Hey Folks,

What kind of calibration software are you using.
We are a small job shop (85 souls including office personnel)
Our products are generally not tight tolerance. (i.e. +/-.005 or less)
What would you recommend.
I need to hold the cost down.
I am currently using a self designed access based system. I could update this but don't I have the time.

All input is appreciated

James
;)

There is a previous posting, "Scheduling Software" which describes numerous packages available. I believe the websites listed in that posting represent a pretty wide range of cost and complexity. However, as you stated that you are a small company, there are a number of ways to create a very low cost database. One very simple method I have seen from a company that only had about six or so calibrated instruments was using a spreadsheet. If you have someone knowledgeable in that area, with a little creativity and skill you could create one. I created my own a number of years ago using dBase III plus (I think it's off the market now). But a simple database program as not too difficult to learn by someone who is computer literate. Another alternative would be MS Access.

You mentioned that you don't have the time to update the system you currently have. One problem to remember when you change to a different recall system is that there will likely be significant setup and configuration time (depending on what other system you get). You may want to estimate how much time it would take to update your current system as compared to the amount of time it would take to change to another system. That is a significant factor (it appears, in your case) to be considered in whatever you do.

If you want to get really simple, a hard copy system is still considered legitimate. However, if you have to comply with any of the ISO standards or others, you'll need it to be well documented.

Could you elaborate as to why you need to update/upgrade your database you currently use?

Jerry,

Thanks for the input.

My current system is self made in MS access. I created it about 6 years ago to get away from a hard copy system. It was OK when we were an unregistered, 30 man shop.

Now I need to update the system to get ready for QS-9000 registration audit. With everything else I have going on I am afraid I don't have time to get it up to speed. It may be better to replace it with a dedicated program.

Thanks for the search Idea I'll do it later in the day.

James

Saw this thread in passing..

Anyone looking for an inexpensive calibration software package may want to take a look at this:

http://www.softwaretechnologytn.com/gage.php

I've used it at two different companies. If you don't have a huge number of gages in your system (say <500) and you aren't looking for a bunch of bells and whistles, for $500 it's hard to touch this one. My only reservation is that when I used it at a company with 4000+ gages in the system, I was occasionally heard to use some really bad words.

Regards -John

Track Pro and it is free. www.trackpro.org

Thanks for the info on www.trackpro.org (http://www.trackpro.org)!

Rich

Glad to help. Have you tried it?

I have been using GAGETrak v6.5, It has lots of features, I was a little frustrated with it at first, however, after attending one of their training seminars, I am very pleased with the capabilities of the software. It will even help you to complete GR&R, and MSA studies.:agree1:

Track Pro and it is free. www.trackpro.org

Actually Track Pro isn't free. They offer a "free" (limited) single user version which will accommodate 150 entries. They charge $200 to increase the license another 150 items. After 3 licenses are purchased (presumably at a cost of $600) you get the unlimited item version.

I have also used GageTrak and it does do a lot. I gave up on it because it was very user "unfriendly". Every time we wanted to rename a field or design a form we had to call them and they would come out to do it for a considerable price. The new version 6.5 may now have user editing and access to the design view but I doubt it. I would look closely to be sure you can edit the program, whichever software you chose.

We wrote our own data base in MS Access and we have no problems with it. We have adapted it to be used on PM, internal audits, project tracking and whatever else people come up with.

My advice is to take the time to write a simple Access data base to track calibrations. You not only end up with what you want, you learn how the data base works. From there the sky is the limit on what you can do.

Dave

My advice is to take the time to write a simple Access data base to track calibrations. You not only end up with what you want, you learn how the data base works. From there the sky is the limit on what you can do.

Dave

I agree. Our company uses a program that was created by our IT guy using Visual Basic (VB) and Access, and it is just fine in tracking the Calibration.

I agree. Our company uses a program that was created by our IT guy using Visual Basic (VB) and Access, and it is just fine in tracking the Calibration.

I will third that motion. The beauty is most office applications have Microsoft Office on it, which usually has Access. You don't have to worry about upgrades, patches, and support.

Any money you were going to spend can go to taking an Access class, and learn how to do really nice macros and the like. You can end up with a really nice application that will serve you for years.

NOTE: If you do decide to use access, spend some time designing the application first. It is very important that you set things up right (as much as you can) the first time.

Hi, any trackpro user here, mind you can share your experience using the software :)

Hi, any trackpro user here, mind you can share your experience using the software :)

Welcome HHakim,

The programmer used to visit here at one time and now, on and off. See this thread: Calibration Software - Seeking Suggestions - Commercial or Home ... (http://elsmar.com/Forums/archive/index.php/t-6502.html)

We use a program called GagePak, sold by PQ systems. It is very reasonable and will support any QMS system requirements (R&R's, stability, linearity, bias, etc).

I have been using Track pro for about a year. It has some limitations. The free software cannot be put on a server without a license, limited to 150 units to be calibrated. I found it pretty easy to use,do reports,add additional equipment. You can set it to flag which units are coming up for calibration.
It takes a while to get help from the programmer if you have any issues.
Hope this helps