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MSA study workbook
A measurement system analysis (MSA) checks that a gauge and the way it is used give readings you can trust. A gage R&R study measures the scatter between repeated readings and between people, but it does not tell you whether the average reading is right, whether it stays right across the gauge's range, or whether it drifts over time. Those are three separate studies: bias, linearity and stability. This workbook has a sheet for each. The bias sheet compares the average of repeat readings with a reference value and tests whether the gap is real. The linearity sheet measures five reference parts across the range and fits how the bias changes. The stability sheet puts repeat readings of a master part on an X-bar and range chart and flags points outside the limits. The PDF has the same three forms to print, a one-page guide to which study to use and a worked example. The acceptable limits are your own rule or your customer's; none is built in.
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A table of five questions about a gauge, each with the study that answers it, what it tells you, when to do it and what you need, above a list of terms and a checklist before any study.Which study whenBias studyLinearity studyStability study with X-bar chartt tests and intervalsLimits as % of toleranceWorked example
When to use it
When to use the MSA study workbook
- When a gage R&R looks fine but you still doubt the readings, for example a gauge that always reads a little high.
- When a new gauge arrives, comes back from repair or is moved to a different job, and you want to know if it is accurate.
- When a gauge is used over a wide range of sizes and you need to know whether the bias is the same at both ends.
- When readings of a master part seem to move with the season, the shift or the temperature.
- Not for judging how much of the variation is the people: that is a gage R&R.
How to fill it in
- 1
Choose the study from the question
Is the average right: bias. Is it as right at both ends of the range: linearity. Does it hold over time: stability. The guide sheet sets out which to use when and what each needs.
- 2
Fix the conditions and the limit
Use a gauge in calibration and a reference part whose value is known from a better source. Write the unit and the tolerance on the sheet, and decide your acceptable limit, in percent of the tolerance, before you measure.
- 3
Bias: measure one reference part 10 to 15 times
Enter the readings and the reference value. The sheet works out the average, the bias, the t test and the bias as a percent of the tolerance.
- 4
Linearity: five parts across the range, 10 readings each
Enter the reference values and the readings. The sheet takes the bias of every reading against its reference value, fits a line and reports the slope and the linearity as a percent of the tolerance.
- 5
Stability: a master part, 20 or more small groups over time
Measure the same master part in groups of 2 to 6 at regular times. The sheet draws an X-bar chart with limits worked out from your own groups and flags any group outside them.
- 6
Decide and act
A significant bias can be adjusted out or corrected for. Linearity that is too large means restricting the range, correcting or replacing the gauge. A stability flag means finding what changed at that time.
A filled-in example
Illustrative, not a benchmarkAn example (illustrative): a 0 to 25 mm digital micrometer measuring a feature with a 0.300 mm tolerance, with an acceptable limit of 5% of the tolerance. All numbers are made up.
- Bias: a 12.500 mm gauge block is measured 15 times. The average is 12.512, so the bias is 0.012 mm, which is statistically significant but 4.0% of the tolerance.
- Linearity: five gauge blocks from 5 to 25 mm are measured 10 times each. The bias grows from 0.010 mm at 5 mm to 0.015 mm at 25 mm, a linearity of 1.8% of the tolerance.
- Stability: 20 groups of 3 readings of a master part are plotted on an X-bar chart. Group 14, measured after the room warmed up, falls outside the limits; the range chart stays in control.
Bias and linearity are small next to the tolerance, so the micrometer is fit for this use under the 5% rule. The stability flag points to a temperature effect, which the other two studies could not show.
Common mistakes
Using a reference value of unknown quality
A bias study is only as good as the reference. Use a certified block or a part measured by a better method, and note where its value came from.
Confusing significant with important
A significant bias means the gap is bigger than the scatter would explain. Whether it matters depends on the tolerance, which is why the sheet also gives it as a percent of the tolerance.
Running a linearity study on parts that do not span the range
Five parts bunched in the middle of the range say nothing about the ends. Choose references spread from near the bottom to near the top of the range you actually use.
Judging stability from too few groups
A handful of groups cannot show drift. Collect at least 20, spread over the time period that matters, such as several weeks.
Setting the acceptable limit after seeing the result
Decide the limit first, from your own rule or your customer's. A limit chosen after the fact can make any gauge pass.
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FAQ
MSA study workbook: common questions
Bias is the gap between the average reading and a reference value. Linearity is how much that bias changes across the range of the gauge. Stability is how much the readings of the same master part change over time. Together with repeatability and reproducibility they describe how good a measurement system is.
A gage R&R measures the scatter in readings, between repeats and between people. A bias study measures whether the average of the readings is right. A gauge can be very repeatable and still read consistently wrong.
10 to 15 repeat readings of one reference part, by one person with the same gauge and method, is a common choice. More readings narrow the confidence interval for the bias. The sheet has room for 20.
There is no single number. It depends on the tolerance and on your customer's requirements. This workbook asks for your own limit, in percent of the tolerance, and tells you whether the result is within it.
A control chart shows whether readings of a master part stay inside the limits expected from their own scatter. A point outside, or a pattern, means something changed in the gauge, the master part or the conditions at that time.
