New Business Venture - Metrology Grade 3D Scanning
Discussion
Morning everybody!
I was wondering if I could tap into the collective minds of the PH business genius's to get some insights on the best way to move forward with this:
I have invested in a new handheld 3D laser scanner, this is a metrology grade unit used by F1 teams and Aerospace companies for inspection and reverse engineering of components. I only know of one other person in the UK who use this particular device offering services for reverse engineering within the automotive sector, they mostly work with individuals involved with classic cars and motorsport. This is kind of the direction I am wanting to head in.
The unit is bought and paid for outright so there is no pressure to meet monthly repayments, so far I am working on a wordpress website and have added the business onto 'google business' so that it shows up in local searches for 3D scanner, 3D printing and reverse engineering services.
What would be the next plan of attack to get traffic flowing and the business name out there?
My thoughts are the following:
1. Leaflets to go out with my orders in my other business.
2. Set up a facebook page which leads onto:
3. Join some specific FB groups to promote the services, classic car owners, people working on high end modified cars, WW1/2 vehicle interest groups etc.
4. Magazine advertising.
Any thoughts on the above would be appreciated, cheers!
I was wondering if I could tap into the collective minds of the PH business genius's to get some insights on the best way to move forward with this:
I have invested in a new handheld 3D laser scanner, this is a metrology grade unit used by F1 teams and Aerospace companies for inspection and reverse engineering of components. I only know of one other person in the UK who use this particular device offering services for reverse engineering within the automotive sector, they mostly work with individuals involved with classic cars and motorsport. This is kind of the direction I am wanting to head in.
The unit is bought and paid for outright so there is no pressure to meet monthly repayments, so far I am working on a wordpress website and have added the business onto 'google business' so that it shows up in local searches for 3D scanner, 3D printing and reverse engineering services.
What would be the next plan of attack to get traffic flowing and the business name out there?
My thoughts are the following:
1. Leaflets to go out with my orders in my other business.
2. Set up a facebook page which leads onto:
3. Join some specific FB groups to promote the services, classic car owners, people working on high end modified cars, WW1/2 vehicle interest groups etc.
4. Magazine advertising.
Any thoughts on the above would be appreciated, cheers!
What would you do with the 'data' that you collect? As you'll essentially just have a point cloud in space that means nothing to most people and not much can be done with it.
That might be your area of expertise of course - turning the data into a usable surface/shape/solid but it would be something to look into if not. Renting the machine out is one way but if you could offer the service of scanning something and converting it into usable CAD files then you could charge more.
In my experience anytime I've worked with 3D scan data has been a massive PITA so streamlining that would work wonders.
That might be your area of expertise of course - turning the data into a usable surface/shape/solid but it would be something to look into if not. Renting the machine out is one way but if you could offer the service of scanning something and converting it into usable CAD files then you could charge more.
In my experience anytime I've worked with 3D scan data has been a massive PITA so streamlining that would work wonders.
Cald0 said:
What would you do with the 'data' that you collect? As you'll essentially just have a point cloud in space that means nothing to most people and not much can be done with it.
That might be your area of expertise of course - turning the data into a usable surface/shape/solid but it would be something to look into if not. Renting the machine out is one way but if you could offer the service of scanning something and converting it into usable CAD files then you could charge more.
In my experience anytime I've worked with 3D scan data has been a massive PITA so streamlining that would work wonders.
Quite right, one of the first questions asked is what people intend to do with the model when they have it in front of them. Can they work with the point cloud or do we need to align the model, extract geometric features or fully reverse engineer the part so that we can pass the model straight to a machinist.That might be your area of expertise of course - turning the data into a usable surface/shape/solid but it would be something to look into if not. Renting the machine out is one way but if you could offer the service of scanning something and converting it into usable CAD files then you could charge more.
In my experience anytime I've worked with 3D scan data has been a massive PITA so streamlining that would work wonders.
We have been there before with the previous scanner and we didn't have the reverse engineering software that went with it (purchased second hand). This new scanner was bought new with a software suite to allow us to offer the full service from start to finish. The whole process is incredible and makes life soo much easier for developing new products or reverse engineering. My passion is design and I am trying to take the pressure off from the rest of my business so I can concentrate more on that.
I've got a few jobs ligned up at the moment but want to concentrate more on automotive parts.
