Inertial tolerancing

Abstract

Traditionally, tolerances are defined by an interval [LSL; USL] which can lead to several ambiguous interpretations of conformity. This paper examines an alternative method for setting specifications: “inertial tolerancing”. Inertial tolerancing consists of tolerancing the mean square deviation from the target rather than the distance. This alternative has numerous advantages over the traditional approach, particularly in the case of product assembly, mixed batches and conformity analysis. Coupled with a capability index Cpi, this alternative method leads to minimizing production costs for a specified level of quality. We propose to compare both approaches: traditional and inertial tolerancing.

Citation

Pillet, M. (2004), "Inertial tolerancing", The TQM Magazine, Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 202-209. https://doi.org/10.1108/09544780410532918