Agilent is committed to providing products and services of the highest quality and greatest value to its customers. This quality commitment enables Agilent to produce instruments that lead the industry in reliability, ruggedness, and long life.
Agilent instruments are designed to meet or exceed both regulatory and voluntary standards. Our products conform to applicable regulations in the areas of:
- EMC (electromagnetic compatibility), including European Union EMC direct compliance
- Product safety, as certified by the Nationally Recognized Test Laboratories
- NRC (U.S. nuclear materials regulations) for radioactive material handling
- Ergonomics, including international standards for sound level, indicators, etc.
Voluntary standards include the ISO 9000, an internationally recognized set of guidelines for quality management and assurance. Agilent maintains its Quality Management System to conform with ISO 9001, the most comprehensive ISO 9000 standard, giving added confidence in Agilent's ability to continually and consistently deliver products and services of superior quality and value.
- View Agilent LSCA's ISO 9001:2000 certificate (PDF, 67kb)
Independent auditors regularly conduct on-site inspections of the company’s operations and products to ensure compliance with both types of standards.
Agilent is careful not only to follow standards for its own products, but the components that go into them. Each supplier, partner and contractor must comply with Agilent’s established requirements for individual components.
Agilent Quality, A Closer Inspection
Each manufacturing site has a fully staffed and equipped Quality Laboratory, which works closely with R&D and manufacturing. The laboratories subject each instrument to a rigorous series of tests to ensure the highest standards of quality and compliance with all applicable regulations.
Safety
Our instruments meet the safety requirements of the International Electrotechnical Commission, the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization, the Canadian Standards Association, and Underwriters Laboratories. Agilent performs 38 tests that cover shock, fire, mechanical, chemical, fluid pressure, laser, acoustical, and explosion hazards.
Electromagnetic Compatibility
Agilent instruments are often used in labs filled with many other instruments. Electronic emissions from one instrument to another can lead to spurious results, compromising laboratory data and integrity. In this example, an Agilent GC shows no change in performance after being subjected to a 15,000 volt charge.
Electrostatic Discharge (Windows Media Video, 1 min 51 sec)
The second example illustrates the effects of radiofrequency interference on instrument performance.
Environmental
Many instruments have to operate in plants and mobile laboratories where they must provide reliable results under less-than-ideal conditions, over a range of temperatures, humidity, and altitudes. The following examples illustrate the analytical performance of an Agilent instrument run under extreme conditions.
Transportation
Agilent instruments are shipped around the world. Vibration and shock testing ensure the instrument will arrive to the customer in the same condition it left the factory. For example, our GCs are designed to operate even if airdropped from a helicopter onto the deck of an oil rig.
Design for Supportability
Agilent instruments are designed to be easily supportable and maintainable to allow our customers to focus on their business.
Beyond the standards, Agilent has programs in place designed to integrate customer feedback and improve customer’s experience. A Customer Loyalty manager acts as an advocate for the customer. Agilent also surveys its customers regularly and responds to those surveys through continuous improvement programs aimed at increasing the effectiveness of the Quality Management System and the quality of our processes, products, and services.