It might be worth making your services known to local smaller machine shops. I'm sure they get customers with parts they'd like replicated but without the capability to generate a 3D model - this would give them the option of offering a full service by subcontracting the scanning and modelling work to you.
Good luck with it - I think there's a growing demand for this - we'd use it for sure.
Good luck with it - I think there's a growing demand for this - we'd use it for sure.
Great minds think alike, I know most of the local companies and help out with the odd job that comes through.
Quite a few of the jobs are confidential and so I don't have a huge number of sample pictures other than what I have done for personal projects.
Here is a personal project I will be working on shortly, I could not find anybody willing to give me CAD data of the Honda K20 engine which is understandable, NDA's were probably signed prior to receiving the data. I will be stripping this engine down and getting it blasted to remove years of road grime and then scanning the whole unit in piece by piece.
This was a quick scan of a small segment of the engine, the scanner will go twice as detailed again but if you scan too much in one go it will decimate my CAD PC even with high end components and 48gb of RAM. As you can see in the model it picks up all the paint flake on the rocker cover and all the dirt on the engine as it stands currently.
Quite a few of the jobs are confidential and so I don't have a huge number of sample pictures other than what I have done for personal projects.
Here is a personal project I will be working on shortly, I could not find anybody willing to give me CAD data of the Honda K20 engine which is understandable, NDA's were probably signed prior to receiving the data. I will be stripping this engine down and getting it blasted to remove years of road grime and then scanning the whole unit in piece by piece.
This was a quick scan of a small segment of the engine, the scanner will go twice as detailed again but if you scan too much in one go it will decimate my CAD PC even with high end components and 48gb of RAM. As you can see in the model it picks up all the paint flake on the rocker cover and all the dirt on the engine as it stands currently.
As a suggestion, call up everyone offering "replica castings" - that process inevitably involves compromises in terms of shrinkage. Can you dial down the resolution a bit for more "general" use?
There is probably a market in architectural restoration - scanning old ironwork, even old masonry. Again I realise that underplays the abilities of your device, but might provide cashflow.
Likewise archeology - there are many who would like digitised copies of artefacts, from which 3D models can be assembled for study.
On a more personal note, I may be interested in your service (depending upon cost of course) for a project I have in mind - would require the scanning of a fabrication from a now-defunct company (no IP issues in case that was an issue). The service I'd be interested in would be not just scanning but also "cleaning-up" the data into a usable model, especially including properly-aligning bore axes and so on. If you let me have a link to your site I'll bookmark it for when I get to that point (still trying to get a hold of one of the fabrications in question at the moment from Eastern Europe!).
There is probably a market in architectural restoration - scanning old ironwork, even old masonry. Again I realise that underplays the abilities of your device, but might provide cashflow.
Likewise archeology - there are many who would like digitised copies of artefacts, from which 3D models can be assembled for study.
On a more personal note, I may be interested in your service (depending upon cost of course) for a project I have in mind - would require the scanning of a fabrication from a now-defunct company (no IP issues in case that was an issue). The service I'd be interested in would be not just scanning but also "cleaning-up" the data into a usable model, especially including properly-aligning bore axes and so on. If you let me have a link to your site I'll bookmark it for when I get to that point (still trying to get a hold of one of the fabrications in question at the moment from Eastern Europe!).
some good ideas above - some of your original ideas are a little passive...
when you have a generic business idea (e.g. car insurance) that everyone wants - then google / and just having your details out there can work well... i.e. passive marketing
when you have a very niche business, then you are far better off asking if you can identify the possible end user and approaching them directly...
so, get it all to a point where you are ready, put together a 'brochure' however that might look and then take it directly to every company who might use you...
when you have a generic business idea (e.g. car insurance) that everyone wants - then google / and just having your details out there can work well... i.e. passive marketing
when you have a very niche business, then you are far better off asking if you can identify the possible end user and approaching them directly...
so, get it all to a point where you are ready, put together a 'brochure' however that might look and then take it directly to every company who might use you...
It sounds like you know what you're doing on the CAD side of things - that K20 scan looks top quality. I can't wait to see what a full scan of each part and then modelled into an assembly looks like.
Whilst you you're mainly targeting the automotive side of things you could perhaps look at getting in touch with some local design consultancies and at least putting your name out there should they have a project that needs some hi res scanning. I work for a consultancy in Glasgow and certainly there has been times where I could've done with one!
