IMPORTANCE OF DIGITISING BLUEPRINTS
Businesses in today’s tech-driven market use digital systems in their day-to-day transactions to create, strategise, and promote products and services. The use of automation tools and platforms makes it a viable option for businesses and their team (whether in-office or working from home) to perform tasks with the utmost efficiency, practicability, and quality. Aside from its simplified, user-friendly features, digital technology paved the way for industries to decrease manual labour, reduce operation costs, advance production systems, and enhance profitability by using digitised equipment and processes.
In the engineering, building industry, consultancy firms and architectural companies have turned to high-powered scanning devices in digitising structural plans to render 3D animations, produce building models, and restructure digital designs to meet industry needs. Through file-sharing options, digital technology allows collaborative work between the creator and the clientele to provide feedback, incorporate new ideas, and adopt revisions to produce a standard-quality output.
Scan2Archive can significantly contribute to this area by offering businesses our state-of-the-art scanning equipment and team of digital experts. To learn more about the importance of digitising large format plans, our team collated some of the industry secrets that you have to know:
1. Scale Up your Business Systems
By digitising large format plans, your company will have a more efficient way of mapping out a standard process flow in your future projects by limiting manual sketch work and maximising digital resources. This allows you to channel your 3D expertise through the use of designer tools and software; encourage collaboration, innovation, and creative thinking within your team and boost your company’s overall performance.
There is, however, a downside to manually scanning your plans inside the office without the tech expertise.
Of, let’s say, the 30 large format plans that your architects produce daily, submitting them individually to your clients through express mail may take a lot of turnaround time and delivery costs. That’s why your office decided to invest in digital scanning equipment and assign staff to do the scanning. But, picture this: to scan a standard-sized blueprint, you have to laboriously back-roll and flatten the actual plan, requiring at least two people to hold each side from rolling up again as your scanning equipment does the work. This would, consequently, waste valuable time while staff could be working on more significant areas of the business.
Scan2Archive can manage this project for you by scanning your architectural plans and blueprints with premium quality assurance. Ensure your plans are preserved as digital files – save on storage space and mitigate risk from physical deterioration.
2. File Preservation & Fragile Handling
As your large format plans age, the more prone they are to material damage and deterioration.
Crucial information such as the model title, file number, scaling diagrams, and other minute details are susceptible from perpetual loss if accidentally damaged, misplaced, torn or lost through fire or flood. Storing your plans in individual tubes won’t escape the possibility of being physically destroyed either, thus to prevent the inevitable from happening, it is best to preserve your files by converting your paper plans and blueprints into digital assets.
At Scan2Archive, we expertly process and delicately handle fragile plans. We use ISO-accredited systems and processes to ensure the quality of our scanned plans starting from plan collection to digital submission. Not only do we strategise our processes in doing the scanning work, but we also ensure prior to scanning we repair any tears using archival tape and remove any dust from the plans.
For fragile plans requiring extra care, we enclose them in protective mylar sleeves to avoid further damage during the scanning process. You’ll be able to store your digital data on-site, off-site, or in the cloud, and say ‘goodbye’ to bulky flat-file cabinets and formulated tubes.
3. Accessible Files, Easier to Find
At Scan2Archive we pride ourselves with outstanding service and project management. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) which makes it easier to capture text information, locate individual files, and search for the exact measurements of your architectural plans.
With our metadata extraction process, we efficiently sort plans according to categories, industries, or clients. Once the blueprint data capture process is complete, the information can be processed and analysed using machine learning and other artificial intelligence-related technologies. This gives your business access to complete data-centric insights that can guide business decisions and operations.
In the end, you have a data set that can be queried quickly from any internet-connected location. You can still search it manually and in person at the office, but this is guaranteed a much more time-efficient method.
SCAN2ARCHIVE YOUR DIGITISATION EXPERT
With our professional team and service offerings, Scan2Archive is ready to engage with your company and offer exemplary service that only ISO-certified industries can offer. With over 38 years of expertise speak to the digitisation specialists. To learn more about our services, contact Scan2Archive now.
