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Overview#

Estimated time to read: 2 minutes

In Critical Manufacturing MES, Instruments are Resources with the Processing Type set to Instrument. They represent physical measurement devices used to capture quantitative data during production operations, such as dimensions, weights, temperatures, or pressures.

Examples of Instruments across industries include:

  • Electronics: calipers used to measure PCB thickness or component dimensions.
  • Pharmaceutical: precision scales used to weigh active ingredients or finished products.
  • Semiconductor: wafer thickness gauges or film thickness measurement tools.
  • Industrial equipment: torque meters used to verify assembly operations.

Instruments are associated with a process Resource so the system can validate that each measurement in Data Collection is performed with a specific, known, and calibrated device. This setup creates traceability between what was measured, which Instrument was used, and when it was last calibrated.

Screenshot showing a caliper instrument example used for dimensional measurements.

Screenshot showing a scale instrument example used for weight measurements.

Why Instruments Matter#

Benefit Impact
Measurement traceability Links each measurement to the device used for audits and compliance.
Calibration integrity Keeps Calibration Status and Last Calibration Date on the Instrument.
Prevention of out-of-calibration use Filters out invalid Instruments at Track-In time.
Exclusive usage control Prevents high-precision Instruments from being shared across Resources simultaneously.
Measurement capability definition Defines range, resolution, precision, and accuracy for each Instrument.
Integration with data collection Stores the Instrument identity with each measurement in the Data Collection Instance.

Table: Benefits of instrument-enabled data collection

Security Features#

The permissions used to manage Instruments are listed below. You can find them under Administration > Security > Feature.

Permission Purpose
Resource.Create Creates an Instrument Resource.
Resource.Edit Manages measurement capabilities and Instrument fields.
Resource.ManageInstruments Associates Instruments with a process Resource.
Resource.SetInstrumentMode Changes the Instrument Mode of an Instrument Resource.

Table: Permissions used in the instruments workflow

Continue to Configuration.