Scan-to-Print Hybrid Manufacturing Workflow 

01 Story

Hybrid manufacturing is powerful but it often breaks down on one painfully human step: manual alignment. ADAXIS set out to remove that bottleneck with a scan-to-print hybrid manufacturing workflow developed in AdaOne, demonstrated live at Formnext 2025.

The concept is simple: one industrial robot automatically alternates between 3D scanning, additive manufacturing, and subtractive operations on the same part without manual intervention. Instead of pausing the process for time-consuming positioning and part-to-to-toolpath calibration, the system uses automated 3D vision to detect, localize, and align the part digitally, so the robot can continue seamlessly.

This workflow was developed in response to repeated customer needs around alignment, repeatability, and scalable automation in multi-axis robotic manufacturing. It’s designed for industries where precision meets complexity, such as industrial additive manufacturing (metal, polymer), repair and remanufacturing, aerospace and automotive, energy and heavy industry, art and design or any application involving multi-axis robotic manufacturing that benefits from scan-based alignment.

02 Challenges

In hybrid robotic manufacturing, errors can accumulate. The most demanding part of the workflow is ensuring accurate alignment between the physical part and the digital model in a multi-axis robotic environment. The part must be detected, localized, and aligned inside the robot cell with high confidence, because even small deviations can cause major problems in printing or machining operations. Key technical challenges included:

• Precise part-to-model alignment before printing/milling
• Tight coordination between robot motion, 3D vision, and software
• Avoiding drift and cumulative error across multiple operations
• Maintaining repeatable performance in an industrial environment

The application also required strict sensing performance, including:

• High geometric accuracy and dimensional trueness
• Reliable, repeatable calibration
• Fast 3D acquisition
• 2D color data for part recognition and validation

03 Solution

At the core of the system is AdaOne, ADAXIS’ software platform that acts as the brain of the robot cell: programming, simulation, scanning, alignment, and execution all flow through one unified layer. The system components:

• FANUC industrial robot
• Fronius welding torch for additive manufacturing
• Milling tool for subtractive operations
• Zivid 2+ MR60 camera mounted on the robot
• AdaOne software for scanning, alignment, simulation, and execution

Zivid plays a critical role by delivering high-quality 3D + 2D data that makes scan-to-alignment reliable and scalable. ADAXIS highlighted several standout features:

• Accurate and repeatable 3D data
• Unified 3D + 2D color data (single sensor, consistent dataset)
• Stable calibration in industrial environments
• Compact robot-mountable design, ideal for dynamic scanning

The workflow was developed internally by ADAXIS and showcased live at Formnext. It builds on existing AdaOne capabilities and integrates scanning as a fully automated step. What makes the final solution unique: A fully automated scan–align–print–mill workflow executed by a single robot, eliminating manual alignment and increasing reliability in hybrid manufacturing.

04 Results

Because the workflow was demonstrated as a live hybrid manufacturing showcase, the focus was on robustness, repeatability, and calibration accuracy rather than maximum throughput. Performance metrics vary by customer application. Traditional manual part-to-toolpath calibration using probing can take up to several hours (up to ~4 hours) depending on part complexity. With the scan-based workflow demonstrated at Formnext, part-to-toolpath calibration is completed in under 30 seconds.

Even though time optimization was not the primary goal of the demo, this number captures the core value: scanning turns alignment from a manual craft into an automated system capability. The demo received very positive feedback, especially around automation level, alignment accuracy, and workflow simplicity. ADAXIS reported a very positive experience using Zivid and would choose it again for similar applications. The scan-to-print hybrid manufacturing workflow is being deployed in production with several customers.