Quality 101

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Understanding the different hardness testing types and systems can be useful to determine an optimal solution. Hardness testing functionality has evolved and now users can dial into world-class instrumentation which more closely aligns with their applications at hand.

If you were to ask an assembler at a Tesla factory how they measure the diameter of a piston, the response could very well be “what’s a piston?” If the same question were asked, a traditional combustion engine assembler would likely exclaim “with calipers, of course!”

As related to form metrology, a roundness measurement defines how closely the shape of a part approaches that of a perfect circle. 

Gabriel Hughes was once asked to calibrate a 2x4 at a previous job. While this may sound strange, the customer sent it in to have the precise dimensions calibrated. The wood was used to keep a door closed at a certain height, which they needed to monitor because of airflow.

In a lean manufacturing process, a poka-yoke method is employed to eliminate product defects by preventing, correcting, or drawing attention to human errors in real time. Industrial engineer Shigeo Shingo first applied the term poka-yoke (“mistake-proofing” in Japanese) to the Toyota Production System. 

Historically, in-process gaging has not been widely used in the machine tool industry, but today that’s changing. Gaging companies have been evolving their products and making them easier to use, while enabling users to do more with gaging routines.

For as long as there’ve been in-process gaging systems, they’ve used hydraulic or pneumatic actuators to drive them. 

“Since the beginning, humans have searched for superior more practical methods to fulfill holding and clamping needs.” I said this a long time ago about modular tooling and the beat goes on.

Within a metrology inspection environment, fixturing is a three-step process of positioning, locating and securing a workpiece within a measuring volume for inspection. 

The height gage has transformed. From its infancy to today, the height gage has been in the grittiest shop environments. In spite of that, height gages also have the ability to meet the quality measurement demands of any precision laboratory. Regardless of how they are used or where, height gages have stood the test of time and remain an essential tool in every workshop.