Life in the Field with the Calibration Services Team

August 2022

As National Laboratory Manager for calibration and services labs at Thermo Fisher Scientific, Darren has specialised in calibrating technology for most of his career ­– ranging from measuring and testing to calibrating and validating equipment.

He has worked extensively with electrical and instrumentation systems and his background includes various roles across the industrial sector– including training electricians for major mining companies and commissioning a power station project, to name a few.

Currently, Darren oversees operations at Thermo Fisher Scientific’s calibration laboratories at Scoresby, Victoria and Malaga in Perth.

In addition to managing the business aspects of in-house calibration services, Darren has also been key to organising a fleet of mobile calibration vans that operate currently in the Perth area.

Thermo Fisher Scientific’s industrial laboratories are NATA accredited and compliant with ISO17025 and ISO9001 standards offering calibration services across Australia through premium on-call remote support or delivered straight to the site by way of mobile calibration vans.

“As part of our commitment to full-service coverage for equipment maintenance, we have been working to broaden our calibration services offering to include a range of remote and on-site testing, measuring, and calibrations services– across industries,” says Darren. 

Although Thermo Fisher Scientific has traditionally specialised in servicing laboratory equipment for academic and clinical life sciences research and testing, the calibration services team at Scoresby and Malaga are OEM trained and certified to service the requirements of equipment in a range of different industries, according to Darren.

“From oil and gas, mining and mineral processing to the potable water and wastewater industries, our calibration service team’s capabilities extend to chemical and gas, pressure testing, electrical and temperature calibration,” he explains.

“We are also qualified to perform calibrations on more sensitive technologies, such as laboratory pipettes, weighing devices and micro-balances.”  

“We work closely with businesses to offer custom calibration service solutions that including everything from a mix or remote and on-site support to providing traceable calibrations to performing risk assessments and accessing asset management tools through our ASTEA portal.”
– Darren Smart, National Laboratory Manager at Thermo Fisher Scientific.

“A part of being on the calibration services team is understanding that helping customers identify and manage risks is a big part of our role,” explains Darren. “These risks can include downtime on equipment, voided manufacturer’s warranties, falling out of compliance, and decreasing value of their assets.”

“The instruments we service are expensive investments and valuable assets to our customers. So, it is our job is to help customers retain the value of their assets through corrective maintenance,” he emphasises.  

Darren adds that although his team cannot decide for customers how much risk they should be willing to tolerate, they can work closely with them to develop a tailored service plan for their industry and make recommendations when it comes to weighing the costs versus the benefits.

“We try to help customers understand that by investing in a professional calibration service plan for their equipment and instruments now, they can future proof their assets and save a lot of money down the road on repairs and replacements, he concludes.” 

For more information about our calibration services, contact our calibration service specialists.