GD&T for Leaders: A Management Overview of Geometric Dimensioning & Tolerancing

This one-day course demystifies the language of Geometric Dimensioning & Tolerancing (GD&T) for managers, answering the key question: how can my company maximize the benefits of GD&T while controlling costs and improving efficiency?

As a leader, your role is not to master GD&T, but to ask the right questions to ensure its effective use. How can you make sure newly trained engineers don’t go overboard, putting every possible control in their design, driving up costs? Should you require all design, manufacturing, and inspection personnel to be certified GDTP? What about design engineers?

This fast-paced course refreshes the core principles of GD&T while clarifying the role of GD&T in defining engineering intent, reducing manufacturing ambiguity, and supporting profitable designs.

Topics include the importance of selecting and using the appropriate GD&T standard; understanding core geometric attributes; balancing cost and functionality in tolerancing decisions. Who needs GD&T training? Who needs training in tolerance stacks? What level of detail is appropriate, and how often should refresher courses be scheduled? An important topic is incorporating and developing strategies for effective GD&T training in a manufacturing organization. How to evaluate purchased training? When does it make sense to develop training in-house? The course explores the importance of creating a company-specific application guideline with template drawings for key product lines, and the importance of company-specific “blueprint 101” training for many jobs, including purchasing.

Every functional unit within a manufacturing company—including marketing, upper management, R&D, product design, process engineering, manufacturing, procurement, inspection, sales, and distribution—depends on effective communication and seamless handoffs between teams. Many operational challenges stem not from technical errors within a single function but from misunderstandings and misalignment between units. 

The promise of GD&T is greater clarity in design intent and precision in manufacturing and inspection—but that promise is only fulfilled when the organization applies GD&T consistently and effectively. Without a shared understanding, miscommunication and inefficiencies persist. This course will show you how to lead the adoption of GD&T in your organization, ensuring it becomes a powerful tool for bridging gaps between design, manufacturing, and inspection, reducing costly errors, and streamlining collaboration across departments.

By participating in this course, you will learn how to successfully:

• Explain the purpose and benefits of GD&T to your company. 
• Distinguish between the four geometric attributes and describe how each is controlled, measured, and inspected. 
• Explain the advantages and disadvantages of common inspection methods. 
• Identify GD&T symbols, modifiers, and datums. 
• Develop a strategy for implementing and sustaining GD&T at your company.

Who should attend?

This course is designed for engineering leaders, managers, directors, vice presidents, and others who lead design responsible groups or quality and inspection departments. Manufacturers need to ensure that GD&T is improving quality and reducing costs, not becoming a bottleneck or a non-value-added exercise. In addition, training and related HR professionals looking to better understand the training needs for their company’s design and quality functions will benefit.

Course Materials (included in purchase of course)

• Digital course notes via ASME’s Learning Hub
• Three GD&T Reference handouts summarizing key GD&T ideas.
• Job aid for structuring a GD&T implementation and training plan.

A Certificate of Completion will be issued to registrants who successfully attend and complete the course.