German Heavy Transport Vehicle Manufacturer Scheuerle Fahrzeugfabrik Sets New Standards with 3D Laser Scanning Tech. Whether for military or civilian applications, specialised heavy lifting vehicles are the unsung heroes of industrial transport – the “last mile” transit vital to a host of industries.
For instance, while 90% of the world’s global trade is carried out on giant cargo vessels, how does a 235,000 gross tonnage modern container ship get from dry dock to launch? Or, if it’s a modular vessel under construction, how are the components within the shipyard moved into position for final assembly?
When trucks are too small and forklifts can’t do the job, companies like Germany’s Scheuerle Fahrzeugfabrik, GMBH are ready to answer the heavy lifting call of duty. As a member of the global TII Group (Transporter Industry International), Scheuerle develops and produces transporters as SPMT, (self-propelled modular trailer), modular platform trailers, semi-trailers, industrial lift and shipyard transporters as well as vehicles for special applications like moving space vehicles into launch position or transporting radio antennas in hard-to-reach locations.
Headquartered in Pfedelbach, near Stuttgart, the company has a rich history stretching back centuries. Founded in 1869 as a blacksmith workshop, the company developed into a global pioneer in heavy-load transportation. Its major innovations—like the development of hydraulic suspension and modular vehicle systems—helped shape the modern heavy transport industry.
Today the company relies on advanced precision measurement technology to ensure that the parts and subassemblies that comprise these heavy-lift vehicles fit together within established tolerances. Recently Quality Assurance Specialist Saad Almohammad spoke with FARO to discuss how they employ the FARO Focus Laser Scanner to automate scans and benefit from fast data acquisition and evaluation, as well as provide guidance for the overall measurement process – a complementary tool in addition to the FARO Vantage Laser Tracker.
While some FARO customers employ a fixed installation with several Focus solutions working in tandem, Scheuerle works with a single scanner and positions it around the object/s to be scanned. 3 This is followed by fully automated point cloud processing and analysis, including a quality report generated from FARO BuildIT Metrology Software, the industry’s leading 3D metrology software platform to automate customised alignment, build and inspection application.
This enables Scheuerle the flexibility they need to leverage the portability of the solution and go to the part for measurement, versus bringing the part to a fixed CMM, costing time, money, and introducing the risk of human error.
“We have been a FARO customer for 18 years and have historically worked with the FARO Vantage Laser Tracker to check flatness, torsion and center distances,” Almohammad explained. “Often, we found quality defects later in the process during assembly that caused costly rework and an impact on the delivery schedule. Often parts were missing or were in the wrong position or incorrectly assembled. The FARO Focus and its scan automation features were the most suitable solution for our problems – accurate with a fast data acquisition and evaluation as well as guidance for the measurement processes.”
Since introducing the FARO Focus to their workflow Almohammad estimates error rates have decreased approximately 40% with a total time savings of approximately 50%. Previously, with the FARO Vantage Laser Tracker, it took approximately 8 hours per component and completeness check was only possible by visual inspection. Given the better-than-expected accuracy of the Focus Laser Scanner, this solution allows Scheuerle to only to automate the former visual inspection of the part, but it also replaces some of the higher-accurate measurements that have previously been done with the Laser Tracker.
Mind you, this does not mean the Laser Tracker didn’t do its job. Quite the contrary. Only that it underscores that different tools are best suited for different jobs. And often, the Focus line of portable scanning solutions represents the ideal balance between speed and accuracy, because it doesn’t just measure single points at a time like the Laser Tracker but captures up to 2,000,000 points per second.
Minimising scanner positions reduces scanning time and ensures each point data is captured accurately. Remember too, that it’s important to place the scanner in positions where each scan will overlap with another scan, containing both unique natural targets and high-precision Traceable 3D targets. Most of the time, a full 360° scan is not necessary. Likewise, obstructions will require adjusting scanning positions to ensure all scan data can be captured around the object. Thus, when working with multiple scans it’s critical the scan areas overlap beyond the obstruction.
Multiple scans captured from different positions around the part provide the most complete three-dimensional image. It’s best to position the scanner at angles to the object of interest that will provide the best line of sight for capturing the necessary details and ensure that scans contain overlapping areas. It goes without saying, but scanning in a logical order makes registration much easier.
This same process also applies when using multiple scanners at the same time – a common approach many other manufacturing companies elect to adopt to realise additional time saving by scanning the part with several Focus Laser Scanners simultaneously from a fixed installation.
Often when products like the FARO Focus are so successful at addressing challenges in assembly verification there’s a positive knock-on effect. And it’s a benefit the talented men and women at Scheuerle have capitalised on.
“The data can be collected quickly and easily,” Almohammad said.
“This saves us an enormous amount of time and it helps us with an early identification of defects in the welded assembly to avoid rejects or rework in later process steps. As a result, we have also introduced the system in a subsidiary in India. With the portable scanner, we can quickly and easily go to our components to check them.” Almohammad
“Immediately, we prepared the processing of the scan data and corresponding programming from the start with FARO. Thanks to FARO’s service, we were able to use the solution right from the get-go. Programming the automated data processing and analysis was part of the solution.”
Heaving lifting vehicles might be the unsung heroes of modern industrial transportation. But with companies like Scheuerle and FARO working together, their subsector’s notoriety will only increase.
“We recommend our suppliers to use the same solution so that the assemblies are delivered to us in the required quality,” Almohammad added.