Reference materials are particularly important for analytical chemistry and clinical analysis. Since most analytical instrumentation is comparative, it requires a sample of known composition (reference material) for accurate calibration. These reference materials are produced under stringent manufacturing procedures and differ from laboratory reagents in their certification and the traceability of the data provided.

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Certified Reference Material (CRM)

Reference material, accompanied by a certificate, one or more of whose property values are certified by a procedure which establishes its traceability to an accurate realization of the unit in which the property values are expressed, and for which each certified value is accompanied by an uncertainty at a stated level of confidence. The CRMs are certified by a recognized certifying organization using approved certification procedures as instructed in ISO Guide 35:1989.

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Reference Material (RM)

A material substance one or more of whose property values are sufficiently homogeneous and well established to be used for the calibration of an apparatus, the assessment of a measurement method, or for assigning values to materials. 

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Setting Up Samples (SUS)

Materials which have an uncertified analysis to be used as a guide. These materials are assigned values for each element during calibration of the instrument with CRMs and RMs. These assigned values are used for day-to-day or shift-to-shift adjustment of the instrument. This process is often called "drift correction", "standardization of the calibration", or "re-standardization".

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Some of the major producers of CRMs are Brammer Standard, BAS & MBH Analytical. Below is a  brief  on all of them:

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MBH Analytical Ltd has been supplying Certified Reference Materials for spectroscopic and spectrochemical analysis since 1973, and has

grown to become one of the world’s major producers and suppliers. Materials manufactured and supplied by MBH can be found in metallurgical and analytical laboratories all over the world.

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Brammer Standard produces and distributes over 10,000 chemical and spectrochemical analytical reference materials from producers around the world. Brammer started operation in 1968 with the offering of 7 carbon and low alloy steel discs. Brammer now produces over 250 Reference Materials using 6 to 15 cooperating laboratories in an inter-laboratory testing program.

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BAS (Bureau of Analysed Samples) was formed in 1935 to ensure the continuation of the work of the British Chemical Standards (BCS) Movement which was started in 1916 as an informal association of chemists in the iron and steel industry. The first British Certified Reference Materials were produced over eighty years ago with the assistance of NBS (now NIST) in the USA. 

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References: www.brammerstandard.com, www.basrid.co.uk, www.mbh.co.uk.