What is in an inspection report? The structure of a measurement report explained

What is an inspection report for?

The inspection report documents whether a part meets the requirements of the drawing. It is the basis for your decision – for example on approving an initial sample, a complaint or a series delivery. You as the customer decide on the approval; we provide the neutral measurement for it.

The components at a glance

• Cover sheet (German and English): part, measuring conditions such as workpiece temperature and humidity, reference temperature 20 °C, note on traceability and signature
• Measurement uncertainty: information on the measurement uncertainty of the measuring equipment used, according to VDI/VDE 2617-11. Measuring equipment outside the scope of accreditation is marked.
• Results per feature: reference number, nominal value, tolerance, measuring equipment used, actual value and assessment (OK / not OK)
• Field for your decision: approved, approved with conditions or rejected
• Measuring equipment legend and information sheet with explanations of the report
• Marked customer drawing: each feature bears its reference number so that report and drawing can be matched unambiguously.
• Color-coded nominal/actual comparisons for CT measurement or 3D digitization: deviations from the CAD model are shown in color across the entire surface.

Transparent: including what cannot be measured

If a feature cannot be measured or can only be measured to a limited extent, for example because it is not accessible, we state this openly in the report instead of omitting it.

Why measurement uncertainty belongs in the report

Every measurement has an uncertainty. If a measured value is very close to the tolerance limit, the uncertainty helps determine whether the result is unambiguous. That is why it belongs in a reliable inspection report. More on this in our FAQ.

What is accredited?

We carry out tactile measurements on our coordinate measuring machines as a testing laboratory accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 (Swiss Accreditation Service SAS, STS 0629). The accreditation does not cover measurements with CT, optical methods or roughness measurement – this measuring equipment is marked accordingly in the report. More on the Accreditation page.

For an initial sample inspection according to VDA, we provide the measurement, see Initial Sample Inspection. How an order proceeds from enquiry to report is described in the article How a 3D measurement works.

More examples: Typical measuring tasks – 5 examples