Using Traceable Standards - AIAG MSA Manual Chapter II, Section B, 1st bullet

I have very little MSA knowledge, but I am reviewing the 4th Edition MSA manual and have a question. In Chapter II, Section B, 1st bullet "Should standards, such as those traceable to NIST, be used in the testing, and if so, what level of standard is appropriate"
What exactly does that mean? Can traceable standards be used instead of production parts for the test samples?

Re: Using Traceable Standards for MSA

Qual Latte said:

I have very little MSA knowledge, but I am reviewing the 4th Edition MSA manual and have a question. In Chapter II, Section B, 1st bullet "Should standards, such as those traceable to NIST, be used in the testing, and if so, what level of standard is appropriate"
What exactly does that mean? Can traceable standards be used instead of production parts for the test samples?

Click to expand...

To calibrate your equipment you shall use primary standard with ad hoc released certificate that are referred to NIST.
Then you can also characterized internal standards , using this standards that are called primary.
The standards that you have internally characterized are working standards.
You shall also have documented procedures to do this activities and assure that working standards as well as primary standards be preserved and stored in appropriate way. Usually the standards have a due date, after this the primary standards shall be sent to calibrate to be renewed again.

Re: Using Traceable Standards for MSA

Qual Latte said:

I have very little MSA knowledge, but I am reviewing the 4th Edition MSA manual and have a question. In Chapter II, Section B, 1st bullet "Should standards, such as those traceable to NIST, be used in the testing, and if so, what level of standard is appropriate"
What exactly does that mean? Can traceable standards be used instead of production parts for the test samples?

Click to expand...

Welcome to the Cove.

I don't have my MSA manual handy, so I can't directly address what you've quoted. In general, however, the purpose of MSA is to verify that a given measurement system is appropriate for a particular measurement task. Performing (for example) GR&R on gage blocks would help you to confirm that the device in question is appropriate for measuring gage blocks, but not much else.

As you're new to both the Cove and MSA, I highly recommend Cover Miner's extensive blog entries on the subject.

Re: Using Traceable Standards for MSA

Qual Latte said:

I have very little MSA knowledge, but I am reviewing the 4th Edition MSA manual and have a question. In Chapter II, Section B, 1st bullet "Should standards, such as those traceable to NIST, be used in the testing, and if so, what level of standard is appropriate"
What exactly does that mean? Can traceable standards be used instead of production parts for the test samples?

Click to expand...

For starters, here is some information that explains NIST's policy for traceability.

Stijloor.

Re: Using Traceable Standards for MSA

A lot of people use the term - incorrectly - "MSA" for Gage R&R. It is recommended to use actual product for Gage R&R. Calibration - which as also a subset of MSA (Measurement System Analysis) uses traceable standards - to determine gage bias from a known standard. I find by using "Calibration" and "Gage R&R" as terms to describe those particular activities and "MSA" for all activities relating to measurement systems, it keep that confusion to a minimum.