# Tolerance A tolerance is the permissible deviation from a nominal dimension, stated as a range a part must fall within to be accepted. It is the first specification a buyer filters suppliers on. # Tolerance
A tolerance is the permissible deviation from a nominal dimension, stated as a range a part must fall within to be accepted. It is the first specification a buyer filters suppliers on.
A drawing calls a dimension of 1.000 inch with a tolerance of plus or minus 0.005 inch. Any part measuring between 0.995 and 1.005 inch is accepted, and anything outside is rejected. The nominal dimension states the intent and the tolerance states what the process is allowed to do to it. Tighter tolerances cost more. They require more capable equipment, slower cycles, more inspection, and higher scrap, so a specification tighter than the function requires is a cost the buyer pays without benefit. **Geometric dimensioning and tolerancing** extends this beyond size to form, orientation, and position: flatness, concentricity, true position, and profile. A part can hold every dimension and still fail a GD&T callout, which is why a capability statement covering only linear tolerance is incomplete. **Tolerance stack-up** is the accumulated effect across an assembly. Each part within its individual tolerance can still combine into an assembly that does not fit, which is the reason a buyer cares about a supplier's process capability rather than only its stated limits. A capability page must state process, materials, tolerances, capacity, certifications, and industries served, and the tolerance line is the one that most often decides whether a supplier is considered at all. **A page saying "tight tolerances" satisfies no filter. A page saying "plus or minus 0.0005 inch in Inconel 718" satisfies a specific one.** That difference matters more in supplier-discovery prompts than in classic search. A buyer asking an assistant for a shop that holds a stated tolerance in a named alloy is issuing a filter with two terms, and most supplier pages state neither in matchable form. See [capability page structure](/content/capability-page-structure) for where the tolerance statement belongs, and [how industrial buyers search and decide](/buyers) for how the requirement reaches the supplier. --- Source: https://manufacturingseo.ai/glossary/tolerance/ Last reviewed: 2026-08-08 Author: ManufacturingSEO.ai