No Stone Unturned in Pursuit of Excellence: HandySCAN 3D scanner increases measurement efficiency

CMS Cepcor® Ltd. based in Coalville, UK, is Europe’s largest aftermarket manufacturer and supplier of premium quality crusher, screen, and asphalt plant spare parts. The company provides products and services to the mining, quarrying, demolition, and recycling industries, to over 100 countries.

To maintain their actual status, Chris Sydenham, the Operations Director, is always looking at new technologies and possibilities to improve efficiency, customer satisfaction, and product diversification.

Decision: HandySCAN 3D scanner

The key to having success in the aftermarket industry is response time and product accessibility, two significant factors for the clients’ decision process. As a pioneer of new technology and research and development, CMS Cepcor® had made, in the last decade, significant investments in portable measuring and scanning arms. However, due to lack of portability and scanning capabilities, they soon discovered they needed to assess new complementary technologies to increase measurement efficiency and ease of use.

As they thrive on continued growth, excellence, and product diversification, CMS Cepcor® recently invested in the HandySCAN 3D™ scanner suggested by Measurement Solutions (MSL), Creaform’s official UK distributor.

CMS Cepcor’s Operations Director commented: “The Measurement Solutions team was able to visit our facility and demonstrate a truly portable device. Although we design and manufacture in the UK, having the ability to take our 3D scanner abroad is a major advantage, as the whole system can be transported as a carry-on bag. This gives us a whole new capability of on-site scanning, with the ability to send back the data to the UK to begin the reverse engineering or inspection processes even before our engineer has boarded his plane home.”

During the device selection reviews a designated team consisting of Design Engineers, CAD CAM programmers and Quality Assurance leaders evaluated various handheld and next generation portable measurement arms systems. “The handheld market offers low-cost white light solutions which have their appeal,” commented Tom Quinzi, Design Engineer. “However, during the evaluation, we quickly realized that such devices are not expensive for a reason, as we  discovered the lack of capability on accuracy and the scanning of complex surfaces such as shiny or black components.”

“In comparison, whilst the latest generation of portable measurement arms have indeed improved on accuracy, there are some important limitations in terms of portability, especially with heavy tripod stands or magnetic mounting required, and slow device procedures for moving larger objects. Compared to a truly handheld device, it was clear that a portable arm didn’t give us any additional gains and therefore no increased performances. In addition, due to the large-scale components CMS Cepcor manufacture, the large field of view and scanning speeds generated by the HandySCAN 3D scanner 14 laser lines far surpassed any other system we considered.”

Optimum Software Workflow Through VXelements

As Quinzi is an experienced user of portable scan arms, he was able to assess further software workflows offered with Measurement Solutions. “The VXelements platform and suite recommended by Measurement Solutions and supplied with the HandySCAN 3D have immediately removed all our previous pains. The alignment process using multiple point cloud meshes completely disappeared since we started utilizing the HandySCAN 3D scanner. We are now able to physically move the component midway through a scan and continue without having to perform any alignment. This has originated massive time savings over measurement arm methods, whilst the simple workflow in VXelements allows multiple scans to align within seconds when dealing with scan assemblies.”