Maintaining In-Situ Traceability on the Factory Floor with Process Metrology

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Maintaining In-Situ Traceability on the Factory Floor with Process Metrology (140.74 KB)

In the mid 1990’s, Fluke proposed a method for maintaining factory test systems without requiring the traditional periodic recall of each reference in the system [1]. This method, called Process Metrology is a means to establish traceable calibration of factory test systems on the factory floor.

Process Metrology was born out of the need to calibrate high accuracy calibrators on the factory floor without having to stop production for factory station maintenance and minimize the need for spare, high cost test equipment. At that time, it was unclear whether Process Metrology was cost effective and would meet its goals [1,3].

Process Metrology has met its goals. It has also provided benefits that were not obvious at the beginning and is standard practice on many production lines. This paper reviews and discusses the current state of Process Metrology at Fluke. Examples from a new 6.5 digit meter are used.