Become a Member
Engineering essentials

Fixture and gauge design principles

Learn the principles of fixture and functional gauge design to improve your product quality, shorten lead times and boost profitability and reputation.

1 day

Members: £550 + VAT
Non-members: £650 + VAT

Course Location & Date
Fixture and gauge design principles

N/A

Members:
£550.00 Plus vat
Non Members:
£650.00 Plus vat

Summary

Learn the principles of fixture and functional gauge design to improve your product quality, shorten lead times and boost profitability and reputation.

Many engineering companies find excess variation in their parts and that a percentage of their parts do not assemble or function, both in factory build and in the field. This is costly not only in terms of scrap, lost production, factory efficiency and profit, but also in terms of the costs of poor quality and associated loss of reputation and sales to competitors. The recent growth in global sourcing, where mating parts are often designed and manufactured not only in different plants but in different continents has amplified the opportunities for these damaging situations.

The principles of exact constraint may be used to design fixturing that substantially reduces variation in manufactured product. Functional gauges (also known as hard gauges) are then a means of checking immediately that the parts output from a manufacturing process are good for both assembly and function. This means that only good parts get passed forward through the value stream and, in the event of a problem with the manufacturing process it will be identified immediately. This effectively prevents bad parts from being produced. In addition it may be possible to eliminate or reduce non-value added measurements and inspection.

Functional gauging is worth its weight in gold; a must have quality policy for any engineering operation serious about guaranteeing quality from the point of manufacture all the way through the value stream to the customer. It is essential to any lean or quality-led operation seeking to become a market leader.

Who should attend?

Jig, fixture, gauge and tool designers; manufacturing, quality, design & development engineers; and toolmakers.

Delegates should have already completed the -3-day Geometric Dimensioning & Tolerancing course (or equivalent), and be fully conversant with, and able to calculate, MMVC boundaries.

How will I benefit?

After the course you will be able to: 

  • Design, dimension and tolerance fixtures for production and inspection processes
  • Reduce variation in manufactured parts and inspection results
  • Design, dimension and tolerance functional gauges
  • Guarantee the assemblability and function of parts at the point of manufacture
  • Help protect the value stream and quality to the customer
Contributes 7 CPD hours

Key topics

  • The principles of gauging
  • Gauging policy
  • Gauge accuracy
  • Gaugemakers' tolerances
  • Wear allowances
  • Constraint
  • Gauge and fixture design

Mapped against UK- SPEC competencies: A, B, C and E

  1. Knowledge and understanding - For Chartered Engineers: ‘Use a combination of general and specialist engineering knowledge and understanding to optimize the application of existing and emerging technology’ For Incorporated Engineers: ‘Use a combination of general and specialist mechanical engineering knowledge and understanding to apply existing and emerging technology’
  2. Design and development of processes, systems, services and products - For Chartered Engineers: ‘Apply appropriate theoretical and practical methods to the analysis and solution of mechanical engineering problems’ For Incorporated Engineers ‘Apply appropriate theoretical and practical methods to design, develop, manufacture, construct commission, operate, maintain, decommission and re-cycle mechanical engineering processes, systems, services and products’
  3. Responsibility, management or leadership - For Incorporated and Chartered Engineers: 'Provide Technical and commercial leadership’
  4. Professional commitment - For Incorporated and Chartered Engineers: ‘Demonstrate a personal commitment to professional standards, recognising obligations to society, the profession and the environment’

In-house and bespoke training

Tell us your team's CPD needs and we'll come to you with a specialised training programme, customised for your engineering sector.
Contact our advisors if you need help finding the most appropriate training for your team.

Share:

At a glance

  • Duration:
    1 day
  • CPD Hours:
    7
  • UK-Spec:
    A, B, C, E

Need some help?

Contact us if you have any questions about our training courses.

Terms & conditions of booking IMechE training

Train your team

Offers and bundles

A range of options to help you maximise your training budget.

More about offers and bundles

Related courses

Train your team

Tell us your team’s development needs and we’ll come to you with a specialised training programme, customised for your organisation.

What options are available?

  • Off the shelf – we can deliver any of our training courses at your chosen location, providing you with a cost-effective and efficient solution
  • Tailored courses– our personalised programmes can help you work through issues specific to your team or sector and equip you with the practical tools you need to move forward
  • Blended programmes – we use a range of delivery methods, development subjects and performance resources to ensure your team have the knowledge and skills they need to help your business thrive

More about in-house and tailored training.

Request a Training catalogue

Discover the most extensive series of professional development courses for engineers who are committed to shaping the future of our sector.

Some of the companies we've worked with

  • Alten
  • AMH Material Handling
  • Avara Foods
  • bmt
  • Bombardier
  • Bombardier
  • Frazer Nash
  • Gas Networks Ireland
  • International Nuclear Services
  • JCB
  • Martin Baker
  • National Composited Centre
  • Network Rail
  • Smurfit Kappa
  • sse

Our training acumen

  • Over 30 years of experience delivering training
  • More than 200 courses designed for engineers
  • Over 10,000 engineers trained each year
  • Trusted by over 800 companies
  • Business solutions delivered in 48 countries

Average customer rating: 4.75 out of 5


Get in touch

Get in touch if you need help finding the right course, or qualification, for you or your team.

Terms & conditions of booking IMechE training