& Construction

Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
& Manufacturing

Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Back to Profile
Success Story
Founded in 1989, Stainless Piping Systems (SPS) is a family-owned company that has become the leading high purity systems provider in Canada. The Toronto-based firm has a core team of 50 employees that flexes to over 100 at times, based on project requirements. SPS specializes in the design, fabrication, and installation of complex stainless steel piping solutions for clients in a variety of industries including pharmaceuticals, medical, water treatment, food and beverage, and more.
When it comes to designing, fabricating and installing piping systems, accurate measurements are critically important. Taking manual measurements for routing of pipes can take days, weeks or even months to complete. At the same time, the windows of opportunity for installing piping systems are often narrow. SPS serves many customers in the pharmaceutical sector where summer and Christmas shutdowns drive the schedule for work in facilities. “We were pre-fabricating before it was cool,” Joe explained. Prefabrication requires comprehensive and accurate up-front measurements.
“With our pharmaceutical clients, we get very busy twice a year. Projects are piled on in August and December for retrofits or modifications which can happen only during a one- or two-day timeframe,” said Joe Borg, Technical Director as SPS.
In this environment, gathering comprehensive measurements and working as efficiently as possible are essential. To address these challenges, SPS decided to explore laser scanning technology. As a first step, the company invested in a laser scanner from a Leica competitor.
“We found that we could go to a job site and get as much data as we needed in a couple of hours to a day. It was a dramatic change from when field teams would be onsite for days, weeks or months to identify a routing and take measurements,” said Joe.
Although the scanner was a good starting point for the company, it unfortunately had several significant drawbacks including its weight, time required to complete scans, lack of real-time feedback about scan quality, and large file sizes which meant long upload times to servers at the SPS office.
While laser scanning had definitely transformed the way SPS operated, the team decided to research other scanners on the market to identify one that would meet the company’s needs for greater efficiency and ease of use.
The team at SPS decided to reach out to their Autodesk and Leica technology partner, IMAGINiT to learn more about Leica laser scanners and their capabilities. SPS knew that IMAGINIT had unparalleled experience and expertise with the workflow from point cloud to Autodesk CAD. “The biggest concern for us was that not many laser scanners will pick up stainless steel or other reflective materials. We wanted to ensure that whichever unit we selected would be able to deal with that challenge,” said Joe.
IMAGINiT’s reality capture expert demonstrated the Leica RTC360 laser scanner and suggested that SPS demo the unit. The SPS team liked the features of the Leica RTC360 including:
“Once we saw some of the newer features that the Leica RTC360 had, like real-time feedback, GNSS location data to map out where scans go, and auto connect between scans, we were sold. There was no going back, and we had to get our hands on this scanner before we went out to work on another project,” said Joe.
With a new project in Saskatchewan on the horizon, IMAGINiT ensured that SPS received their new Leica scanner in time for the crew to fly to the job site. In addition, IMAGINiT experts provided training on the scanner for ten SPS team members. IMAGINiT’s Jumpstart program covered all the essentials needed to successfully use the Leica product.
“IMAGINiT helped us out a great deal to make sure that the project got off to a successful start,” said Joe.
As the team ramped up usage of the RTC360 scanner, IMAGINiT supported SPS by quickly responding to follow-up questions to ensure that the project progress continued uninterrupted. Since new employees have joined SPS, the company is now planning a new round of training with IMAGINiT to get everyone up to speed.
Integrating point cloud data into workflows has improved SPS’s efficiency and profitability, while generating more business for the firm. The firm has seen the following benefits:
1. A significant decrease in travel time to client sites since SPS adopted the Leica RTC360 scanner.
“In the past, when we worked with a customer in Halifax, it was a three-day engagement with two nights spent at a hotel. Now our team can go in and out on the same day. I can tell you with certainty that we won’t have to return there to gather more data. That’s how much confidence we have in this scanner,” said Joe.
2. Faster project approvals and a dramatic decrease in change orders saving SPS both time and money, since change orders late in a stainless steel piping project can cost thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.
“Point clouds from the Leica scanner are part of the way we submit proposals to clients. We send an initial routing plan which is a 3D model overlaid with the point cloud scan. The client can provide comments quickly. If something needs to be moved, we make the update, get approval, and then move into the detailing, fabricating, and installation. With this approach, the number of changes requested by clients is almost zero by the time we get to the fabrication and installation stages,” said Joe.
