Competitiveness and Communications Minister Censu Galea yesterday inaugurated the Malta Standards Authority’s National Metrology Services in Kordin, where a total EUR313,000 has been invested in meeting refurbishing requirements.
The investment was made in a two-phase development programme – Lm100,000, or EUR313,000 for phase One in 2004; and Lm35,000, or EUR81,528, for 2007, to accommodate metrology equipment tendered to the tune of EUR939,000 of acquired funds for metrology through pre-accession and transition facility funding. MSA-NMS has in the last year alone produced 500 calibration certificates. Over 400 calibration certificates had been issued in 2005, and a client base of over 90 clients has been built up from the start-up in 2004.
Year on year, approximately 35 per cent of work volume is generated through new business sources annually with an approximate 30 per cent increase in volume of calibration services annually.
This it does by work it carries out for the government, its entities, laboratories and manufacturing and services industries, which result in the saving of thousands of liri which would otherwise have gone abroad.
MSA-NMS forms an important link in providing accreditation laboratories with the necessary local traceability, ensuring contained costs and making accreditation possible to allow them to open up their markets.
MSA-NMS also provides calibration training in mass measurement and has developed courses for temperature measurement work. This knowledge transfer assists industry in reducing calibration costs both through local traceability and through technology transfer of the best internal calibration systems to use. A significant volume of work stems from the pharmaceutical industry.
The national metrology services also conduct collaborative work with Heritage Malta, and has carried out a mapping study for temperature and humidity at the level one Hal Saflieni Complex and is currently working on a joint project with Heritage Malta to acquire EEA funding to install a network of temperature and humidity sensors for remote monitoring of the site. MSA-NMS is the technical advisor to Heritage Malta on this project.