Machining Allowance Inspection with FreeScan UE Pro Metrology 3D Scanner

Discover how PT Meiwa Mold Indonesia improved the efficiency of their machining allowance inspection for die casting molds with the FreeScan UE Pro 3D scanner.

Client Background

PT. Meiwa Mold Indonesia (hereby referred to as Meiwa Mold) is a company engaged in die casting mold manufacturing. Its customer base is diverse, including prominent names like American Toyota, Astra Daihatsu (ADM), HPPM (Honda Precision Parts Manufacturing), and Yamaha.

Meiwa Mold recognizes the importance of delivering high-quality molds to meet their customers’ strict requirements. To ensure accurate machining of castings, machining allowances must be tightly controlled. An excessive allowance will raise the machine’s weight and the use of materials, equipment, and energy. That’s why they invested in SHINING 3D’s FreeScan UE Pro metrology 3D scanner for machining allowance inspection, sourced through PT EVOLUSI KREASI INDONESIA, a trusted partner.

Meiwa Mold building.

What Challenges Did Meiwa Mold Face?

Before integrating FreeScan UE Pro into their machining margin inspection and analysis process, Meiwa Mold faced a major challenge: scanning medium to large objects. They already had a CMM for small and precision mold inspection and a structured light scanner, but neither was portable enough. With limited space, it was inconvenient to move large and heavy objects.

How Does the FreeScan UE Pro Help Meiwa Mold Enhance its Machining Allowance Inspection?

To address the challenges, Meiwa Mold implemented the FreeScan UE Pro metrology 3D scanner from SHINING 3D. This industrial 3D scanner improved their mold quality control efficiency in the following ways:

Easy Operation

The FreeScan UE Pro handheld 3D scanner is portable, lightweight, and ergonomic. Users can carry it around large objects for handheld scanning at any time. Moreover, its user-friendly 3D scanning software is easy to operate and offers a short learning curve.

The FreeScan UE Pro 3D scanner.

Suitable Scanning Modes

The FreeScan UE Pro is equipped with three scanning modes: multiple lines scan, single line scan and fine scan. Among them, the 13 cross-laser lines in the multiple line scan mode are ideal for fast 3D scanning of large objects. This is key for plum moulds where large moulds must be captured.

An example mold subject to machining allowance inspection

One of the company’s mold quality control subjects

Meiwa Molds’ CMM system.

The FreeScan UE Pro also offers a photogrammetry function. All you need to do is place the scale bar on the surface of the object and move the FreeScan UE Pro around it. This feature increases volumetric accuracy.

SHINING 3D’s photogrammetry scale bars.

Metrology-Grade Accuracy & Fine Details

With an accuracy of 0.02mm, the FreeScan UE Pro supports Meiwa Mold with consistent, highly precise mold scanning results. Its high-resolution camera and 5 parallel laser line mode enabled Meiwa Mold to obtain accurate dimensional data, including complex geometries and fine details that were previously challenging to measure.

The FreeScan UE Pro can capture extremely fine details.

Seamless Exports to Inspection Software

The scan data is compatible with all mainstream 3D inspection software, such as Geomagic Control X, and can be imported with one click. Through this software, Meiwa Mold can compare the scanned mold with the CAD model, identify deviations, and conduct thorough analyses.

Workflow for Machining Allowance Inspection with Geomagic Control X

Inspection Workflow

Conclusion

In short, Meiwa Mold’s machining allowance process used to be tedious and time-consuming. Now that the company is equipped with the FreeScan UE Pro, the team can quickly and easily 3D scan all around large molds. Plus, this industrial and metrology-grade SHINING 3D solution offers higher precision and accuracy than before.

Do you feel that your current 3D inspection system is becoming inefficient or outdated? Contact our application engineers to see if a SHINING 3D solution could be the right fit for your business.