As an average individual, you don’t often hear the term metrology used on a daily basis. You might have come across it if you work in an industry that relies on it. For sure, you don’t hear it used in daily conversations, and again, most people have no idea what it is all about. If you’ve been advised to hire only trusted metrology services, you have to understand what the root word means first. What follows are some basic metrology facts worth noting for those who have no idea what it is all about.
The word ‘metrology’ originates from the Greek words ‘metron’ and ‘logos.’ If you translate them, they imply the study of measurement. The history of measurement dates back to the ancient times in Egypt and Greece. During ancient times, these people built projects based on standards of measurements with equal calibrations to make sure that they cutting their stones right.
In the present, however, measurement systems that both professionals and average individuals use come from the industrial revolution. Before this period, craftsmen only created items by manually creating each of their parts. When two of these parts don’t combine well, the craftsman will make sure to change whatever is necessary to fit them. They were not so keen on using standards of measurement because every item they created is unique and handcrafted.
When the late 18th century came, though, the standards of manufacturing began changing. At this time, French musket producers started creating parts for their products that are interchangeable. For the arm to be quick in repairing broken muskets, arms manufacturers came up with parts that will simply fit any gun they used.
In the years that followed, a lot of arms producers started to copy these methods and then developed more by themselves. American gun makers then came up with production lines that involved operation in creating a product that utilized a particular machine. Different parts will then be assembled for the finished product to be created. It was not necessary anymore to utilize the skills of workers for every part to be manufactured using this technique. For this time, manufacturers relied on machines that only need operating by unskilled operator hands.
Today, the study of measurement or metrology has become an essential part of many fields like the manufacturing, science, and technology, and engineering fields. Within these fields, metrology is applied to verify and validate any predefined standards. These standards are the pillars of metrology. For this reason, certified laboratories need to be verified and test them against a recognized quality system. There are different subfields of metrology, namely legal metrology, industrial metrology, and scientific metrology. You can click the link for more info on these subfields.