Quality Digest

Hi, I'm wondering if someone can help clarify a few things. I'm getting a ton of mixed messages from our calibration service, my boss, etc. and want to know what everyone thinks. We had a QS9000 audit yesterday (our first one). One of the things I was caught on (amongst others) was some digital bore gages (fowler) that were not calibrated. I was told that to satisfy the calibration requirement, since the gage is zeroed on a master ring before each use, all I had to do was check the master ring on our CMM, and do a Gage R+R on the gage itself. However, the auditor wasn't buying that, and said that it had to be calibrated. Now I use Gage Trak for tracking gage status, and one of their add-ons is CalPro, which gives you detailed calibration instructions for pretty much everything. Looking at their bore gage calibration procedure, aside from visual checks, they pretty much tell you to check the gage on master rings at several different points through the operating range. So I am confused about how to calibrate this device, as well as other devices like chamfer gages that are zeroed each time on a surface plate or on a master. Also, regarding indicators, I've also gotten mixed messages regarding their calibration. Some (including our vice president) have told me that a digital indicator is treated like an insert, in that its assumed to be good, and that they can be interchanged. Talking with my calibration supplier, he tells me that is wrong, and that they definetly need to be calibrated. He also tells me that checking the master rings on a CMM is not correct because the CMM cannot be that accurate. Please someone help! I already got a major non-conformance for all this.