KPM Analytics Introduces UCAL™ 5, a Guided NIR Calibration Platform for SpectraStar™ XT Analyzer Users

New NIR calibration platform for SpectraStar™ XT analyzers reviews every calibration against ASTM and ISO recommendations as the user works, builds a comparison calibration automatically, and teaches with built-in lessons. A 30-day free trial of UCAL 5 Pro is available today.

WESTBOROUGH, Mass., Oct. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- KPM Analytics today announced UCAL 5, a near-infrared (NIR) calibration customization platform for SpectraStar XT Series analyzers. Its patent-pending guided workflow lets users start from KPM calibration libraries with spectra, add their own samples, and publish a calibration for their own products in four steps. As they work, UCAL Insight™ reviews the data, calibration, and validation results using recommendations from ASTM E1655 and ISO 12099 for developing and validating NIR calibrations. It highlights items the user may want to check before publishing the calibration.

UCAL 5 comes in three editions: Lite, currently included with new SpectraStar XT analyzers, which provides guided calibration development with the essential methods and tools; Pro for the analyst who builds and maintains calibrations; and Enterprise for teams that share projects on a company server.

A reviewer, a builder, and a coach inside the platform

In practice, a user imports spectra and laboratory values, builds the calibration in the Workbench, and sees UCAL Insight's marks on the screen as each step is completed. With UCAL Autopilot switched on, the software builds its own calibration alongside the user's from the same data, and the two appear side by side with the settings that differ. The lessons open from inside the software whenever they are needed.

UCAL Insight is the reviewer. At each step it checks whether there are enough samples, how well the laboratory values cover the required range, and whether new samples confirm the calibration. Each point is marked green, yellow, or red with an explanation of what it means and what to check. They are suggestions, not rules: the user always decides.

UCAL Autopilot™ is the builder. It tries several methods, presents the best, and lists every setting that differs from the user's choices. After validation, the user compares the two calibrations property by property and decides which to publish.

Built-in lessons are the coach. Fifteen lessons inside the software explain what a calibration is, how it is judged, and why calibrations go wrong, then walk through the real UCAL 5 screens, from adding spectra to publishing a validated calibration. A separate introduction helps experienced UCAL 4 users move over. No previous calibration experience is needed.

"Most calibrations do not fail because the math is wrong. They fail because the samples did not cover the range, or because nobody checked the calibration against new samples before it went on the instrument," said Yuegang Zhao, President of KPM Lab Solutions and Chief Commercial Officer at KPM Analytics. "UCAL 5 puts those checks in front of the user at every step, in the language of the standards the industry already trusts."

Start from a proven KPM calibration

The KPM Analytics Web Store offers over 250 calibrations built and maintained by KPM's application laboratories for food, feed, and agricultural products, from alfalfa hay and canola meal to cheddar cheese. They are sold by the property measured, such as moisture or protein, or in one of 15 ready-made bundles. A calibration is ready to use: it loads directly onto a SpectraStar XT analyzer, for one instrument or as a single file for a full fleet. Optionally, the same calibration can be bought as a calibration library with its spectra. The library opens in UCAL 5, where users add their own samples and keep the calibration current for their own products. The result is published as the user's own calibration and loaded onto one analyzer or the whole fleet, like any KPM calibration.

"Our calibration library represents many years of application work with food, feed, and agricultural products," said Zhao. "UCAL 5 is how a customer takes one of those calibrations and makes it their own."

Four steps from data to a published calibration

UCAL 5 works in four steps: collect the data; clean the data and build the calibration in the Workbench; validate it against samples it has not seen; and combine and publish the final calibration. Every adjustment is saved apart from the original files, so any decision can be reversed. Users can try different settings on the same data, compare all results in one table, and publish the best result for each property as a single calibration file. Projects can be reopened and updated as crops, suppliers, and processes change. Through KPMLink® cloud-based management software, a finished calibration can be loaded onto every connected SpectraStar XT analyzer in the organization.

Editions for individual users and laboratory teams

UCAL 5 Lite provides guided calibration development: the lessons, UCAL Insight, UCAL Autopilot, and four calibration methods, with up to 500 samples per calibration from the user's own files and no limit from KPM library files. It is currently included with new SpectraStar XT analyzers, available at an introductory price to other SpectraStar XT owners, and upgrades to Pro with a license key.

UCAL 5 Pro gives one analyst the full toolset: 18 calibration methods, including Modified PLS and three neural networks; advanced tools for sample selection and instrument standardization; and no limit on samples, so laboratories can build from years of historical data.

UCAL 5 Enterprise brings Pro to large teams. It installs on a company server, is used through a web browser, and is licensed per user, so data stays on the organization's network. Each project can be private or shared.

UCAL 5 opens UCAL 4 files directly, and calibrations already on SpectraStar XT analyzers give the same results, so UCAL 4 users move their work without losing anything; they can upgrade to UCAL 5 Pro at a discount. Pro and Enterprise licenses include yearly maintenance for new versions. All editions are available in 11 languages.

Availability

A 30-day free trial of UCAL 5 Pro, Lite licenses, and calibrations are available today for current SpectraStar XT Series Analyzer users at https://store.kpmanalytics.com/join. Pro and Enterprise licenses are available now from KPM Analytics and its authorized distributors. See UCAL 5 in action at https://www.kpmanalytics.com/lp/ucal-5 or contact sales@kpmanalytics.com. 

About KPM Analytics

KPM Analytics is a global leader in scientific instrumentation, providing analytical and vision inspection solutions to laboratories and industrial operators in the food, feed, agriculture, industrial, and environmental sectors. KPM products have a long history of helping companies secure product quality, optimize production processes, and make confident, data-driven decisions through reliable solutions, supported by dedicated application expertise and local service. Visit https://www.kpmanalytics.com to learn more.

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