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A Calibration System at Supportsthe Performance of Sound Level Meters“Providing not just products, but services”—that’s the long-term vision of Rion’s Environmental Instrument Division. In recent years, Rion has focused on pro-viding high-quality services without shi ing from its funda mental business philosophy of supporting society and helping people through technology. e development of the RION Acoustic Calibration System (RACS) is a perfect example of how this vision takes form.Put simply, RACS is a system for automatically calibrating and testing sound level meters, personal sound expo-sure meters, microphones, and sound calibrators. e system provides all the functions needed to obtain accredita-tion under the ISO/IEC 17025 inter-national standard- General requirements for the compet ence of testing and calibra-tion laboratories. Ryoichi Hosoi of the Environmental Instrument Division, charged with selling this system over-seas, explains the system in layman’s terms.“Take, for example, the scale at your local meat shop, or the meter on the taxi you ride. ey’re all inspected regularly to con rm that the measurements are accurate. e sound level meters manu-factured and sold by our company are measuring instruments, too, so their precision has to be maintained and con-trolled. at’s why people who use our sound level meters to measure the envi-ronment have to manage the perfor-mance of their sound level meters using calibration systems.”In the past, Rion and other compa-nies that manufactured sound level meters marketed their calibration sys-tems. Although there’ s been growing demand for calibration by calibration organizations that have received inter-national standard certi cation, it hasn’t been easy to perform such calibration with existing systems. Previously, cali-bration conforming to international standards could only be performed at agencies and research institutes with advanced acoustic calibration technol-ogies, like the Japan Quality Assurance Organization (JQA). at’s why Rion developed RACS, a system that would allow acoustic calibration at any insti-tution having a certain level of calibra-tion technology. RACS incorporates a computer, so ware, sig nal generator, digital multimeter, measuring ampli -er, acoustic coupler, reference micro-phone, and a camera for monitoring measured values. It enables the calibra-tion and testing of sound level meters, personal sound exposure meters, and sound calibrators to be conducted in accordance with international stan-dards. And it performs the entire cali-bration and testing process automati-cally. Hosoi continues to describe the advantages of RACS.RACS: RION Acoustic Calibration SystemA system that performs acoustical calibration of sound level meters and periodic tests (IEC 61672-3:2013/JIS C 1509-3:2019) using comparison coupler (IEC 61094-5:2016) or anechoic chamber (IEC 61094-8:2012), electrical calibration of sound level meters and periodic tests (IEC 61672-3:2013/JIS C 1509-3:2019) using dummy microphone, and calibration of sound calibrators and periodic tests (IEC 60942:2017/JIS C 1515:2020)PROJECT STORYA Documentary of Product Development at Rion2Protecting People Around the World from Noise—Offering Total Solutions Ranging from the Creation of a Sound Calibration System and Testing Environment to the Operation Thereof—Ryoichi HosoiS&V Measuring Instrument International Sales Section, Environmental Instrument Division. He’s responsible for disseminating information and promoting sales of Rion products at sales of ces in other countries as part of efforts to expand Rion’s market share of sound level meters, vibra-tion meters, and other instruments in foreign markets. He’s in charge of a wide swath of the world, including Southeast Asia, Australia, Africa, and the Middle East.Interview and article by Editorial Committee