The effects of Metrology-the science of measurements - can be seen everywhere in our daily lives. Metrology allows people to plan their lives through the use of time measurement, doctors to correctly diagnose patients, the detection of the presence or absence of foreign matter in water and to make commercial exchanges like the amount of sugar, mealie-meal, and so forth with confidence. Other examples include bolts purchased from Company A to fit into nuts from Company B, assuming they are specified to the same size. The accuracy of these measurements relies on the calibration and traceability of the measuring equipment against a measurement standard of higher accuracy.

Today there is more demand for accurate measurements by institutions that have put quality systems in place and that can prove traceability of their measurements to the fundamental units of measure of the System Internationale (SI). The fundamental units of measures are established by the Bureau Internationale de Poids et Measures (BIMP) which in turn propagates the accuracy to lower echelon/level measurement institutions. Thus the Botswana Bureau of Standards is one such Measurement Institution that acquires such accuracy through an alternative route and thus propagates it to the local industry through the provision of its calibration services. The calibration services are either directly provided by the Botswana Bureau of Standards or in collaboration with designated institutions.