We propose the definition, design, and prototype development of a software tool for use by the U.S. manufacturing community to enable the automated production of design-based measurement strategies of known reliability and high economic efficiency for coordinate measuring machines (CMMs). The measurement strategies so generated will meet the objective of reducing overall costs to near-minimal values, based on consideration of costs associated with both the direct use of the suggested measurement strategy and with its attendant risks of Type I and Type II accept/reject decision errors. The measurement programs will be created in a CMM-independent format (DMIS) to be applicable to any selected CMM software system. Design of the system will fully leverage existing, related software technologies. The resulting software, when fully developed and commercialized, will enhance the competitive position of manufactured products by reducing waste, both in manpower and raw materials, by improving the utilization of energy-intensive raw materials and will enhance the perceived quality of items so measured and certified. COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: The availability of an easily accessibly cost-of-measurement software toolset suitable for mechanical measurement and for CMM metrology in particular will constitute a valuable addition to the arsenal of tools for advancing U.S. manufacturing profitability. While the size of the customer organization may span the entire range from the one-person company to the very large multinational corporation, it is expected that the need for and value of our product will be recognized earliest among organizations at the high end of the size range, and in their first- and second-tier suppliers. It is chiefly in this arena that economies of scale and the complexity of the interaction between measurement practice and profit margin will be most evident. We anticipate three sales modes for our product: a) as a stand-alone system, primarily to end-user organizations, b) as a licensed "kernel", primarily to other software writers and system integrators and c) as a service, with web-based distribution and specialized consultation, primarily to end users who cannot justify the cost of system ownership
