Mobius Institute Board of Certification
Introducing "MIBoC"
Welcome to the new organization established to handle vibration analysis certification.
You may be aware that Mobius Institute has been offering certification since 2005; over 4000 people have been certified in that time. However, with the aim of being ISO 17024 accredited, a new, independent organization has been formed; the Mobius Institute Board of Certification - abbreviated to MIBoC.
The Mobius Institute Board of Certification has an Advisory Board of eminent people from the world of vibration analysis, a Scheme Committee of experts in vibration analysis and condition monitoring, and a Technical Committee that also comprises experts from around the world. The Scheme and Technical committees represent vibration analysis, consultants, vendors, instructors, and educators. They come from every part of the world to ensure that decisions made do not favor one mindset.
The Charter of the Mobius Institute Board of Certification
The charter of the Mobius Institute Board of Certification is to offer practical, affordable, and accessible vibration certification.
Practical: In order to be certified you must demonstrate that you have the experience and knowledge to perform the duties of a vibration analyst. Our examinations, therefore, favor the practicing vibration analyst. If you understand the theory but can't actually perform vibration analysis, you will not pass. If you can measure and look at spectra, but don't understand what you are doing, you will not pass. In Category I->III we do not require you to perform calculations that you are never likely to need to perform in your normal work. In Category IV there are far more calculations required.
Affordable: We have streamlined all of our processes to keep the costs to an absolute minimum. We do not charge an annual fee in order to remain certified. Thanks to the ISO 9001 and ISO 17024 annual audit and certification fees that we must pay, we have had to increase our fees, but they are easily the most affordable in the industry. We recognize that in some countries the certification fees could represent a large cost in comparison to your salary - we have kept our fees to a minimum.
Accessible: It is our goal to serve people in every part of the world, and we recognize that not everyone can get to a certification center in order to take the exam. We therefore offer a very secure means to take the exam no matter where you are in the world; good Internet connection or not.
How does it all work?
The certification service provided by Mobius Institute has always followed the guidelines documented under ISO 18436-1 and 18436-2, therefore you will not notice many changes.
You will still need to demonstrate that you have the required training and experience.
You will still take an exam that comes in a sealed envelope (that the instructor has not seen).
The examination process will still be handled quickly and efficiently and you will learn your exam results and certification status quickly.
Training requirements
As before, MIBoC will accept training from Mobius Institute "Authorized Training Centers" located in 50 countries and other approved training organizations: Vibration Institute, ATO's approved by BINDT, and Technical Associates. If you have training from another organization, please apply with details of that training. The training must cover the topics outlined in 18436-2. The details of that training are documented elsewhere.
Experience requirements
As before, you must demonstrate that you have 6/18/36/60 months of experience in the field of data collection and vibration analysis if you wish to be certified at Category I/II/III/IV, and you will provide the contact details of a person who can verify that experience.
Accreditation status of Mobius Institute Board of Certification
At this time we are not accredited - we are in the transition period. All certification process are now handled under the MIBoC system. We are auditing the training providers and certification centers under the MIBoC guidelines. We must do this for a period of time in order to demonstrate to the accreditation body that we use the techniques that we describe in our documentation. We have been through an external audit to make sure we are ready to gain 17024 accreditation. For that reason, it is our expectation that anyone certified between now and when we are accredited will be certified under the new scheme - but ultimately that is a decision of the accreditation authority. We will also put our case forward that people previously certified under the Mobius Institute scheme should also be included in the new scheme; but that again is up to the certifying authority.
General information about certification
We believe that there are certain benefits to being certified by Mobius Institute Board of Certification. They are listed here.
Brief summary of the vibration certification process
There are three requirements:
- You must have sufficient experience
- You must have sufficient training
- You must pass an exam
The ISO 18436-2 standard and the ASNT SNT-TC-1A Recommended Practice specifies how much experience you should have, how much training you should have and the topics the training should cover, and the standard and Recommended Practice defines how the exam operates: topics examined, number of questions, duration, security procedures and more.
