The APDSP webinar on Tuesday about 3D scanning was loaded with great information provided by the four expert panelists. Below are five key take-aways. If you want much more detail, log into the APDSP Member Center and watch the recording of the webinar (the link is under the “Member Tools” tab on the left side; it’s the top link).
1. Eighty percent of existing buildings were not designed in CAD, and the drawings used for their construction are no longer accurate. Even buildings designed in CAD probably do not have accurate as-builts. This speaks to the market for 3D scanning – anyone working with those buildings needs accurate as-builts. “3D scanning is used a lot in renovation,” noted panelist Keith Cox, national account manager for SYNNEX. “Measuring as-built conditions and getting accurate dimensions is really important.”
2. Another key market for 3D scanning is making sure buildings are being constructed per the plan. 3D scans are essentially super accurate measurements, so every aspect of a job can be checked on the fly, as it’s being built. For example, as floors are being poured, 3D scanning can ensure flatness. “From Philadelphia all the way to LA, I've run across areas where companies did not pay attention to their concrete pours, built the structure, and then found out later on that their floors are not level, and they'd been forced to spend literally hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix or repair that,” Cox said. “3D scanning on the front end can help reduce or mitigate those costs, and the reason for that is some of the scanners today are so fast that you can do a scan during a concrete pour and have a floor flat and this floor leveling report out within five minutes of the scan while the pour is taking place so that the pour can be fixed before it ever sets up.”
3. 3D scanning can be done in occupied spaces – no need to stop a project or tell people to leave. The light emitted by the scanner is not dangerous, and the job is done so quickly that there is virtually no disruption. “We don't shut down sites when we're doing something,” explained Joe Nicoli, heritage scanning specialist for Direct Dimensions, a 3D scanning service firm. “We [say] ‘Hey, we're going to be in your office for a minute to take some measurements. You can step out of your office or you can sit at your desk. We're just going to be here for a minute and then we're going to be on our way.’ This is how it's done now. You don't need to clear the site for it. We just finished scanning all of the natural history museum down in DC. We were on site for six weeks. We took 8,000 to 10,000 scans and we didn't shut down for anything.”
4. Offering 3D scanning is a natural extension for a reprographics firm. You already have customers in the AEC space, and they can benefit from the scans. “We are working with a lot of architects, which we were before as a repro house,” explained Lukas Duruttya, lead coordinator/trainer at DiCarlo Precision Instrument, an APDSP member that sells 3D scanning equipment and is also a reprographics service bureau. “We're delivering a different product to them instead of print on paper. We're working with a 3D company that can print their plans and the actual scans onto a hologram, for example. We create those deliverables for the architects, and for their clients, too.”
5. A reprographics firm doesn’t need to go it alone. You can ask an established scanning bureau to handle the work at the beginning, then get trained and acquire the necessary equipment as your market grows. All three companies that participated webinar can help with the work, equipment, training and connections. “We would be more than happy to do business with you and help you grow your business,” noted Nina DiCarlo, sales manager at DiCarlo Precision Instrument. “You already have that AEC customer base in your system. That could make this a very easy transition to the next step…and we do provide training.”
Editor’s Note: Speaking of training, Nina DiCarlo and Keith Cox both mentioned upcoming training opportunities. DiCarlo Precision Instruments is holding a 2-day class in their office in Salisbury, Maryland next week (they hold these classes about once every two months). Email Nina at nina@dicarlo1.com for more info. And Keith is teaching a half-day seminar on the topic in Dallas on October 23 in conjunction with the reprographics conventions going on there. Email him keithc@synnex.com to register.