Die tools are intended for mass manufacturing of car parts, and therefore the development process is incredibly important to ensure an optimized tool that will produce high quality parts time and time again. The trial and error process for optimizing dies is a huge source of both time delay and costs, especially because the die spotting is performed manually by a spotting expert. The role of this expert is to examine the blue colouring by eye and then identify parts of the tool that must be adjusted (polished or ground) accordingly. It is an iterative process, with the goal of achieving homogeneous blue colouring on the pressed metal form. An image of this die spotting with homogeneous colour is an industry requirement for the tool to be permitted for use.

This technology takes advantage of 3D scanning technology, already in place in most die manufacturers, to generate a point cloud image of the blue-stained formed sheet metal. It can then analyse the blue colour – indicating where it is homogeneous and where it is not with a greater precision than the human eye. Using such technology could reduce the number of iterations required to optimize the die, and therefore the time and costs for die development.