Featured Lab Fridays: Indianapolis

Transcat’s Indianapolis Calibration Lab is an ISO/IEC 17025-accredited facility that offers multiple calibration services to customers in and around Indiana. Founded in 1995 as Tangent Labs, the location was acquired by Transcat in 2021. For over three decades, the lab has provided calibration services for a number of different industries. Due to the large life sciences presence in Indianapolis, the lab provides calibration services for customers in the medical device manufacturing, biomedical, and pharmaceutical fields. The lab also has customers from various manufacturing fields as well as government/contract work.

Kevin Broderick, the Indianapolis Lab Manager, started the lab back in 1995 using his background in the pharmaceutical industry and understanding of compliance. Between in-lab services, on-site work, and pickup and delivery, the Indianapolis lab is able to perform a high volume of work across numerous disciplines, with a balanced, consistent workload across each one.

“Our on-site services cover most, if not all, of Indiana, and we even make our way out to some of the surrounding states as well,” says Broderick. “We also have customers who take advantage of our pickup and delivery services, or they’ll do their own drop-offs and pickups.”

The lab’s calibration capabilities cover nearly every discipline, including electrical, dimensional, temperature and reference temperature, pressure and reference pressure, mass/weights, force, and torque. The lab’s temperature capabilities range from -80°C to 1250°C, with reference temperature capabilities from -200°C-660°C. Its mass capabilities cover class 1 up to 1kg, and reference pressure capabilities range from 9 to 7650 kPa.

The location’s force and torque capabilities allow the lab to test load cells up to 50,000 lbf using its Tovey Calibration System, and with its CMM and Optical Comparator, the lab can verify gages meet blueprint dimensioning tolerances. It’s also one of the few Transcat labs offering gas flow capabilities up to 1,000 slpm, and it can calibrate both gas monitors and detectors.

The Indianapolis lab also stands out for having specialized capabilities that are harder to find at other calibration labs. For one, it’s the only Transcat lab that offers viscometry calibration services.

“We get a lot of that kind of work since it’s not really something other labs offer,” explains Broderick. “It’s especially useful for painting manufacturers and testing labs, which is where we see the most requests for that kind of work.”

The lab also has its own wind tunnel to perform air velocity calibrations, with the ability to hit low velocity rates competitors can’t match. Combining these capabilities with its Thunder Scientific Temperature/Humidity chamber, the lab can also perform thermal anemometer calibrations.

“I think a lot of the unique capabilities we have has made us really stand out,” Broderick notes. “With those kinds of capabilities, we’re able to stay ahead of other competitors.”

“We strive to be a one-stop shop for all calibration needs rather than having only one or two specialized areas,” adds Shane Smith, the lab’s Assistant Service Manager.

Another way the Indianapolis Calibration Lab stands out is due to its automated calibration capabilities, which cover disciplines such as electrical, temperature, and humidity. The lab’s electrical automation capabilities are tailor-made for those who rely on precise, high-performing electrical equipment like digital multimeters, process calibrators, oscilloscopes, and more. With its Thunder Scientific Temperature/Humidity chamber, the team can also run temperature and humidity loggers through automated processes. With this kind of automation, customers can expect high levels of accuracy while feeling confident in their equipment’s compliance with industry standards.

Due to its many unique calibration capabilities, Transcat is able to support customers through the Indianapolis lab who are unable to source a specific service elsewhere, with customers coming from parts of Asia, Central America, and South America.

“We do mass flow calibrations for a company in Japan, and we were able to secure work with them because again, there weren’t a lot of other labs doing that kind of work when they came on board,” says Broderick.

When it comes to its customers, the Indianapolis lab maintains strong relationships with many, and it takes pride in offering quick response and turnaround times while communicating openly every step of the way.

“Honesty and transparency are natural parts of our process,” explains Broderick. “It’s just what comes from working with our team. We’re here to listen and pay attention to our customers to give them exactly what they want out of their calibration needs.”

Learn more about the Indianapolis Calibration Lab here and request a quote today! https://ow.ly/atyp50UHTXL

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