positioning a calibration plate in a coordinate measuring machine;

optically or mechanically measuring a surface of the calibration plate at a plurality of measurement points while the calibration plate is in the coordinate measuring machine to generate a surface profile of the surface of the calibration plate;

generating a correction field based at least in part on a line projected through respective ones of the plurality of measurement points and determining an intersection point of the line with a reference plane corresponding to a vertical position of a powdered build material in the additive manufacturing machine, the line representing a laser beam intersecting with the powdered build material;

transferring the calibration plate from the coordinate measuring machine to the additive manufacturing machine, the additive manufacturing machine comprising a laser device;

writing at least one fiducial mark on the surface of the calibration plate using at least one laser beam generated by the laser device;

transferring the calibration plate from the additive manufacturing machine to a calibration system;

detecting a position of the at least one fiducial mark on the surface of the calibration plate while the calibration plate is in the calibration system;

generating calibration data corresponding to the surface of the calibration plate based on the position the at least one fiducial mark;

computing a corrected position for the at least one laser beam based at least in part on a comparison of the correction field to the position of the at least one fiducial mark; and

aligning the at least one laser beam based at least in part on the corrected position.