VWR to help maintain control of and track your lab's assets, while extending the life of your lab's equipment.

Environmentally-Controlled Lab Locations With multiple calibration facilities throughout the United States and Puerto Rico, VWR serves nearly every major metropolitan area of the country. All facilities are built to world-class standards in terms of environmental stability and control. Utilizing state-of-the-art measurement standards, VWR offers direct traceability to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and compliance with ISO/IEC 17025, GLP/GMP, ISO, NCCLS, CAP, CLIA standards, and 21 CFR. Experienced Calibration & Metrology Teams VWR's Calibration & Metrology leadership teams have a combined experience of well over 100 years, spanning industries and markets such as pharmaceutical, biotech, aeronautical, automotive, government, military, and environmental. The background and experience of the VWR team provides you the confidence that your requirements are understood and that our services are executed properly and expeditiously.

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Performance Beyond Measure Header Call the VWR Calibration & Metrology Services team today at 1-888-793-2300

Save Time and Money with One-Stop Shopping for All Your Calibration and Technical Services You've always known VWR as your one-stop shop for lab equipment and supplies, and with a full spectrum of technical disciplines, VWR now offers this same onestop shopping capability for servicing your instruments and equipment. Whether you need routine calibrations for pipettors, thermometers, or balances, or you require more advanced mass standards services, VWR is here to help. VWR offers a full portfolio of Calibration & Metrology Services to ensure your compliance with imposed requirements, enable good business practices, and cover all your preventative maintenance needs. Delivering Results You Can Count On VWR's processes include a quality manual written around ISO/IEC 17025, welldocumented standard operating procedures, calculated uncertainty budgets, highly skilled technicians, and state-of-the-art facilities that serve as a foundation to help your lab improve accuracy, increase productivity, ensure compliance, mitigate risk, and ultimately reduce your overall expenditures on these services.

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Mass Calibration Services


VWR's mass calibration laboratory has incorporated state-of-the-art protocols and techniques, ensuring high accuracy and traceability. Standardi zing on a 3-in-1 weighing design for all mass calibrations yields the best results with the lowest measurement uncertainties. Detailed multi-page certificates are designed to meet your regulatory documentation needs.

Each certificate contains: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. All pertinent customer information Date the standards were received Date of the weight calibration Date that the certificate was issued Standards that are used during the calibration process Accuracy class True mass (also known as mass in a vacuum) Conventional mass values "as found" data 10. "as left" data 11. Mass corrections for each weight 12. Uncertainty of the measurement process 13. Environmental conditions during the test 14. NIST traceability information 15. Construction of the mass standards 16. Density of the weights 17. Definition of commonly used metrology terms

VWR uses multiple high precision mass comparators, covering all existing ASTM and OIML classes, including OIML Class E1 and ASTM Class O. VWR's Mass Metrology Center offers calibrations for every weight range from 0.1mg to 50kg. Most of the comparators used have auto-handling devices, which helps improve turnaround time while yielding the lowest uncertainties. Our custom software program has been specifically designed to incorporate air buoyancy corrections while simultaneously ensuring the accuracy of the data collection process by eliminating transposition and transcription errors. VWR's metrologists are highly skilled and well trained in mass calibrations through intensive internal and external training programs. All calibrations are directly traceable to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

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Balance Services

VWR services a wide variety of weighing instruments, including ultra-micro and micro balances, toploaders, torsion scales, and knife-edge balances. All services are performed on-site at your facility. Using time-tested methodologies in compliance with standards that govern gravimetric measurement systems, our documentation and our testing protocols are as follows:

Ultra-Micro Balances These balances usually have a readability ranging from 0.1 to 1g with capacities that normally do not exceed 6g.

Semi-Micro Balances These balances usually have a readability ranging from 0.01 to 1mg with capacities that normally do not exceed 500g.

Toploader and Torsion Balances These balances usually have a readability ranging from above 1g with capacities that normally exceed 500g.

The calibration and servicing protocols include all of the following for all balances: Both "as found" and "as left" data Cornerload test Repeatability test Linearity test Releveling the balance Cleaning the draft shield, housing, weighing pan, weighing chamber, and door tracks "Blowing out" the weighing cell to ensure accurate and consistent readings Adjusting the instrument using a weight matching procedure

VWR Calibration & Metrology Services

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Volumetric (Liquid Handling) Calibration Services

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Volumetric (Liquid Handling) Calibration Services VWR uses genuine manufacturer's parts, and services all brands and models.

