Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 May 2010
Today’s production industry has to face considerable challenges. Decentralised andcross-linked production processes lead to a highly complex production control and aworldwide financial crisis causes drastic movements in demand. To succeed in businessunder these conditions, production needs to be transparent. One key factor to increasetransparency is the management of measurement processes. The management of measurementprocesses focuses not only on the measurement process itself that enables the decision onthe conformity of a measurand but, beyond that, it considers the acquisition of knowledgethroughout the production process, its validation, processing and feedback into theprocess chain. With proof of measurement process capability, the determination of theoptimal trade-off among measuring and production process, the adjustment of optimalworking points and tolerances is achieved. The management of measurement processes allowsobtaining a maximum benefit from metrology under the consideration of technical,organisational and economical boundary conditions.