>
Each of four institutes in NMIJ has their own role and mission in the field of measurement standards and legal metrology. The Research Institute for Engineering Measurement (RIEM) takes a responsibility for the measurement standards, especially we are deeply involved with manufacturing industries. The RIEM is also deeply engaged in legal metrology and plays a great role in that field. There are fourteen groups in RIEM; nine of them are research groups responsible for measurement standards and four are technical groups working for legal metrology. The names of the groups can be seen in the figure, which simply describes the tasks assigned to the groups.
In research groups, advanced researches are conducted and the measurement standards are provided. These activities have brought the research groups the highest level of international researchers and facilities in respective research fields. The policy of RIEM is to provide metrological solutions in response to requests from industries by making use of these accomplishments. The RIEM contributes to the industries through the following activities:
We can transfer our patents, knowledge and expertise to companies. Collaborative researches together with companies are also performed in the aim of developing new technologies.
The NMIJ cooperates in the management of Japan Calibration Service System (JCSS) based on the Measurement Act. The RIEM can provide technical consultations to the accredited calibration laboratories of JCSS or those laboratories wishing to be accredited ones.
We can provide third party evaluation of performance of the measuring instruments developed by companies. The results may serve for further improvement of the products. For small and medium enterprises, attachment of measurement reports issued by NMIJ will strengthen the competitiveness of the products in the market.
We check the validity of measuring instruments which are being used for the quality control purpose in production lines then issue certificates. Calibration in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025 requirements can also be performed. In case the instruments cannot be transported to NMIJ, on site testing is also possible.
A lot of information is collected through various activities in many organizations related to the Metre convention. Several members of RIEM are playing important positions in these organizations. Many members are taking active parts in developing industrial standards such as ISO and JIS. We forward demands from industries to these activities and disseminate collected information.
We provide technical information to manufacturers of measuring instruments and trainings to the staffs of verification offices. Impartiality and neutrality should be specially observed in this activity because NMIJ is the organization granting approval for type approval tests based on the Measurement Act.
Even if appropriate solutions cannot be given by ourselves, we can introduce external organizations such as universities by using our accumulated information and human networks. We will keep our policy “we never decline requests we have received from outside” in order to contribute to industries.