Episode 83: Customer Won't Follow Their Own Tolerance

You got the customer’s purchase order, made the parts, and sent them out for inspection. Now, the customer is rejecting them for being out of tolerance – but according to the drawing, everything looks just fine.

This is a difficult situation that no machinist ever wants to find themselves in, and on this episode of Practical Machinist’s Machine Shop Talk, Ian Sandusky from Lakewood Machine is back to answer a forum poster who came on with this exact predicament on their hands.

When it comes to tolerances, on paper – everything should be simple. Make the part to the specifications listed. But, what if the customer wants to go based off of ‘feel,’ or changes tolerances after the parts have already been produced? Typically, good communication can help tackle these issues – but if the customer refuses to budge – it can be a difficult situation to rectify. On this episode, we’ll be discussing strategies to work through these problems, and hopefully prevent them on future jobs.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation like this? How did you handle it? Let us know in the comments below!