The biggest pressure point is having to manually receive in every gauge that is returned to the lab for calibration. Gagetrak needs to have a way to change the status of a gauge by an employee scanning it when turning it “in for calibration”. We deal with hundreds of gauges a month and have to go and manually change their status before we can run the next recall. If the scanning technology exists there is no reason it can’t be used to change the status of a gauge.
One of the biggest challenges for us is the lack of an Issue and Return process that works like the Tool Crib Quick Transfer module.
The Tool Crib Quick Transfer module is simple, efficient, and user-friendly for employees who only perform basic transactions. I would like to see CyberMetrics create an Issue and Return module with a similar workflow.
In our organization, some inspectors are authorized to issue or return gages but are not qualified to perform calibrations. When a gage is returned and calibration is due, the system should simply prompt the user with a message such as:
“Calibration required. Please send this gage to a qualified Gage Technician.”
This would allow employees to complete a simple return transaction without needing calibration privileges while ensuring the gage is routed to the appropriate person. It would reduce training requirements, improve usability for occasional users, and better support organizations where issuing, returning, and calibrating gages are performed by different employees.
Overall, I would like to see an Issue and Return module that functions similarly to the Tool Crib Quick Transfer module, with the flexibility to route calibration activities separately from basic gage transactions.
Getting departments to get their gages to me in a timely manner for calibration. Some gages I can collect myself. But we have 4 buildings on our campus and the buildings are huge. Some areas are harder to access. Coordinating getting gages always is more time consuming than actually calibrating them. I start 6 weeks before the due date on requests and reminders to collect gages I cannot pick up myself.
The other bottleneck is scheduling getting the outside calibrated gages collected shipped and received back before their due date. Again, the amount of time I spend in getting everything scheduled and out- 60 percent of my job is tracking and coordinating rather than doing actual calibrations. I start notifying gage owners and checking vendors schedules weeks in advance to ensure they get done.
Our biggest challenge in managing our calibration program is a manual process that should be electronic. GAGEtrak is blocked from sending internal emails of tools due for calibration. Our cyber security and GAGEtrak have a communication issue. Our IT department is aware, but it hasn’t been resolved. So, cal due lists have to be manually sent via email that I create. And the other big challenge is coordinating with production on when we can have certain tools to be calibrated as well as having to search the shop floor ourselves. The software communication is out of my control and the manual search for tools could be handled differently, like a procedure that every department should have to follow to ensure their tools are calibrated on time. Does anyone else have specific written procedures in place that are followed in this manner? I appreciate any feedback.
We have the same issue with the GageTrak and cybersecurity miscommunication. It is frustrating to have to create those lists and email reminders ourselves. I believe that there may be a fix to this coming in an update soon? Lets hope.
We have a written procedure for collecting gages- but it isn’t strictly enforced. The problem is that everyone is responsible for so much that things get lost in the to do pile. If I don’t continually contact or remind people, I don’t get what I need. That is why collect as much as I can myself and rely on key people for assistance. It just may take a while to get it when I can’t collect it.
Per our procedure, each area has a department manager or designee that is responsible for the gages staying in their area. When gages are due and they receive my email requesting the gages, that person is supposed to collect them and drop them off for calibration and I return it to that person. If a gage cannot be found, both I and that designee have to search for the gage. There is a form to fill out for missing gages that requires both parties signature and that has to be signed by the Quality manager.
I do communicate with the designees but often I pull the gages myself, if possible, for the sake of time. With the number of things due, I wouldn’t get them done in time If I wait to have them dropped off. So that procedure only works if it is enforced well.
100% accurate in my case as well. Much time is saved to go collect myself rather wait on the gages to be delivered. It would grand if that procedure was enforced like the calibration itself. Thank you for your feedback.
I was told by IT that our security will not allow what you suggest because of the following.
Please consider all of the applications for which you are responsible as an Application Manager or Business Owner, and whether they send mail notifications today. If so, they are likely using this mail server exsmtp.ad.glpoly.net, with port 25, and will need to move to using the 587 port.
A process we use that is effective when actually executed for gage returns is that every area as a designated calibration person. They are responsible for collecting and returning the tools to and from the calibration lab. Every Monday they spend about 10 min gathering that weeks tools up and bring them to the lab. They grab what has been completed and return it to the work area. Area that implement this process don’t have big problems with out of calibration tools.
For us, it’s the labels. Employees using the gages as well as those of us in calibration miss the bold print of the gage ID and due date as well as the gage description. They were much easier to identify and verify for all involved.
We run into the same problem, that or the labels get chewed up and illegible. We were trying to etch the gage ID onto the gages when possible, but even that isn’t always easy. Been looking into a 3d printer for the shop, some have the ability to laser etch. Might go that route and then etch the ID and some other info on the gages.