Gears are among the most critical and geometrically complex components in modern mechanical systems. Their performance depends not only on precise geometry but also on the precise machining of distortions caused by microstructural transformations and thermal strain that occurs during heat treatment. For decades, manufacturers have relied on physical inspection after hardening to assess how heat treatment altered the gear. However, such measurements are often costly, time-consuming, and difficult to relate to predictive simulations. A new integrated approach developed by DANTE Solutions, Inc. and Rochester Institute of Technology demonstrates how digital tools can simulate, measure, and even “virtually inspect” a heat-treated gear before it ever enters a furnace. Presented in “Integrated Heat-Treatment Simulation with Virtual Inspection of Distorted Gears” [1] at the 2023 ASM Heat Treating Society Conference, the study outlines how combining the DANTE heat-treatment simulation software with Integrated Gear Design (IGD) allows engineers to bridge the divide between thermal–mechanical modeling and shop-floor inspection. By merging simulation results with virtual metrology tools, engineers can predict distortion and evaluate common inspection metrics such as slope profile deviation, distance over balls, and base tangent length directly within the digital model. This integrated workflow effectively turns the heat-treatment simulation into a full virtual inspection process.