VWR has the capability to calibrate (either gravimetrically or photometrically) and/or verify a wide array of volumetric instruments including pipettors, titrators, bottle-top dispensers, syringes, and repeaters across every volume range from 0.1L to 200mL. Volumetric calibration services are offered either at your facility or at one of our state-of-the-art, environmentally controlled laboratories. Our technicians are highly skilled and have been trained and certified by several different pipettor manufacturing companies. Gravimetric calibrations are performed on 5-, 6- or 7-place balances and mass comparators, depending on the volume measured. There is a direct relationship between weight and volume, so the volume dispensed can be precisely calculated. All gravimetric calibrations are directly traceable to NIST. Photometric or colorimetric calibrations are performed with the finest spectrophotometers available. This method involves the analysis of volumes of diluted dye in a cell of known pathlength. According to the Beer-Lambert law, if a beam of monochromatic radiation passes through a homogeneous solution of equal pathlength, the absorbance measured is proportional to the dye concentration. So if VWR pipettes an unknown volume of dye into a known volume of diluent and measures the resulting dye concentration photometrically, we can then accurately calculate the volume dispensed.

VWR Calibration & Metrology Services

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Humidity Calibration Services

VWR's humidity calibration services span a wide variety of humidity instrumentation, including chart recorders, data loggers, hygrothermographs, sensors, hygrometers, humidity generators, and dew point instrumentation. VWR uses a Thunder Scientific humidity generator for all humidity calibrations performed in our metrology centers. This system uses a "two-pressure" and "two-temperature" humidity generation process developed by NIST. This design produces high precision humidity determinations ideal for instrument calibration and evaluation. Laboratory capabilities are 10% to 95% (+/- 0.7%) Relative Humidity. Temperature range covered is 0C to 70C (+/- 0.06C). A dew point reference standard is also used for the calibration of humidity generators, dew point hygrometers, and other humidity standards for temperatures between -40C and 90C. The Edgetech RH CAL system is employed for all calibrations performed on-site or in any one of our calibration facilities. RH CAL is a microprocessor-based, programmable humidity calibration system that is versatile enough to be used in our calibration labs or out in the field performing on-site NIST traceable humidity calibrations. The system offers the highest accuracy available for both relative humidity and ambient temperature, controlling both temperature and relative humidity independently; therefore, we are not limited to performing calibrations at the surrounding ambient temperature. The device utilizes an Optical Chilled Mirror (OCM) primary measurement technique for traceability and feedback control, making this a standalone, portable humidity calibration system. Probes or devices are inserted through access ports on the chamber cover for a simple and accurate comparison calibration to a chilled mirror primary standard!

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Temperature Calibration Services Calibrations can be performed on-site at your facility or off-site at a VWR location.

VWR offers a comprehensive temperature calibration service utilizing advanced equipment and training designed to provide the lowest possible measurement uncertainties. VWR's temperature capabilities encompass most RTD's, thermistors, thermocouples, bimetals, and liquid-in-glass thermometers. Fixed-point calibrations can be performed at one of our metrology centers or comparison calibrations at any of our calibration facilities. Services are performed using Direct Comparison (-100C to 600C), Simulation (-250C to 2300C), or Infrared (35C to 600C) methods. RTD's - All RTD calibrations are performed using the comparison method against a highly accurate primary standard. All calibrations are referenced back to the ITS-90 temperature scale. Thermistors - All thermistor calibrations are performed using the comparison method against a highly accurate primary standard. All calibrations are referenced back to the ITS-90 temperature scale. Thermocouples - All thermocouple calibrations are performed using the comparison method against a highly accurate primary standard or by simulation. All calibrations are referenced back to the ITS-90 temperature scale. Bimetals - All bimetal calibrations are performed using the comparison method against a highly accurate primary standard. All calibrations are referenced back to the ITS-90 temperature scale. Liquid-in-Glass Thermometers - All liquid-in-glass thermometer calibrations are performed using the comparison method against a highly accurate primary standard. All calibrations are referenced back to the ITS-90 temperature scale. VWR has standardized on Fluke* and Hart* equipment in order to provide a test uncertainty ratio (TUR) of at least 4:1. This equipment also provides us with flexibility in terms of being able to perform the calibrations on-site at your facility or off-site at a VWR location.

