our fr5 block looks square until it leaves the fixture

They've got the retained blocks and the saved pickup versions. The fixture supports both ends before lift, but the camera only shows the front finger's contact. We haven't checked behind it yet

Same block revision as the earlier reliable run?

Compare several identified blocks, not just the one that behaves best. I've been handed a lovely reference piece from someone's desk and a tote of production pieces that sat differently. The reference wasn't dishonest. It had simply stopped representing what arrived at the bench. A quick comparison of the faces the fingers actually touch can save a much larger argument about the robot.

Jack, the current batch has a new drawing revision. Noah, the old reference has a plain face where these have a shallow relief. Nobody linked that change to the gripping contacts

Put both revisions in front of the tooling designer. Don't teach around a changed contact face before somebody explains how the proposed grip is meant to hold it.

And have inspection confirm those blocks match the new drawing, because a design change and an out-of-spec part would need different answers even if the camera showed similar movement.

Clara, yes. My comparison wasn't meant to make the old block the standard forever. The current drawing gets a vote too.

Inspection confirmed the new blocks match their drawing. Tooling found that the existing finger bridges the relief and no longer contacts the face as intended. The old block sits on a full contact instead

That isn't wear, then.

It explains the changed contact, Jack. Maintenance should still finish checking the assembly before anyone decides the only work needed is new fingers.

Assembly check is complete now, with no other mismatch found against its drawing. We're holding the new-revision blocks out of this job while tooling reviews the grip. Existing pickup corrections are not being copied into a replacement tool setup

Who gets told when that block drawing changes again? I'd include tooling in that notification now, while everyone remembers why the little relief mattered.