GEOMETRIC DIMENSIONING AND TOLERANCING (GD&T) CONTROLS THE EFFECTS OF VARIATION DURING THE DESIGN, FABRICATION, AND INSPECTION PROCESSES BY PROVIDING A STANDARD SYNTAX FOR DESCRIBING THE ALLOWABLE VARIATION AND THE PROPER MANNER FOR INSPECTING THE COMPONENT. USED PROPERLY, GD&T EFFECTIVELY COORDINATES THE FABRICATION, INSPECTION AND ASSEMBLY OF COMPONENTS REDUCING THE IMPACT OF VARIATION ON THE FINAL ASSEMBLY. IGNORING THE GD&T SPECIFICATIONS CREATES INACCURACIES IN THE INSPECTION PROCESS WHICH CAN GENERATE A MISLEADING IMPRESSION OF THE PROCESS CAPABILITY OF A SPECIFIC FABRICATION ACTIVITY. UTILIZING VARIATION SIMULATION ANALYSIS (VSA), A COMPUTER SIMULATION OF THE FABRICATION AND INSPECTION OF A SIMPLE COMPONENT IS USED TO ILLUSTRATE THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF IGNORING GD&T SPECIFICATIONS.