It wasn't so long ago that metrology and inspection were reserved for the end of the manufacturing process. Metrologists were often considered to be a necessary evil, a harbinger of bad (or good) news, and in some cases, the unfortunate person who explained after a first article inspection that those super-costly parts belonged on the scrap heap. You might say those truthsayers were the Rodney Dangerfields of the manufacturing industry. But my, oh my, times have changed. Metrologists are no longer riding in the back of the bus as Smart Manufacturing is here and now, not a distant dreamscape for manufacturers.

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