Technical Support Document

Rationale and Methodology for the Type 1 Gage Study

Minitab's tools for Measurement Systems Analysis can quantify many components of a gage's measurement variation, including the effects of many operators measuring a variety of parts. It is important to consider these factors and assess the full, real-world deployment of the measurement system. However, before encompassing all sources of variation in your analysis, it can be useful to consider only the inherent variation of the gage itself with a Type 1 Gage Study. This tool assesses the variability of measurements from a single operator on a single reference part. In fact, many companies require a Type 1 Gage Study as the first step in a complete MSA. A Type 1 Gage Study isolates the effects of bias and repeatability, and evaluates the capability of the gage to make accurate measurements with acceptable variability. After you certify the gage itself with a Type 1 Gage Study, use Minitab's other Gage Study tools to broaden your MSA and consider other sources of measurement variation. By analyzing measurements of a single representative part from a process and measured by a single representative operator, a Type 1 Gage Study evaluates the gage bias and repeatability only, focusing the analysis solely on the gage itself, instead of the entire measurement system of which it's a part. Repeatability is the gage's ability to make consistent measurements of the same part. Some measurement variation will be present even in a capable gage, but if the variation is too large in relation to the part's tolerance, the gage will be too variable for its purpose. For example, if the tolerance for a cylinder's diameter is 5mm, but repeated measurements of a reference cylinder also span 5mm, you cannot trust the gage to determine whether a cylinder falls within the tolerance range. The variation of a gage's measurements should be small compared to the tolerance. To assess a gage's repeatability, Minitab calculates the Cg metric to compare the Study Variation (the spread of the gage's measurements) with a percentage of the tolerance. Values of Cg greater than 1.33 indicate the spread of the gage's measurements is sufficiently narrow in relation to your tolerance range. Here is the formula for Cg:
K/100 * Tolerance L*s where K is a percentage of the tolerance (20 is the default), s is the standard deviation of the measuremen ts, L is the number of standard deviations you want to represent the entire process spread (6 is the default) Cg

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Technical Support Document

Rationale and Methodology for the Type 1 Gage Study

For example, with the default values of K and L, a Cg metric of 2 indicates that 20% of your tolerance range will cover the entire spread of measurements twice over. This Cg value ensures the gage's effectiveness within this tolerance range. In addition to repeatability, Minitab also assesses the gage's bias, which is the difference between the gage's average measurement and the official reference value the "true" value that your gage targets. Minitab analyzes bias with a t-test of the null hypothesis that no bias exists. Essentially, this test is a one-sample t-test to determine if the mean measurement differs significantly from the reference value. If a statistically significant bias exists, you conclude your gage is consistently measuring over or under the correct value. Minitab also calculates the capability metric Cgk to consider repeatability and bias together. Cgk compares the Study Variation to the tolerance, but it also considers whether the measurements are "on target". Cgk decreases as the difference between the gage's mean measurement and the reference value increases. A Cgk value of 1.33 is a common benchmark value to denote a capable gage one that is both precise (good repeatability) and accurate (low bias).
Cgk K/200 * Tolerance - | X g - X m | L*s where K is a percentage of the tolerance (20 is typical), X g is the mean of all measuremen ts, X m is the reference value, s is the standard deviation of the measuremen ts, L is the number of standard deviations you want to represent half the process spread (3 is typical)

To complement these statistics, Minitab also creates a run chart that displays all measurements, the reference value, and the range into which the study variation should fall. This range varies according to your specifications. When you provide a lower specification only, the measurements should be greater than LSL + (1.33*L/2)*(standard deviation of all measurements). When you provide an upper specification only, the measurements should be less than USL (1.33*L/2)*(standard deviation of all measurements). When you provide both specification limits, study variation should fall within a range that equals 20% of the tolerance, centered at the reference value. You have the option to change this percentage (K in the equations above; 20 is the default value), which will affect the calculations of Cg and Cgk.

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