Quality is a critical aspect in any manufacturing process and consumer experience. The 2016 Samsung recall of 2.5 million units of the Galaxy Note7 cost $5.3 billion because the batteries were heating up and causing fires. Product development already costs thousands of dollars and months of labor, but those costs are exacerbated or failed quality control. Costs of poor quality include costs associated with rework, scrap, and warranty claims and can range from 15% to 40% of a company’s total operations.

In medicine the first step to diagnosing a problem in a patient's body is a computed tomography (CT) scan or MRI. However, this type of diagnostic overview hasn’t historically been the case with most quality control labs. Instead, these labs are left with outdated methods, such as destructively cutting products in half with band saws and calipers.

Product designers and manufacturers today face a similar challenge to doctors in the past. They often need to determine whether prototypes or production samples contain internal defects, and industrial CT scanners are powerful tools for non-destructive internal inspections. However, these machines are prohibitively expensive and complex costing between $300K to $2.1 million, accessible primarily to large, well-funded companies.

This is where Lumafield comes in. Lumafield provides low-cost industrial CT scanners called Neptune and Triton, and a companion browser-based CT analysis system called Voyager. As the global population grows and the required output of manufacturing increases the need for affordable and efficient non-destructive quality control methods will become more important. Lumafield has claimed that it can provide a quality control solution to smaller manufacturers at over a 50% discount to traditional industrial CT scanners.

Lumafield was founded in 2019, by Eduardo Torrealba (CEO), Andreas Bastian (CPO), Kevin Cedrone (Head of R&D), Scott Johnston (Head of Engineering), and two-time ex-founder Ric Fulop (Chairman).

Before founding the company, the team worked on the design and fabrication technologies at places like Formlabs, Desktop Metal, and Autodesk. That experience gave them insight into what “engineers are capable of when you give them access to powerful but intuitive tools to supercharge their design processes.”

In particular, the founders’ experience going between first sketches to mass manufacturing highlighted a major gap in the product development process. As products and fabrication technologies have become more complex, the attempts to solve design problems have been stuck being defined by 19th century processes. Designers would resort to using physical hacksaws to rip tools apart.

In seeking a solution to this problem the team began by asking questions like “What if you could diagnose problems with assemblies immediately? What if you could find invisible cracks that would otherwise lead to huge product recalls? What if you could understand changes in manufacturing lines over time?”

The company was in stealth as Meter until April of 2022. The reasoning for being more secretive was explained by the company this way:

How Industrial Scanners Work

The fundamental workings of an industrial CT scanner can be likened to solving a Sudoku puzzle. In Sudoku, the missing numbers are deduced with the understanding that the numbers in a row, column, and box meet specific requirements to be considered complete. In a similar fashion, industrial CT involves capturing multiple 2D X-ray images, or radiographs, from all angles around an object. Each of these radiographs provides an X-ray shadow. This shadow reveals the internal features encountered by the X-ray as it passes through the object to the detector. This information is then reconstructed through a sophisticated algorithm much like using context clues to piece together a Suduko puzzle.

During the reconstruction process, these X-ray shadows are meticulously analyzed and combined to map out the distribution of materials within an object in three dimensions. The result is a detailed 3D image where each “voxel” (a 3D pixel) represents the material density at a specific point within the object. This non-destructive technique allows engineers and manufacturers to examine both the internal and external structures of an object with high precision, without compromising its physical integrity.

Unlike traditional 2D X-ray imaging, industrial CTs generate a complete 3D volume, presenting a more holistic view of the object. This process enables the user to view any part of the object from any angle, offering a detailed inspection capability that surpasses conventional methods. However, the CT scanner is only one component. The true productivity of CT scanning is unlocked when integrated with software tools for visualization and analysis, enhancing its potential across various industry applications.

Lumafield offers a suite of products that address both parts of the equation: the hardware and the software.

Neptune

Source: Lumafield

As of June 2024, this is one of Lumafield’s two hardware offerings. The machine measures 6 feet wide by 6 feet tall and is just under 3 feet deep, which means that it can fit through a standard doorway. It comes equipped with leveling caster wheels to help position it during movement without hassle. Neptune fits into any office environment, plugging into a normal 120V wall outlet, and comes out of the box with ethernet and wifi connectivity.

Source: Lumafield

The sliding door acts as an entry point for the scanning platform. The object to be scanned is placed on this platform that sits in the middle of the open space. The platform can be adjusted horizontally and vertically when setting up a scan.

