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Reverse Engineering

When leading Queensland engineering group Berg Engineering purchased a new handheld 3D laser scanning system in July last year they envisaged achieving significant benefits in their reverse engineering tasks with the business.   Engineering Manager, Phil Shaw, is now able to report... "not only did we get major new capabilities for all of our reverse engineering tasks from the ZScanner but we have now found huge benefit in reducing our product development cycle times"

The ZScanner 800 laser scanning system from supplier Z Corporation in the USA, and distributed in Australia by Hi-Tech Metrology is the latest generation of 3D handheld laser scanning systems capable of scanning a wide range of objects both quickly and accurately.   These scanners accurately reproduce 3D shapes of the scanned surfaces producing a tight polygonal mesh data files which can then be subsequently processed in point cloud engineering software packages such as PolyWorks® or alternatively imported into the latest 3D CAD packages.

Originally, the ZScanner was purchased for reverse engineering tasks and was selected for these tasks because of the portability of the equipment, allowing Berg to travel to remote mining and power generation site as with the handheld scanning system and perform a range of critical re-engineering tasks right on the job, saving time and improving the overall efficiency of the data collection process.

The success of the ZScanner however now makes it an integral part of Berg Engineering's business, allowing the Company to be able to make significant reductions in the time it takes to develop new products for a growing number of customers in the mining, power generation, paper, rail and sugar industries - both in Australia and in Southeast Asia.   Also according to Phil Shaw... "the ZScanner is now highly sought after within Berg with a number of groups keen to get hold of it for their particular project", an indication of the value and the importance that this piece of equipment has made to Berg Engineering.

A example of these benefits was the recent use of the ZScanner which involved scanning the domed surface of a large pump housing with a minerals processing client to ascertain whether a new structure could be fitted around the existing infrastructure.  This is a typical "as-built" documentation exercise.   Much to the clients' surprise Berg found that when the area was scanned with the ZScanner, they determined that there was insufficient clearance around the housing for the new addition and the client was saved considerable time and expense through the use of laser scanning technology.

The ZScanner enables business' like Berg Engineering to quickly and efficiently collect 3D information on complex objects and surfaces in order to either replicate the product or to develop new products through accelerated new product design processes.   The ZScan software supplied with the ZScanner handheld scanner automatically produces a .STL mesh file rather than a point cloud as is the case with other laser scanning systems, and then allows users to export the .STL data collected to a 3D printer for producing of a model of the part being scanned, to export the data into a 3D CAD system for design and modelling activities or to import the data into a point cloud engineering package where data manipulation such as hole filling, clean-up and other editing tasks can be performed prior to exporting the data out of this package either as a surfaced model or as a series of CAD entities such as splines and cross-sections etc.

Berg continues to find new applications and new uses for the ZScanner within its business and has helped win new contracts and to improve the efficiency and the productivity of its design and development processes providing better outcomes and cost-savings for new and prospective clients and customers alike.       

About Berg Engineering

  • Berg Engineering, a privately-owned Australian Company was founded in 1971 by Roger and Pam Berg, and manufacturing was first established at Brendale in southeast Queensland
  • In 2001 Berg established an additional facility in North Queensland at Gladstone.
  • Over the years the owners have invested significantly in the latest CNC equipment and capabilities and now operate large capacity workshops in both Brisbane and Gladstone with extensive machining, fabrication and testing facilities.
  • Extensive range of equipment includes machining centres, CNC Lathes, CNC borers, borers, cylindrical grinding, drilling, fabrication, and an extensive testing and clean room facilities.
  • NATA certification for liquid penetration testing, ultra-sonic testing, magnetic particle testing, hydrostatic pressure testing
  • Achieve ISO-9001 accreditation in 2000.
  • Over 170 staff including Fitters and Turners, Design Engineers, Adult and Graduate Apprentices, Technical specialists in the relevant engineering disciplines and skilled support staff.