Coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) are often used to measure workpieces that have tight manufacturing tolerances. The “accuracy” is critically important.

This well-known adage doesn’t just apply to the design of systems; it also applies to the systems themselves. In systems designed for automated precision measurement, users are typically balancing accuracy of measurement, speed of operation, and cost to purchase and operate.

A lot of people play fast and loose with the frequency of calibration on their gages, masters and instruments.

Thickness is a measure of coatings or films, such as the thickness of paint on metal, or the distance between the closest opposing surfaces of an object.

In my last column I outlined the process for preparing a shipment of plug gages that are being sent to an outside laboratory for calibration.

Integrated innovations through a customer-centered perspective describe the newest features in Coordinating Measuring Machines (CMMs). A CMM is a measuring device tabulating the physical and geometrical traits of an object, typically a part. Manufactures of these machines are studying customers’ needs and how they use these machines.

My lab does a lot of fixed limit gage calibration and I sometimes wonder how the folks who deal with it on a day-to-day basis cope with it all.