All gaging equipment must be calibrated periodically to ensure that it’s capable of performing the job for which it’s intended: i.e., measuring parts accurately. This has always been necessary for the purpose of maintaining quality, but there are now additional, external reasons to establish and maintain a regular program of gage calibration: customers’ requirements. More and more OEMs demand that suppliers document their quality efforts from start to finish. ISO 9000 is one more manifestation of this trend, and it is forcing companies to examine their calibration programs, identify their weaknesses, and improve them wherever possible.
Some large companies with thousands of gages can cost-justify hiring or training specialists in gage calibration methods and supplying them with equipment and resources to perform virtually all calibration duties in-house. For most machine shops, however, the economical approach is to hire a calibration service.
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