THIS PAPER DESCRIBES HOW MANUFACTURERS CAN COMBINE OFF-THE-SHELF TECHNOLOGY WITH CUSTOM SOFTWARE TO SOLVE UNIQUE GAGING PROBLEMS. BY INTEGRATING THE EFFORTS OF THE GAGE MANUFACTURER, A TECHNICAL PROGRAMMING CONSULTANT, AND THE END USER'S UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROBLEM, CUSTOM SOLUTIONS CAN BE FOUND FOR GAGING PROBLEMS THAT HAVE NO SIMPLE SINGLE-SOURCE SOLUTION. THE PROCESS IS ILLUSTRATED BY A CASE STUDY IN ON-LINE GAGING OF MINIATURE SQUARE WIRE. THE SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM REQUIRED BRINGING TOGETHER A GAGE MANUFACTURER WILLING TO DEVELOP A CUSTOM MEASURING ALGORITHM, A PROGRAMMING CONSULTANT TO DEVELOP CUSTOM SOFTWARE FOR INTEGRATION AND CONTROL OF THE GAGING SYSTEM AND REAL-TIME ANALYSIS AND DISPLAY OF THE DATA, AND THE END USER'S STAFF TO DESIGN AND INSTALL THE SYSTEM. THE RESULT WAS A STATE-OF-THE-ART CUSTOM ON-LINE GAGING SYSTEM AT A REASONABLE BUDGET.