The Mobius Institute Board of Certification follows these standards. We pride ourselves on the quality of the analyst we help to create through our training, and through our examination process.
Learn more about the certification process
Independence
There are three important points to make:
- Mobius Institute and Mobius Institute Board of Certification is independent of all the vibration analyzer vendors. We are vendor neutral. We cooperate with all of the vendors, and favor none of them.
- Mobius Institute Board of Certification is independent of the ISO and ASNT. Mobius Institute develops course material that follows the standard, and Mobius Institute Board of Certification follows the certification procedures.
- The Mobius Institute training is independent of the certification. You do not need to attend a Mobius Institute course in order to take a Mobius Institute Board of Certification exam. You are welcome to take another company's training and still take a Mobius Institute Board of Certification exam, as long as that course meets the standard.
How do I become certified?
If you will be taking Mobius Institute vibration training, you can apply to Mobius Institute Board of Certification, or the Training Partner, to take the exam.
If you have not taken Mobius Institute vibration training, you must simply write to certification@mobiusinstitute.com and you will follow the same process as Mobius Institute trainees:
- You will be given an account on the Mobius Institute Training Management System
- You will register via that account
- You will provide a detailed description of your educational and work experience which will need to be validated
- You will provide a detailed description of the vibration training classes that you have taken
- You will provide a photograph that will be used on your photo-ID card.
The information you provide will be reviewed. As of this writing the information can be provided in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Indonesian, Malaysian, and Chinese. Please contact us (in English) if you need to use a different language.
What is the difference between ISO and ASNT certification?
The ISO 18436-2and ISO 18436-3 standards are international standard that specify how you should be trained. The ISO 18436-1 standard specifies how condition monitoring personnel should be certified. ISO 17024 specifies how all "personnel certification" programs should work. The ISO define four "categories" of vibration analyst: Category I, II, III and IV.
The ISO, however, does not offer training or certification - that is left to independent bodies. When you are certified to the ISO standard, you can work for any company in any country and the certification will be recognized.
You can learn more about the ISO standard here
The ASNT SNT-TC-1A Recommended Practice is a document that specifies how a vibration analyst should be trained and certified. They define three "levels" - Level I, II and III. Only the ASNT can provide Level III certification. The ASNT does not provide vibration training.
The ASNT allows third party bodies to provide certification (Level I and II) and training (Level I, II, and III). The training company must have a "Written Practice" that demonstrates how it complies with the SNT-TC-1A Recommended Practice. Mobius Institute does have a Written Practice.
The biggest difference between the ISO and ASNT is that ASNT is an employer based certification scheme. In order to become properly certified you need to work for a company that also has an ASNT Written Practice. That company needs to add Mobius Institute to its Written Practice - they must declare that vibration training and certification is managed by Mobius Institute.
You can learn more about the ASNT Recommended Practice here
How does Mobius Institute Board of Certification offer ISO and ASNT certification?
In order to "follow a standard" you must comply with its various requirements. We exceed the requirements when it comes to training and certification. We teach above ISO Category I so that it also meets ASNT Level I. We teach above ISO Category II so that it meets Level II. And the same is true for ISO Category III and Level III.
You could easily ask that question again - how does Mobius Institute do that?
Our training classes use our proprietary animations and simulations. They are very effective at teaching people about vibration analysis. We know that we can teach more during the class than we could many years ago when we only had Power Point slides and basic illustrations.
Second, when people come to Mobius Institute for training it is our number one goal to send them back to their workplace with the knowledge required to properly do their job. As such, we believe we need to cover some topics that are not in the standards. For example, if you take the Category II course, you will learn some topics that appear in the Category III list - because you need to understand time waveform analysis, phase analysis, and enveloping.
In the same way, when an employer sees that a person is certified by Mobius Institute Board of Certification, we want them to know for sure that that person is capable of doing their job - that they have the knowledge and practical skills to do their job. So we have devised exams that, while meeting the standards, also place an emphasis on practical ability - the ability to apply the knowledge gained, and the ability to diagnose machine faults.