Laser Scanner Reduces Time-to-Market by 4 Weeks for Auto Aftermarket Products

A local automotive after-parts manufacturer is now able to move products to market four weeks faster after switching from a coordinate measuring machine (CMM) to a laser scanner. When company engineers used a CMM to measure interior components, the limited number of points that they were able to acquire meant that several weeks were usually required to convert them to a surface model. They can now collect millions of points in several minutes at a higher level of accuracy, reducing the time required to produce a finished CAD surface model to less than a day. The company produces consoles for mobile video products for sport utility vehicles and minivans.

Laser scanners work by projecting laser light onto surfaces, while cameras continuously triangulate the changing distance and profile of the laser as it sweeps along, enabling the object to be accurately replicated. As the portable scanner sweeps the laser line automatically over the surface of the part, a dedicated interface card translates the video image of the line into 3D coordinates. Laser scanners collect thousands of points every second at a higher level of accuracy that is impossible with contact - touch probe methods so they are able to accurately digitize much more complicated parts.

Shortly before a vehicle launch date, automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) typically give aftermarket producers a short period of time to measure components of new models and whoever first brings products to market often wins the highest market share. “In this business, the first company to market always picks up some extra sales,” said the aftermarket manufacturer’s engineering manager. “Our portable laser scanner helps us generate additional sales by beating our competition to market.” In the past, when the OEM notified aftermarket suppliers that a prototype vehicle would be available in their facility for measurements, an engineer with hand gauges would measure critical areas of the vehicle. The measurements would then be turned over to a designer who would develop the geometry of the part from the limited number of measurements that could be collected with manual gauging. Now engineers can easily carry the laser scanner to the OEM’s facility and quickly collect data from any component of the vehicle.

“I looked at a few different systems and discovered that there was no question that laser scanning could collect a lot more points than a CMM in a lot less time,” said the local engineering manager. “When we travel to the OEM’s site, we just have one chance to get it right. The SURVEYOR PS-1100 from Laser Design, Inc., (Minneapolis, Minnesota) proved to be the ideal choice for us. We have also almost always gotten the first prototype right, eliminating the need to do a second design iteration, which was common in the past. The bottom line is that we have cut the average time required to go from measurement to production from 14 weeks to 10 weeks. This means that we can start generating additional sales and establishing ourselves in the new market while our competitors are still working on their design.”