Inside a next-gen fabrication workflow: how River City Metal Fabrication uses Artec Leo for accurate field measurements

In heavy industry, precision matters like nowhere else, and achieving it can be a bit of a quest. At facilities like steel mills and refineries, ductwork systems, chutes, hoppers, and feeder bins often evolve and change over time with field modifications, repairs, and spontaneous fixes. The result is infrastructure that hardly ever matches the original drawings. For fabricators on a mission to replace or modify these components, such a mismatch can lead to errors that are costly and take time to fix.

Taking the helm to keep raising the standard

This was exactly the kind of challenge that River City Metal Fabrication, a family-owned fabrication company based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, had to tackle. More than a century of combined experience among its staff has helped the company build a remarkable reputation. Because the business was known for delivering top-quality metal fabrication to commercial and industrial clients, accurate on-site measurements that reflected real-world conditions were essential.

Candace Forbes, the company’s vice president, quickly encountered this issue firsthand when she began taking a more active leadership role. Many of the projects handled by Forbes and her team involved creating replacement ductwork or structural metal components inside complex industrial plants, including at a nearby steel mill operated by Nucor.

“The ductwork and chutes had been field-cut so many times,” Forbes explained. “They were basically botched, and you couldn’t get exact measurements.”

Before adopting 3D scanning, the team relied entirely on traditional measurements. For simple projects, the approach was workable, but for complex systems with corrosion, irregular modifications, and hidden features, it did not suffice. Conventional measurement methods, such as visual estimation, taking manual notes, or tape measures, weren’t reliable enough, leading to parts fabricated in the shop having to be reworked when installed on-site.

This realization led her to explore 3D scanning.

The right device steps up to the challenge

Forbes spent nearly a year researching 3D scanning technology. Coming from a fabrication background rather than a digital engineering one, she viewed the process from a practical standpoint: she needed the scanner to work reliably in tough industrial environments. Unlike clean lab spaces, steel mills are dusty, hot, and full of heavy equipment, often in tight or elevated areas.

During her research, Forbes got to evaluate a range of handheld scanners, including a system that required targets, a laptop, and a full setup process before scanning could even begin. A salesperson even visited the Nucor site to demonstrate it, but the demo quickly highlighted a major problem, indicating what Forbes wanted to avoid in the first place.

It took about 45 minutes to set everything up, which, in a busy industrial facility, simply wasn’t practical. What the team needed was a scanner that was fast, portable, and simple to operate in the field. This is when Artec Leo, a fully wireless 3D scanner with onboard processing and a built-in touchscreen, took the stage.

3D tech in the wild: Candace Forbes putting the Artec Leo 3D scanner to work on-site. Image courtesy of Candace Forbes

The scanner’s tetherless design solved most of the problems Forbes had identified: it did not require external markers or targets, eliminating the need to place reference stickers in hard-to-reach areas. It was capable of storing data internally. It ran on battery power, meaning it could be used anywhere in the plant without any extra equipment or cables getting in the way.

Forbes ultimately got her Leo through Digitize Designs, an Artec 3D Ambassador in the US. Working with Bo Helmrich helped the team to make the right decision and get started with the new technology, and the choice was truly transformative.

“I purchased my Artec 3D scanner specifically to support projects for Nucor Steel, the largest steel producer in the country,” said Forbes. “The scanner gives me the ability to detect leaks, wear in materials, capture complex geometries, verify dimensions, and streamline fabrication workflows, ensuring Nucor receives precise, reliable, and efficient service.”

Out in the field

At River City Metal Fabrication, scanning is performed directly on-site. Forbes typically travels to the plant with Artec Leo to capture the equipment that needs to be replaced or modified. Most projects involve digitizing intricate components like ductwork, chutes, hoppers, feeder bins, and flanges. All these structures can be fairly challenging to measure accurately using conventional methods.

With Leo, Forbes just powers on the scanner and begins capturing an object’s geometry, as if shooting a video. One key advantage is speed: with real-time feedback on its touchscreen, Leo displays scan quality and helps the user maintain the correct distance.

For symmetrical parts, she doesn’t even need to spend time scanning the entire object. After digitizing one half, she shares the data with the team’s CAD expert, who can unfold it later and build the full model. This approach reduces the scanning time spent in the field while still delivering the ultra-precise data needed for fabrication.

Image courtesy of Candace Forbes

Leo has been used extensively at the Nucor steel mill, where Forbes scans everything from individual flanges to large sections of industrial ducting. On one project, she scanned a massive chute system spanning nearly 400 feet (122 meters) through multiple floors of the facility. “I scanned it floor by floor – six levels,” Forbes said. “Then we combined everything together.” Despite the complexity of such industrial environments, the scanner’s performance was remarkably steady and reliable.

From processing to fabrication

Once all necessary data is acquired, the next stage of the workflow begins. Forbes performs initial processing in Artec Studio, cleaning up scans, aligning them, and generating a mesh. For massive projects, such as multi-level chute systems, multiple scan sections are merged to create a complete 3D model. Luckily, Artec Studio easily deals even with massive datasets.

When processing in Artec Studio is complete, the files are exported and shared with River City’s CAD engineer. If the datasets are large, the team may use ShareFile to transfer them from the field to the office. Depending on the project, from there, the workflow can continue in Geomagic or SolidWorks.

While Geomagic is usually used for reverse engineering tasks, converting scan data into usable surfaces and reference geometry, the finalized digital twins can then be imported into SolidWorks, where fabrication-ready designs are created. With integration between all these tools working smoothly, once the 3D model is complete, River City’s fabrication team can produce components, fully confident that they will fit correctly when installed.

The result? Higher accuracy, faster turnaround

For River City Metal Fabrication, the adoption of 3D scanning has changed project execution. Instead of relying on approximate measurements and having to repeatedly visit the site, the team now works from precise digital twins of the existing equipment. The workflow they adopted guarantees faster turnaround times and much better collaboration, bringing accuracy issues in fabrication, rework, and installation to a bare minimum.

For Forbes, however, the benefits go beyond efficiency. She finds the entire workflow deeply satisfying – working in the fabrication shop, Forbes observes how the entire lifecycle of a project unfolds, from scanning the original equipment and designing the replacement to fabricating the parts, and finally seeing the completed installation.

Customers notice the difference too. With such reliability and precision, River City’s work has made a lasting impression on clients in the most demanding industrial sectors. “The people at Nucor have been incredible partners,” said Forbes. “They’ve trusted me to bring quality work, and that trust has pushed me to keep raising the bar. Being a woman in this industry can be challenging, but working with teams who recognize ability, not assumptions, makes all the difference.”

The woman leading the next chapter

Under Forbes’ leadership, River City Metal Fabrication is proof that even in the toughest industrial environments, the right decisions and a fresh perspective move an entire industry forward. In a sector where women leaders remain rare, Forbes is absolutely remarkable: whether helping drive the technological shift within the family business or showing how determination, paired with the right technology, redefines what’s possible in modern metal fabrication.