LONDON, July 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on its recent analysis of the optical digitizer and scanners market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes Steinbichler Optotechnik GmbH with the 2014 Global Frost & Sullivan Award for Price/Performance Value Leadership. Steinbichler Optotechnik has reaffirmed its ability to deliver high-precision scanners by developing the COMET 5, COMET 6, COMET L3D, and T-SCAN CS.
"Steinbichler Optotechnik GmbH is among the top four companies in the world, dominating the global optical digitizer and scanners market with more than 20 percent market share," said Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Aravind Govindan. "It has achieved this success by offering a portfolio of solutions that treads a fine balance between cost effectiveness and technological sophistication."
Steinbichler's COMET 5 was regarded as one of the best optical scanners in the market, but it was also considered prohibitively priced by several prospective buyers. Within five months, the company manufactured a new product that was lighter, smaller, easier to use, faster to set up and more affordable but had the same quality and accuracy of the COMET 5. The product was named COMET L3D and was available at almost half the price of the original COMET 5.
Both variants of the COMET L3D are based on LED lighting technology, which offers a longer shelf life; the COMET L3D 2M and COMET L3D 5M cameras have resolutions of 1600 x 1200p and 2448 x 2050p and measuring times of 1.5 and 2.0 seconds, respectively. Both these products are well suited to the measurement of small- and medium-sized plastic or metal parts. The noncontact measurement technology of the COMET L3D sensor allows end users to measure delicate and fragile objects that are challenging to measure using conventional technologies.
Meanwhile, Steinbichler has been marketing the T-SCAN CS as a value-for-money product with a tracking camera, hand-held scanner, and touch probe. Integration of all these components provides it with a high level of flexibility for a wide range of applications such as reverse engineering, sheet metal parts, and other production inspection.
Another noteworthy product is the COMET 6 16 M, a high-resolution, 16-megapixel camera that provides an extremely high level of detail. The operator can choose between maximum resolution and a maximum image capturing speed of 1.2 seconds at any time, thereby attaining ideal performance for the respective measurements.
Steinbichler is also helping automotive manufacturers rapidly transform their manufacturing processes by offering them 100 percent automated metrology solutions. Apart from reducing human interference, this helps end users minimise errors and achieve higher productivity. This also assists end users in developing high-quality products, leading to wastage reduction and streamlining production processes.
In March 2014, Steinbichler Optotechnik launched the T-SCAN LV, which is capable of inspecting objects of larger volume than any other product, using optical inspection. The product also facilitates precise 3-D data collection for most industrial application areas, particularly for large-scale objects. Its dynamic referencing functionality further helps end users obtain precise measurement points even while moving objects in an unstable environment.
Steinbichler has developed an innovative scanner that efficiently addresses the needs of other dimensional metrology manufacturers such as Hexagon Metrology and Automated Precision Inc. (API). While Hexagon Metrology provides Steinbichler's PROBEscanner for T-Probe users, API and Steinbichler together launched the Smart Scan software. This solution combines cutting-edge solutions from API and Steinbichler Vision Systems to create high-resolution 3-D point clouds without a need for multiple setups or triangulation targets.
"Additionally, Steinbichler Optotechnik GmbH is an ISO 9001 certified company, and has a rigorous customer feedback mechanism in place," noted Govindan. "A stringent review process of the date and time of a service lead and the turnaround time for each task has enabled the company to reduce its response time as well as improve its installation time, giving it a distinct competitive advantage."
Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to a company that has developed a product to suit the market and client needs. The award lauds the price competitiveness, features, ease of use of the product as well as the service effectiveness of the recipient company.
Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.