VWR Calibration & Metrology Services

1.888.793.2300

Pressure Calibration Services

VWR's metrology staff and calibration technicians have extensive training and experience in pressure calibrations and offer standard and customized services that satisfy all of your quality requirements. Calibration services cover a wide variety of pressure instruments including gauges, transducers, transmitters, calibrators, monitors, and pressure controllers. Pressure calibrations performed in a VWR calibration lab utilize either the DH Instrument PPC3 pressure calibration system, the Druck* DPI 600 series pressure calibrator, or the Ruska 7215xi pressure controller. Calibrations performed in the field utilize Fluke*, Ashcroft*, or Heiss* pressure modules. The PPC3 pressure calibrator is equipped with individually characterized quartz reference pressure transducer (Q-RPT) modules that increase precision and reduce measurement uncertainties. This device allows us to instantaneously switch and thereby calibrate in either gauge, absolute, or compound gauge modes with no pressure discontinuity.

VWR has a tiered service offering to precisely meet your quality requirements.

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Timer and Stopwatch Services

VWR employs the Vibrograf* Timometer 4500, the same standard utilized by many major pharmaceutical and biotech companies, to calibrate various timing devices. This device provides digital rate measurement and some diagnostic information on all timing instrumentation. The standard is equipped with three sensor microphones for unmatched acoustical pickup and it has the ability to test all frequencies. The portability of this device allows us to perform this calibration on-site at your facility or off-site at ours. Our calibration documentation provides both "as found" and "as left" data sets, the standard that is used during the calibration process, tolerance of the devices under test (DUT), environmental conditions, and direct traceability to NIST.

Other Calibration Services


VWR offers many other metrology and calibration services including electrical, dimensional, pH, conductivity, specific gravity, and density. These services cover instrumentation such as multimeters, calipers, pH meters, hydrometers, vortexers, centrifuges, incubators, clamp meters, and conductivity devices. Each standard is methodically selected to provide the best possible calibration service with the lowest measurement uncertainties. All documentation is designed with compliance and traceability to meet the most demanding quality protocols and standards.

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Consulting and Technical Training Services

VWR's metrology staff serve as consultants to help you with your specific metrology, calibration, or validation needs. Our experts also conduct seminars on a variety of topics. For your convenience, the seminars can be held at your site or at our training center. Some of the most frequently requested seminars include: Balance fundamentals and metrology Preventative maintenance and calibration of precision balances Calibration quality system overview The components of a quality calibration Ergonomics and proper pipetting techniques Realizing the ITS-90 scale

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Validation Services
VWR's validation department has assembled a consultant group in several operational areas to assure a comprehensive management approach for the most challenging manufacturing and regulatory environments focusing on pharmaceuticals and medical device manufacturing. From computer validations to microbiology assessments, from process performance qualifications to laboratory test method validations, from statistical process control to process audits and documentation, we have all the bases covered. VWR can offer project management support, resources and personnel for: Development or Improvement of Master Validation Plans, Validation Programs / Systems, and Change Control Systems Preparation and Execution of Process Performance Qualifications, Cleaning Validations, and Product Validations (PPQ and PV) Preparation and Execution of Laboratory Instrument and Equipment Qualifications IQ, OQ, PQ, and Computer Validation (21 CFR Part 11) Analytical Method Optimization and Troubleshooting Analytical Methodology Transfer Validation of Laboratory Test Methods Preparation and Execution of Sterilization Validation Pharmaceutical Process and Product Validation New Product Transfer Services Process Optimization GAP Analysis Development of Cleaning Methods for Actives or Surfactants Process and Laboratory Instrument / Equipment Qualifications (IQ, OQ, PQ) for Chemical and Microbiological Applications GLP and GMP Auditing Services for Analytical or Manufacturing Environments

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For Product Sales Call: 1.800.932.5000


Prices, product appearance and specifications are current at the time of printing, subject to change without notice. Availability for certain products may be limited by federal, state, provincial or local licensing requirements. All prices are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. Offers valid in USA, void where prohibited by law or company policy, while supplies last. Visit vwr.com to view our privacy policy and additional disclaimers. Items identified by a daisy(*) are equipment produced by their respective manufacturers; the names used are trademarks and/or trade names owned by those manufacturers. Equipment designations are current at the time of printing and model descriptions or manufacturers are subject to change without notice.
2006 VWR International, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.

0806 10M Lit. No. 92318

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