Quality Inspection at 20% Cost: Nylon GO/NO-GO Gauges Case Study Shop-floor SLS PA12 GO/NO-GO gauges: tolerance strategy, bushing inserts, calibration plan, and a cost-reduction case vs. machined aluminum gauges.
Executive Summary Problem: Machined aluminum GO/NO-GO gauges are accurate—but heavy, slow to procure, and costly to iterate. Approach: Print functional gauge bodies in SLS PA12 (nylon), add hardened wear inserts (press-fit drill bushings and threaded inserts), and validate with a guard-banded decision rule and a lightweight calibration plan. (Itech Standards, 美国机械工程师协会) Result (case study): Our nylon solution landed at ≈20% of the cost of a comparable machined aluminum gauge set, while meeting the intended functional limits and shop-floor robustness requirements. Details below (methodology, assumptions, and caveats). Who benefits: Manufacturing engineers, quality leaders, and maintenance teams who need fast, reliable, and repeatable pass/fail checks without queuing for the CMM. Why functional GO/NO-GO gauges still matter Functional gauges are the quickest way to verify if a feature meets a design’s size-related intent—especially when you need to test dozens or hundreds of parts per shift. The international GPS framework (Geometrical Product Specifications) defines plain limit gauges used to verify linear sizes (holes/shafts) and sets the metrological characteristics that matter when you design and qualify such gauges. (Itech Standards)
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