Intermediate Checks, or Verifications of Equipment, are measurements of devices in smaller increments of time than your calibration cycle, to verify that it’s still within the bounds of acceptable performance. While it’s typically performed in regulated industries such as pharmaceuticals and medical devices, in other industries it is much less common, especially when there is no regulatory body. Even in some regulated industries, such as aerospace, it’s less common because the FAA only begins its investigation into measurement devices when an aircraft component fails.

Because of the risk for part failures and recalls, I believe more industries will start to look at the importance of intermediate checks. The automotive industry is one example of an industry that is scrutinizing the quality of its components, particularly from vendors of parts and sensors, after experiencing headline-grabbing recalls in previous years. Grocery recalls are another example of the potential risk posed by inaccurate sensors. These potential problems are not just costly, but also capable of causing harm to humans. Manufacturing industries such as steel producers are other examples where accurate sensors and instruments can have serious repercussions on product integrity if they not been checked between calibrations. The practice of intermediate checks in those industries is reducing the risk of failures and financial loss, without the time and expense that increasing the frequency calibrations would incur.

In electrical device manufacturing, intermediate checks are becoming more recognized for its importance in new product lifecycle and performance testing. For example, a prototype air conditioner might be put through its paces in a laboratory, running it at extremes until it breaks. The engineers will be collecting data the entire time. Clearly, what you don’t want to have happen is, after running weeks of tests, you discover that the sensors collecting that data aren’t accurate. Verifying those sensors before and after the test is a sensible way to reduce the risk of errors in product development.