Predictive Maintenance vs Reality

Predictive—or advanced—maintenance aims to prevent failures before they happen. But in reality, many industries still face a critical challenge: what happens when parts must be replaced, but they no longer exist?

A recent situation in Paris made this very clear.

A major conveyor system connecting the metro and RER at Châtelet–Les Halles required extended maintenance. According to Le Parisien:

“The complete renewal of the 2,400 pieces of the three carpets has therefore been decreed. A heavy operation for which the RATP had announced six months of work. But this was without counting on an unexpected difficulty: the parts needed for the repair are no longer available on the market.
It was therefore necessary to have new ones made. The Régie selected a new supplier who had to design the pallets and then manufacture them in series.”

Anyone in the industry understands how critical this situation is.
When components are unavailable, production, infrastructure, or services can slow down—or stop completely.

This is where structured Scan-to-CAD workflows become essential.

The Challenge

A similar challenge appeared at a company which is doing glass shaping for industrial purposes.

They needed to restore three multi-part molds used for glass shaping. Over time, these molds had developed:

• Cracks and visible damage
• Deformation on edges and central areas due to wear
• Misalignment between assembled components
• Local inconsistencies affecting functional geometry

During virtual assembly, the molds revealed significant deviations:

• A floating component showed offset due to incomplete tightening
• Edges and central regions were visibly deformed
• A curved profile appeared shifted due to accumulated wear and misalignment
• Flatness and straightness defects affected overall consistency

The molds no longer followed a stable or logical geometry.
The objective was not just to reproduce them—but to restore, correct, and stabilise them for reliable production.

The Solution Partner

TRISKAN, a QUICKSURFACE Associate Partner and approved demo and support partner, carried out the project using its expertise in 3D scanning, reverse engineering, and inspection services developed since 2018. As an official partner and distributor of SCANOLOGY and 3D EVOK solutions, TRISKAN also provides the SIMSCAN 3D scanner range.

Marc-Antoine Hejnal, Manager of TRISKAN, directed the workflow and applied his expertise in 3D solutions for inspection and engineering applications.

Data Capture: High-Accuracy Scanning

TRISKAN digitised the molds using the Scanology SIMSCAN.

• Resolution up to 0.025mm
• Fast capture of complex and worn surfaces
• High accuracy even on damaged geometry

Using DEFINSIGHT, scan data was transferred directly into QUICKSURFACE via plugin integration, ensuring a seamless workflow.

This ensured a reliable digital representation of the molds, forming a precise foundation for the entire Scan-to-CAD process.

From Scan to CAD with QUICKSURFACE

QUICKSURFACE processed large .ply files efficiently and optimised them by reducing polygon count while maintaining controlled deviation.

The reconstruction followed a structured workflow:

1. Virtual Assembly of Mold Components

TRISKAN first assembled all scanned mold parts in a digital environment to recreate their real-world configuration.

• Alignment based on primitives
• Manual alignment refinement
• Validation using deviation analysis

This step ensured accurate positioning of all components and revealed misalignment caused by wear and assembly conditions.

2. Blocking Out Global Geometry

The team defined the overall structure of the molds and stabilised the main geometry.

Key QUICKSURFACE Pro tools and methods applied:

• Sections
• Sketch Assist
• Deviation Analyzer

This stage established consistent reference geometry and corrected global inconsistencies.

3. Modeling the Glass-Shaping Geometry

TRISKAN reconstructed the functional profiles with precision.

In this stage, TRISKAN used a combination of QUICKSURFACE modeling tools and techniques:

• Created precise curves and profiles using 3D Sketch
• Defined geometry through section-based reconstruction
• Built smooth, continuous surfaces using Sweep and Loft operations

Key adjustments:

• Correction of shifted curved profiles
• Refinement of the notch area into a more logical and symmetrical form
• Preservation of functional geometry wherever possible

4. Integrating Geometry into the Molds

The reconstructed features were integrated into the full mold assemblies, ensuring a coherent and functional final model.

This stage was completed using a combination of QUICKSURFACE tools and validation workflows:

• Pattern features for repeating elements
• Boolean operations to merge and refine geometry
• Deviation Analyzer for continuous evaluation against the scan data

Deviation analysis played a key role in this step, allowing TRISKAN to verify the accuracy of the reconstructed geometry and ensure that all integrated features remained within acceptable tolerances.

This ensured that all elements fit together correctly and resulted in a complete, production-ready model.

1.Correction of deformation on the edges and in the center (wear?)

2.Offset of the floating part that was not fully tightened

3.Correction of deformation on the edges and in the center (wear?)

4.Curved profile shifted because the remodeling is perfectly symmetrical between the two blocks, whereas the real part showed wear and misalignment based on the virtual assembly

5. Correction of flatness / straightness defects

6. Adjustment of the profile to something more logical and symmetrical at the notch level

Engineering Notes

• Overall condition:
  The molds were significantly deformed and inconsistent due to wear.
• Modeling approach:
  The final CAD represents a corrected and stabilised version of the molds.
• Functional preservation:
  Critical geometry was maintained as closely as possible.
• Holes:
  Screw hole positions were defined, but final specifications should be confirmed by the manufacturer.
• Deliverables:
  Editable .STEP files allow further adjustments if required.

The Result

TRISKAN delivered fully reconstructed, production-ready CAD models that corrected wear-related deformation and restored proper alignment between all mold components. By stabilising the geometry into a consistent and logical structure, the final models are now suitable for reliable manufacturing while preserving the essential functional features required for glass shaping.

Why QUICKSURFACE

This project demonstrates how QUICKSURFACE enables:

• Efficient handling of large scan datasets
• Accurate reconstruction from imperfect geometry
• Combined parametric and freeform workflows
• Structured, reliable Scan-to-CAD processes

Instead of copying worn parts, engineers can rebuild intent and function.

Final Thought

As tooling wears and drifts from its original condition, restoring stable and reliable geometry becomes essential for maintaining production.

This is where structured Scan-to-CAD workflows play a critical role—transforming real-world components into accurate, production-ready CAD models.

QUICKSURFACE — From 3D Scan to CAD — Trusted, Simple, Powerful