We were not careful and this is why it happened, leading to client frustration.
Large mirror in property resulted in wrong measurements leading to incorrectly manufactured furniture.
I am writing this so that you can also learn from our mistakes. Working with scan data we should know this and pay extra attention to it... This is very important to know for anyone who is looking to manufacture custom made furniture fit for there interior design.
This is what we delivered to the client.
The client came back to us saying that the actual measurement in question is closer to 230mm instead of the 300mm, which means the scan was off by almost 70mm (7cm).
Because of this mistake, the custom made cabinet sticks out way past where it should be, and the client was not very happy about our work.
This happened because of lack of attention to the PointCloud from our surveyor when cleaning the scan data collected on site. He was rushing to get all jobs back to clients ASAP and the Drafting team's inexperience dealing with mirrors and lack of knowledge about the problem areas is what led to this.
However the scan data is an accurate representation of the space and as close to real life it gets but it is still a manual work to process the data and create the drawings and errors may occur. There is always room for improvement but we have to keep in mind that the tools we use may be the most precise, but if the team makes mistakes then the end result will still be wrong. So quality control here is the key!
We investigated the issue and found our mistake:
The total measurement of 300mm is incorrect as we can see and the 90mm is just a reflection that's not cleaned properly.
Further investigating we cant really notice this mistake. And it appears as that the model matches the scan data. But the actual dimension is off by 70mm as per our client's comments.
It is really hard to understand that there is anything wrong if we don't know that there are any inaccuracies or have any reason why to doubt the measurements.
It is in the section view where we found the problem: the mirror on the wall reflected the scan, making the cabinet look longer than it actually is.
If we had looked at the ceiling not the base of the mirror, we would have seen the end of the wall and we could have avoided this mistake.
It's important to understand how mirrors affect the scan data.
Knowing the enemy, as they say, means understanding the scanner's weaknesses so we can find ways to work around them.
The laser scanner bounces the laser against the surfaces and when the beam comes back it measured the distance and records this points location that's why it's called Point Cloud as each scan consists of millions of points that looks like a cloud. But if there's a mirror, it scans through it as if that would be an opening and reflects the scan data on the other side of the mirror. This creates a duplicate of the room on the other side and this information needs to be cleaned in the post processing. Another area to look out is dark absorbing areas that will not reflect the laser back to the scanner that may be hard to measure with any other laser.
As a result the cabinet's dimension were too deep, and when the new cabinet was ready it stuck out, and it didn't fit the design. Client was unhappy and asked us to clarify this and fix the problem. Unfortunately, we could only update the plans, as the cabinet was already built. They had to return it and make amendments, which was frustrating and cost them money and time.
We refunded the client all the money charged for this project as clearly it was our mistake. We also made the amendments requested as we don't look at this as wasted time but as an investment in experience and a learning curve (a process where people develop a skill by learning from their mistakes).
Do you know what's the difference between a Professional and an Amateur?
Professionals make less mistakes because they have made them in the past and learned either from their own mistakes or others.
Every challenge we are facing is just an area of improvement. It is not a failure, just like in sports if you don't get a gold medal in the first competition you go back and train harder, get better and try again next year. The goal is to get better with every year, and that's a powerful place to be.
In this case, we failed to deliver the high quality results that we praise ourselves about. This is a learning experience for everyone, especially for our team and the person who does the quality control. And highlights the importance of quality control.
And to protect our clients from any confusion or disappointments, now with all our survey quotes we clearly explain that these drawings are prepared for coordination purposes and are not intended for manufacturing purposes unless specifically requested.
Now that we know the areas to be extra careful, a quality control check is in place to focus on areas with mirrors and include in the review process the ceilings, floors, and walls.
Pro Tip: When planning to manufacture custom furniture, it is always advisable for the supplier/installer to visit the site and carry out a survey suited to the intended purposes, or inform the surveyor beforehand about areas requiring extra attention.
You may also be interested in reading this article where I explain why walls are not always straight
Peter Bauman
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