A friend of mine likes to quip that someday computers will make all our lives easier. He’s kidding (I think), but it seems to be a fact of modern life that every time we open our phones, tablets, or computers, or even check our watches, there are upgrades waiting to be installed for the apps we have, and new and improved apps on offer to replace those. Things change fast, and these are all intended to make our lives easier. And of course, they do. We think. But how many times have you opened a familiar software application only to find that what you were used to doing one way must now be done another—or worse, can no longer be done at all! Exactly how is this easier?
The situation with form measurement tools in a production environment is similar. In fact, it might even be more complicated, as the process being controlled is less well understood by the average user than using an app to write a report or fill in a spreadsheet. And the environment in which form measurement is conducted—either in a lab or on the shop floor—is also changing with MRP and ERP systems controlling more and more of the manufacturing process, and automation constantly advancing.