An Investigation of Measurement Uncertainty of Coordinate Measuring Machines (CMMs) by Comparative Analysis

Measurement uncertainty is one of the root causes of waste due to variation in industrial manufacturing. This article establishes the impact of certain factors on measurement uncertainty while using coordinate measurement machines as well as its reduction through the usage of recognized Gage R&R methodology to include ANOVA. Measurement uncertainty stemming from equipment and appraiser variation is identified and ranked according to its degree of impact. A comparative analysis is conducted showing how different CMMs of similar design can generate differing amounts of measurement uncertainty. The approach set forth in this paper not only proves effective with CMMs but can also be applied to other complex multivariate measurement systems.