Gage capability case study in a Quality Control course

Gage capability studies have been widely used in industrial practices for over three decades. In that time, industry practices for studying gage capability have evolved substantially. The early practice of studying gage capability was called the Averages and Ranges Method, or Tabular Method. The later practice utilizes the Design of Experiment Method. Although the Tabular Method is becoming obsolete in industrial practices, it has an extensive history. Consequently, students in a Quality Control and Quality Improvement elective course for seniors are given an assignment to conduct a gage capability study by both the Tabular Method and the Design of Experiment Method. They use the same set of repeated measurement data for each method. The primary goals are for students to be able to conduct both methods and to compare the results for a test case. Secondary goals are to investigate the sources of variation in the measurement process and to seek improvements to the measurement process.