Primer on measurement system assessment

Product quality is a given in today\´s competitive manufacturing environment. To achieve the required level of product quality it is essential that manufacturing organizations have in place a reliable and accurate measurement system. This measurement system not only includes the various devices and equipment used to directly inspect the product, but also includes the control system and personnel involved in the quality process. Therefore, it is necessary for manufacturing organizations to "inspect" the measurement system to insure consistency and reliability measurements. Measurement system assessment fulfills this need and contributes to the ultimate goal of a quality product. This paper investigates measurement system assessment concepts such as repeatability, reproducibility, accuracy and guard banding. Numerical analysis methods used in measurement system assessment are introduced to determine the reliability of inspection procedures and equipment in terms of conformance to desired standards. This paper also investigates inspection equipment issues such as gage accuracy, stability, discrimination and linearity