3. Completing projects accurately and on time by streamlining workflows and operations with the technology, allowing SPS to take on more projects. That’s a win for both SPS and its clients.
“This December has probably been the busiest shutdown season we’ve had with our pharmaceutical clients. We surpassed the number of projects from prior years. It was all projects that we scanned earlier, planned out correctly, and prefabricated. Every day, our installation crew has a different job site to go to and there isn’t much room for error. I’m pleased to say that we executed to a T,” said Joe.
In conclusion, SPS was able to learn how laser scanning technology can optimize efficiencies in their organization through Autodesk solutions.
Project summary
Duration & delivery
Autodesk solutions
Services provided
Customer industry
C2AE Trusts IMAGINiT with BIM Management Services
For several years, the Building division within C2AE successfully followed a BIM-management-by-committee approach to making decisions on procedures, standards, and best practices. The company’s designers and engineers would meet in person or online, discuss the options, and determine next steps. As the company’s team grew in size and experience level, coming to a consensus became more difficult. C2AE recognized the need to select one person to be the point person responsible for gathering and evaluating all the opinions and deciding which to select and implement.
Swinterton Delivers Value and Achieves ROI with Leica RTC360 Scanner
When renovating buildings, Swinerton starts with as-built measurements provided by clients. Because those drawings rarely include updates, Swinerton relied on their architects to manually measure spaces, put those measurements into Autodesk Revit, and provide PDFs of the information to the designers, who used them as the starting point for renovations. Swinerton started getting laser scans of structures at the beginning of renovation projects using external companies to perform the scanning. “The laser scanners led to great improvements,” said Matt Zwetzig, VD&C Manager, Swinerton. “Measurements were gathered in a fraction of the time, teams knew they were working with accurate information, plans were created faster, correct parts were ordered the first time, and the parts fit as expected.” With business growing and timelines shortening, Matt determined it was time to compare costs for hiring external providers versus purchasing a scanner and completing the work in house.
Massilly North America Automates Processes with Fusion 360 Manage
In 2015, Massilly North America reached out to Autodesk for support on their product lifecycle management (PLM) software, Fusion 360 Manage (previously known as Autodesk PLM 360), which is critical to the company’s day-to-day operations. Autodesk connected Massilly North America with IMAGINiT, and the IMAGINiT PLM team answered questions on specific issues, consulted on workflow improvements, and shared best practices.
Contact Partner Finder for help using the online search tool and more. The Autodesk Assistant can help with Autodesk products, answer questions, or send you to an agent.
Partner Finder Terms of Use
By accessing and using Partner Finder, you acknowledge and agree to the following Additional Terms as referenced in the Website Terms of Use: (i) Partner Finder may be modified, updated, interrupted, limited, suspended, or discontinued at any time without notice or liability; (ii) any query or request for information regarding a specific provider or provider services may be forwarded to that provider, however Autodesk in its discretion may retain a record to conduct business analytics to improve Partner Finder and other Autodesk products and services; (iii) Autodesk has no obligation to enforce any terms on your behalf against another user; and (iv) any feedback you provide in connection with a provider, including ratings or reviews, is a non-confidential “Submission” as defined in the Website Terms of Use. You are advised to conduct your own independent analysis and assessment of any information provided by or though Partner Finder, including whether a selected provider is appropriate for your particular circumstances. Without limiting the Website Terms of Use, Autodesk does not warrant, endorse, guarantee, or assume responsibility for any service advertised or offered by a provider through Partner Finder or any hyperlinked website or service. Autodesk is not liable for the content of this site, or for the consequences of any actions you may take based on information provided by, or through, this site. You release Autodesk and its affiliates and subsidiaries from all liability arising from your use of Partner Finder, including any hyperlinked website, service, or content.
Translation tool disclaimer
This page has been translated for your convenience using a machine translation service. Reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate translation; however, no automated translation is perfect nor is it intended to replace human translators. As a result, this translation may contain errors and inaccuracies. Autodesk provides no warranties, either express or implied, about the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of the machine translation and disclaims all liability for any losses or damages caused by, or resulting from your reliance on, this translation. The English version of this website is the official version.
How to buy
Privacy | Do not sell or share my personal information | Cookie preferences | Report noncompliance | Terms of use | Legal | © 2025 Autodesk Inc. All rights reserved