Lund International Cuts Product Development Time by 40 Percent Using Z Corporation 3D Scanner and Geomagic Studio Software

Portable ZScanner 700 captures complex auto surfaces – including interiors – for easy reverse-engineering.

BURLINGTON , Mass., USA – A leading maker of aftermarket auto accessories is using Z Corporation portable 3D laser scanning technology and Geomagic Studio® software to save time, money and labor in developing new products and entering new markets.

Lund International of Lawrenceville, Ga., USA, uses the ZScanner® 700 handheld laser 3D scanner in the design of products for cars, pickups, SUVs and heavy trucks, including Nifty™ floor mats, Belmor hood shields and Deflecta-Shield® cargo liners. Lund designers scan vehicles, including interiors, to precisely capture contours. Using Geomagic Studio software, they prepare the resulting scanning data for use in CATIA®, Lund’s preferred computer-aided design software. The company can then reverse-engineer a perfectly fitted aftermarket part.

ZScanner makes engineers fast and agile.

“The ZScanner 700 is far and away our most cost-effective data capture alternative,” said Brent Rose, mechanical engineer of Lund International. “Nothing else has the mobility to get into interiors and other tight places. ZScanning has opened up some exciting possibilities for new product lines in the near and long term.”

Lund previously used fixed-position scanner but found it cumbersome, time-consuming and unable to operate in tight spaces. The ZScanner was the only 3D laser scanner to solve these problems, enabling Lund to:

* Scan auto interiors that are impossible for expensive fixed-position scanners to reach. Capturing surface data now takes one-tenth of the time it used to take when designers were forced to take castings of interiors to capture contours.

* Dramatically reduce time on exterior scanning. Because of the dramatically reduced setup and data integration steps, the Lund team has observed a 300-percent improvement in data acquisition throughput.

* Save money and time by reducing the average number of manufactured prototypes the company needs for each product by two-thirds. Because ZScanning produces precise data, the first prototype typically fits perfectly.

* Shorten the typical product development cycle by 40 percent.

* Eliminate rescanning if someone inadvertently bumps a vehicle. Since ZScanners are self-referencing, both the scanner and target can be moved mid-scan. Data is still captured with precision.

Making scanned data ‘CAD ready’.

Geomagic Studio software is an intuitive and reliable complement to ZScanning, according to Rose. Its powerful polygon editing tools and full automation easily create high quality CAD-ready data from a scanned polygon mesh. It smoothes surfaces, eliminates irregularities, and produces a standard IGES file that CATIA incorporates with a click.

“With the ZScanner and Geomagic and CATIA software, we can quickly create a true-to-life data model that is far more precise than a manufacturer’s CAD model,” said Rose. “As a result, we’re working faster, more cost-effectively and with greater flexibility. This is making us much more competitive in our industry.”