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- Lean principles assessment templateThe five lean principles as 25 things you can see on one value stream, answered yes, partly or no on a walk, with a score per principle, the next step and a trend over walks.
- Employee engagement survey templateA short anonymous pulse survey for shop floor staff: 14 statements in six drivers, two open questions, results by driver and team, and the actions.
- Hansei reflection sheet (lessons learned)A written look back at one finished project, event or launch: goals against results in numbers, causes rather than blame, lessons to keep or change, and where else they apply.
- Safety cross calendarA month drawn as the green cross, colored each day by the most serious safety event, with totals and days since the last injury.
- Daily kaizen routine boardA team's 10 to 15 minute daily routine at the board: one problem from each person, small fixes with one owner, counted every week.
- Weekly maintenance schedule templateNext week's maintenance jobs, scheduled only when ready, loaded against each craft's hours by day, with schedule compliance and break-ins at week end.
- Operational excellence assessment templateThe ten principles of operational excellence as 30 behaviors and practices you can see, scored 1 to 5 by several people, with the spread, the three lowest principles and an action plan.
- Scrum meeting agenda templateTimed agendas for the five scrum meetings, a sprint planning sheet, a retrospective sheet, and an Excel sprint backlog with a burndown.
- Toyota Production System (TPS) house templateThe TPS house for one plant or value stream: roof, two pillars and foundation, with what you do today, the evidence, a status and the next step for each element.
- EPEI and batch size calculatorHow often each part can come round on a shared machine (EPEI) and how big each batch must be, from demand, cycle times and changeovers, now and after SMED.
- Process capacity sheet templateEach machine in a part's routing with manual, auto and tool change time, its capacity per shift, and the step that limits the cell against demand.
- Team charter templateA one-page charter for a standing team: purpose, scope, roles, the KPIs it owns, which decisions it makes itself, norms and cadence.
- Chaku-chaku line plannerPlan a load-load cell: time each machine, load and walk, check that every machine is ready when the operator comes back, compare the cell cycle with takt and size the crew.
- Standard operating procedure (SOP) templateA full SOP in the hierarchical step format, from purpose and scope to the steps, records, revision history and approvals, with review checks and an SOP register.
- Process improvement method selectorEight questions about one problem, an example rule that suggests a method and a matrix of nine methods: when each fits, the usual team and time, and the template to start with.
- Safety pillar 90-day model area planThirteen weeks from the incident pyramid to safety standards on one model area, a KPI board, the day-90 gate and expansion waves.
- Autonomous maintenance 90-day model area planAM steps 0 to 3 on one model machine in 13 weeks, a KPI board, the day-90 gate and expansion waves for months 4 to 12.
- Professional maintenance (PM) 90-day model area planThirteen weeks from breakdown analysis to a running PM calendar on one model machine, a KPI board, the day-90 gate and expansion waves.
- Environment and energy pillar 90-day model area planThirteen weeks from waste and energy maps to area standards on one model area, a KPI board, the day-90 gate and expansion waves.
- Focused improvement 90-day model area planThirteen weeks from the loss Pareto to standardized fixes on one model line, a KPI board, the day-90 gate and expansion waves.
- Logistics and customer service pillar 90-day model area planThirteen weeks from the current-state map to pull on one model value stream, a KPI board, the day-90 gate and expansion waves.
- People development pillar 90-day model area planThirteen weeks from the skills matrix to trained cover on critical tasks in one model area, a KPI board, the day-90 gate and expansion waves.
- Cost deployment pillar 90-day model area planThirteen weeks from the loss map to costed, ranked projects in one model area, a KPI board, the day-90 gate and expansion waves.
- Moving from Excel to one system checklistA 34-point checklist and a file inventory for moving trackers from spreadsheets to one system: keep, move, connect or retire, clean, pilot, run both, retire.
- Prioritization matrix templateScore up to 20 improvement ideas on weighted criteria, rank them, test the ranking with equal weights and place each one on an effort and benefit grid.
- Cost per unit worksheet (manufacturing cost per good unit)One product's cost per good unit by materials, labor, machine and overhead, the gap to target, and which cost lever is worth most a year.
- Manufacturing KPI dashboard templateWeekly plant numbers in, 14 KPIs out: OEE and its parts, first pass yield, scrap, on-time delivery, recordable rate, cost and absence, each against a target.
- Training matrix template with expiry datesPeople by required trainings with expiry dates, OK, due, expired and missing flags, compliance by person and area, cover per training and a renewal list.
- Downtime reason codes template26 starter codes mapped to the six big losses, a log with drop-downs, a Pareto by code and by loss, and a code card for the line.
- Kaizen event preparation checklistEverything that has to be ready before a kaizen event and done after it: 44 items with owners and due dates from 6 weeks before day 1 to 30 days after, five go or no-go gates and a day-by-day agenda.
- Critical spare parts list and stocking levelsAssets ranked by consequence, each part classed and given a stocking policy, and min and max worked out from usage and lead time, with the downtime each stock-out would cost.