Whilst you you're mainly targeting the automotive side of things you could perhaps look at getting in touch with some local design consultancies and at least putting your name out there should they have a project that needs some hi res scanning. I work for a consultancy in Glasgow and certainly there has been times where I could've done with one!
Cheers for the suggestions, some very good ideas there, and also for keywords to use on the website.
Absolutely, you can dial it back for big non detailed parts, and then scan at a higher res if needed on very specific parts. Its very processor and ram heavy.
Akirk - yea that makes perfect sense, I will try to find out the end customer that this service would be useful for.
Cald0 - I've always had a passion for design, and am happy to finally afford the best tools in the industry to help me work efficiently.
Absolutely, anything I can help with please visit the link in the profile.
Absolutely, you can dial it back for big non detailed parts, and then scan at a higher res if needed on very specific parts. Its very processor and ram heavy.
Akirk - yea that makes perfect sense, I will try to find out the end customer that this service would be useful for.
Cald0 - I've always had a passion for design, and am happy to finally afford the best tools in the industry to help me work efficiently.
Absolutely, anything I can help with please visit the link in the profile.
As has been said - you're offering a niche business, so google is not going to be your friend.
I'd look seriously at the Vintage and Classic car restoration business. In particular, it might be worth talking to clubs and specialist dealers and finding out if they have 'short run' requirements that you can meet. It's not unusual for a particular part to become unobtainable, yet uneconomic for a club or parts supplier to pay for casting/machining in small quantities. With your setup you should be able to offer replacements at a reasonably economic price point.
I'd avoid too much direct contact with end customers though - fun though it is standing on a stall in a cold race-track, you're very much going to be dealing with odds and sods. Find the aggregators who bring together enough customers to justify doing a reasonably sized (and profitable) job. Hence owners clubs and so on.
BTW - can you cut 4mm carbon fibre sheet?
I'd look seriously at the Vintage and Classic car restoration business. In particular, it might be worth talking to clubs and specialist dealers and finding out if they have 'short run' requirements that you can meet. It's not unusual for a particular part to become unobtainable, yet uneconomic for a club or parts supplier to pay for casting/machining in small quantities. With your setup you should be able to offer replacements at a reasonably economic price point.
I'd avoid too much direct contact with end customers though - fun though it is standing on a stall in a cold race-track, you're very much going to be dealing with odds and sods. Find the aggregators who bring together enough customers to justify doing a reasonably sized (and profitable) job. Hence owners clubs and so on.
BTW - can you cut 4mm carbon fibre sheet?
Cheers for the reply Tuna.
My laser can cut the 4mm carbon fibre sheet but the manufacturer won't warranty it as the dust is conductive and can mess with the electronics.
It's a very niche service and as everybody has said, targeting specific customers would be a better use of time than paying for google advertising etc. I will knock up some impressive CNC pieces which can showcase the scanners ability to aid manufacture and will see what kind of response we get from that.
My laser can cut the 4mm carbon fibre sheet but the manufacturer won't warranty it as the dust is conductive and can mess with the electronics.
It's a very niche service and as everybody has said, targeting specific customers would be a better use of time than paying for google advertising etc. I will knock up some impressive CNC pieces which can showcase the scanners ability to aid manufacture and will see what kind of response we get from that.
Mudgey said:
Cheers for the reply Tuna.
My laser can cut the 4mm carbon fibre sheet but the manufacturer won't warranty it as the dust is conductive and can mess with the electronics.
It's a very niche service and as everybody has said, targeting specific customers would be a better use of time than paying for google advertising etc. I will knock up some impressive CNC pieces which can showcase the scanners ability to aid manufacture and will see what kind of response we get from that.
Yeah, Carbon fibre is a pain. I'm flying small drones, so cutting parts would be very handy, but not exactly something you can DIY - you need the right kit.My laser can cut the 4mm carbon fibre sheet but the manufacturer won't warranty it as the dust is conductive and can mess with the electronics.
It's a very niche service and as everybody has said, targeting specific customers would be a better use of time than paying for google advertising etc. I will knock up some impressive CNC pieces which can showcase the scanners ability to aid manufacture and will see what kind of response we get from that.
Good luck with the scanner though - you're just going to have to chase, chase, chase until you find the customers who need you.
You might like to post some of your promotional projects in this FB group, "3D Print My Ride". Deals with 3D printing and digital design/ manufacture of car parts mainly for projects, modifieds, race cars etc.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/562692597482059
Gav
https://www.facebook.com/groups/562692597482059
Gav
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