There’s a long-lived adage in woodworking and carpentry—measure twice, cut once. As civilization grew and evolved from millions of years ago when primitive cutting tools were used to hunt and gather food, a need for more accurate cutting tools grew and evolved with it.

Simply put, product quality is always on the mind of a production manager. But what exactly characterizes a quality product? Is it when CMM inspection data reads good versus bad?

The load cell sensor is arguably the most important component in a force measurement or material testing system’s ability to provide accurate, precise and valid measurements. A sensor’s accuracy is often the primary characteristic that is used to specify a load cell sensor for a given application.

Today’s on-the-go-consumers demand products that can multitask, from portable meal kits and one-minute makeup to smartphones that can measure your heartbeat or control your thermostat.

Fine-tuning coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) to the functional needs of manufacturers has changed the way they view quality inspection.