The Canadian pulp and paper industry has radically transformed in the past few years and is now very sophisticated, involving cutting-edge science and game-changing technology.
FPInnovations is at the centre of incredible technological advances as the industry adapts to the rapid pace of these scientific and technological changes. In fact, FPInnovations' Optical Calibration Laboratory, which operates under ISO requirements (ISO 4094 and ISO 17025), is one of only four authorized laboratories worldwide that can offer this service.
Appropriate and harmonized calibration of instruments used by our members and their customers to characterize optical properties is crucial to enable agreement between vendor and client measurements, and allow the latter to verify that the products they are purchasing meet their specifications. In addition, regular calibration can help reduce production costs for pulp and paper product manufacturers, by preventing overuse of bleaching chemicals, for example.
Recognizing the necessity of achieving measurement agreement of optical properties between vendors and customers worldwide, the pulp and paper industry uses a unique calibration system it established over 40 years ago. This system ensures traceability of the calibration to a standardizing laboratory, the National Research Council of Canada. The link between the standardizing laboratory and the industry's testing laboratories is then made by authorized laboratories that distribute calibration standards, known as Level 3 standards (IR3), to the industry.
Committed to maintaining the quality of the calibration system, FPInnovations works with the other three authorized laboratories, namely, Innventia (Sweden), Technidyne Laboratory Services (U.S.), le Centre Technique du Papier (France), as well as with the National Research Council of Canada to ensure that the IR3 standards issued are reliable, stable, and harmonized.
FPInnovations' subscribers to the Optical Calibration Program receive, on a regular basis (monthly, bimonthly, or quarterly), IR3 standards in the form of two paper tablets with specific characteristics, to calibrate their instruments according to ISO 2469 and related ISO standards for optical measurements.
For more information about FPInnovations' Optical Calibration Services, please contact Pierre Simon
