What is the importance of MSA (Measurement Systems Analysis)?

Suppose you just took your child's temperature and you got a reading of 103 degrees F. Does your child truly have a seriously high temperature or is it a problem with the measurement device?

Your cardiologist reads you the "riot act" because when they took your blood pressure the device used reported a value of 142/90. Do you really have high blood pressure (and need to take measures to reduce it) or is it a problem with the measurement device?

You have an in process manufacturing test that indicates the characteristic of interest is 5.8 minutes and your upper specification limit for this characteristic is 5.6. Is this lot of product truly above the specification limits or is the lot truly good (and what is being witnessed is measurement variation)?

Many people who have never learned about MSA assume the measurement system is fine as long as it is in calibration. It is true that calibration is essential, but even a calibrated measurement system can provide false readings if it's measurement variation is excessive.

Using the simple but powerful principles taught in our online training course you will be able to determine measurement variation for your processes.

Course Outline

The Perfect Measurement System
Definitions
Gage
Measurement System
Measurement Process
Measurement Value
Standard
Resolution
Why Measurement Matters
Blood Pressure Example
Repeatability
Reproducibility
Stability
Linearity
How Measurement Data is Used
What is a Gage R&R Study
Bias
Precision
Importance
Simple Repeatability Study
Step1 – Calibrate the gage
Step 2 – Select parts
Step 3 – Measure parts
Step 4 – Generate an Xbar/R chart
Step 5 – Assess the results
Step 6 – Take Action
Analysis of Variance
Variable Gage Study
Example using Minitab for Analysis
Gage R & R – Destructive Testing Example
Conclusion