- Tier 2 meeting agenda and escalation sheetA 15-minute tier 2 agenda in ten timed blocks, fixed roles and rules, escalation triggers with time limits, and a log that ages every escalation and sends the answer back down.
- Forklift operator training and evaluation recordPer-operator training and evaluation record, a register with three-year due dates and refresher triggers, and a weighted practical evaluation scoresheet.
- REBA worksheet (Rapid Entire Body Assessment)Score up to six postures with REBA: body-part drop-downs, Tables A, B and C as lookups, final score and action level, and a before and after comparison.
- ISO 45001 internal audit checklist44 audit questions for the plant floor in 16 safety topics, each with its ISO 45001:2018 clause, the evidence to look for and the sample to take, plus 12 worker interview prompts, a findings log and a summary by clause.
- Plan for every part (PFEP) templateOne row per part: supplier, pack, container, usage, lead time and locations, with ABC classes, market and line kanban counts and a lineside space check.
- Changeover matrix templateA from-to matrix of changeover minutes with the clean each transition needs (allergen, colour, format), and a weekly planner that totals the order and suggests a shorter one.
- Overhead crane inspection checklist: frequent and periodic34 crane checks tied to OSHA 1910.179: an operator's pre-shift card, frequent and periodic inspections with signed records, a deficiency and tag-out log, and a register of next due dates.
- Maintenance job plan templateOne job planned on one sheet: steps and craft hours, parts checked against stock, tools, lockout and permits, documents, a ready check for the schedule, and technician feedback.
- Reorder point and safety stock sheet (many parts)Safety stock, reorder point, order quantity and an order list for up to 500 parts, worked out from each part's own demand and lead time history.
- OSHA compliance calendar (general industry)37 recurring federal OSHA duties with the paragraph, interval, owner, next due date and an overdue flag, plus a 12-month view and counts by owner.
- TRIR and DART rate trackerMonthly hours, OSHA 300 case counts and near misses in; rolling 12-month TRIR and DART rate, a case budget against your target and a trend chart out.
- Energy use and EnPI trackerMonthly electricity, gas and fuel in one unit, a 12-month regression baseline, expected against actual energy for each month, an EnPI ratio, the running saving and the tests that say whether the model can be trusted.
- FIFO lane sizing sheetThe maximum for a FIFO lane from the stop it must cover, in whole containers, with length, refill and wait checks for up to eight lanes.
- Machine guarding inspection sheetA machine register with due dates and a status per machine, 21 checks tied to OSHA 1910.212, .219 and .147, a guard opening check against Table O-10, and an action log.
- Condition monitoring route sheetA route of measuring points with baselines, alert and alarm limits, a check interval from the P-F interval, readings with rising and overdue flags, and an exceptions list worst first.
- Fire extinguisher inspection logOne row for every portable extinguisher: hydro test interval from OSHA Table L-1, annual and 6-year due dates, a 12-month check grid and open issues.
- Quad chart templateA project on one page in four boxes: idea and owner, problem, approach, and cost, schedule and result.
- Toolbox talk topics (52 weekly topics)52 weekly toolbox talk topics, each with a one-line key message and a discussion question, and a tracker for the year.
- Loss tree worksheetBreak one big loss number into area, line, machine, loss type and cause, and stop at the cause a team can fix.
- Equipment register templateOne row per asset, with hierarchy, criticality, PM strategy and owner, and a check that flags what is missing.
- Machine history record templateOne record per machine: components and their life, every breakdown and repair with cost, MTBF and MTTR, and a repair-or-extend check.
- Compressed air leak survey logWalk sheet, printable leak tags and a tracker that puts an annual cost on every leak and follows it to a verified fix.
- Project savings validation checklistThe gate between a project's claim and a reported saving: 20 checks, a claims register and a six-month sustainment check.
- Emergency action plan templateA written emergency plan for a plant: site facts, roles and backups, warden coverage, scenario steps and a drill record.
- Risk register templateOne scored list of operational risks with owners, actions and dates, a heat map and a review log.
- Hot work permit templateA hot work permit with a precautions checklist, fire watch record and close-out, plus an Excel permit log.
- Confined space entry permit templateA confined space entry permit with checks, an air test log, an entry log and cancellation, plus an Excel register.
- Energy loss matrix templateSeven types of energy loss by six energy sources with a cost in each cell, an action plan and an idle-period shutdown checklist.
- Management safety tour formA leader's scheduled safety walk: observation form, operator interview, tally, actions, rota and a tour log with a dashboard.
- Hazard prediction worksheetA pre-task worksheet: score what could go wrong at each step of a job, add a countermeasure and score again.
- Chemical inventory and SDS register templateA register of every chemical on site with its hazard class, safety data sheet and label, and a check that incompatible products are kept apart.
- Safety committee meeting minutes templateMinutes for a safety committee: attendance, nine agenda items, an action log that carries open actions forward, and monthly numbers.
- Environmental compliance audit checklistAn internal environmental audit: 37 questions with what to look for, a findings log with classes and a score by section.
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A shift handover sheet, a red tag log, a changeover checklist for one machine: if your team uses it on the floor, ask.