Test Equipment Management

HYDRA Test Equipment Management

Test Equipment Management

Test equipment or gauges are significant operating resources and are as important for production as tools and machinery. Most quality inspections cannot be performed without appropriate measurement and test equipment. Modern test equipment, such as measuring microscopes, image recognition systems, measuring machines or similar devices, play a significant role in keeping the costs for quality assurance within reasonable limits due to their capability to automatically assess quality characteristics. Data interfaces directly transfer the results to HYDRA-CAQ.

Whether or not products meet the customer’s requirements depends on the proper usage of test equipment. First, it has to be ensured that the required test or measuring equipment is available in sufficient quantities and in the required condition. In addition, it has to be ensured that the product quality can actually be monitored by the selected measuring equipment.

Inspection Planning and Calibration

Inspection planning represents the basis for monitoring and calibrating test equipment. Inspection planning may be based on the guideline “VDI 2618” or designed individually.

The objective of inspections is to confirm and maintain usability of each piece of test equipment.

Calibration history

The resource history function shows which calibrations have been performed for specific pieces of test equipment. This function documents if defined due dates

(calibration intervals) are achieved or exceeded and shows the calibrations or maintenance activities that have been performed.

Calibration calendar

HYDRA Test Equipment Management uses the functions provided by the activity calendar as a calibration calendar to plan the required calibrations along with the maintenance activities for machinery and tools. Relevant calibration intervals for test and measuring equipment are entered into this calendar. Intervals are calculated based on specific time periods. Three threshold values (blue, yellow, red) may be configured to support the planning process. This feature provides a quick overview of upcoming calibrations.

In addition, Escalation Management automatically forwards a message

(e.g. by email) if a calibration interval is exceeded.

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