Source: Lumafield

Moving the object closer to the X-ray source will increase the magnification of the scan, whereas moving it further away will do the opposite, or decrease the magnification.

Source: Lumafield

The platform rotates 360 degrees to capture 2D X-ray images from a variety of angles. This is similar to the type of X-rays seen in medical scans. Once the object is placed in the center the user can preview what the scan may look like via the touch screen on the outside of the scanner. The user can then decide to zoom in or out and this will reflect on the preview in real time. If a user does not want to do the setup themselves, there is an auto-scan functionality, which allows the Neptune scanner to figure out the most optimal parameters for the scan.

For advanced users, there is the ability to set beam energy, current, gain, and exposure time. One of the most important features that a user can control is scan time, which directly correlates to the quality of the scan. A faster scan will take fewer images, which results in a lower resolution scan, while a slower scan will take more images and result in a higher resolution scan. Different materials will require different times to get a flushed-out scan. If the product is a lightweight plastic part, the scan time could be quicker, whereas a steel part might warrant an overnight scan time.

Source: Lumafield

Once the scan is complete, it will remove the artifacts and upload it to Voyager, Lumafield’s software companion, and reconstruct it into a 3D model. In a single CT-scanning operation, anywhere from a couple dozen to over 1K individual X-ray radiographs can be taken.

As of December 2023, the Neptune model came in three different configurations:

1. Neptune - 120 kV: Offers a balance between resolution and power, it is intended for various applications such as plastics, athletic equipment, and consumer goods, providing visibility of internal structures.

2. Neptune Microfocus - 130 kV: Delivers high-resolution scans with a small X-ray spot size, ideal for detailed inspections of intricate components, particularly in medical devices and electronics.

3. Neptune Highpower - 190 kV: Designed for penetrating dense materials like aluminum and steel, this scanner is intended to be used for inspecting castings and machined parts, especially in the aerospace and automotive industries.

Triton

Source: Lumafield

Triton offers similar capabilities to the Neptune model. It maintains a similar physical presence, with an extensible option, and a moving belt that feeds items into the scanner. It also only requires a standard wall outlet to power the machine.

Neptune scanners are built to be used in both lab settings and near production lines to identify problems and develop solutions. These scanners provide detailed insights into internal structures, helping to enhance product design and ensure quality. Triton builds on this capability, enabling users to scale solutions developed on Neptunes directly into production using Lumafield’s Voyager platform.

Triton enhances manufacturing processes by enabling faster scans with automated decision-making, embedding quality assurance directly into the production line. Operating autonomously, Triton reduces human involvement, freeing engineers to focus on developing new products. Its lights-out operation eliminates labor costs and increases throughput by up to four times, according to the company, compared to manually operated Neptunes. Triton achieves scan times of under one minute, complemented by real-time intelligent analysis.

Utilizing AI and custom recipes, Triton identifies out-of-spec parts and can make go / no-go decisions. It generates data for trend spotting and process improvement, integrating with factory automation systems across various industries. For example, in packaging lines, Triton conducts batch thickness and dimensional checks to ensure quality. In automotive assemblies, it validates component alignment and electrical connections within seconds. During battery production, Triton measures anode overhang distances to optimize performance and reduce recall risks. For consumer packaged goods (CPG), it performs exhaustive inspections to detect internal porosity and cracks.

Voyager

Neptune’s and Triton’s accessibility is enhanced with the Voyager analysis software. Voyager is a cloud-based inspection platform that runs directly in a web browser. It enables users to visualize, analyze, and share CT data from any computer, regardless of their location. More than this, it is a standalone product in that it does not require that a user has a Neptune or Triton scanner. It can be used to consolidate data from industrial scanners or even 3D scanners.

Data and Attributes Panel

Source: Lumafield

The data tab, found on the left, contains the scan and project information. Data can be things like reconstruction, radiographs, porosity, CAD compare and more.

Attributes found on the right are adjustable parameters directly associated with the data. These attributes include options for cropping, controlling the slice, adjusting the view, setting the range, managing color mapping, and altering opacity.

The range and color mapping feature determines how the raw reconstruction is translated into colors and intensities on the screen. Typically, the left-most peak in the histogram represents the scan background (air), while the peaks to the right correspond to different materials. By adjusting the sliders, users can change the range of intensity values mapped to the selected color palette. Lowering the lower bound removes the background while reducing the upper bound decreases the display of high-intensity material. Additionally, users can adjust the color map values for finer control over scene visualization.

The data and attributes tabs are interconnected, ensuring that any changes made to the attributes are immediately reflected in the data, providing a seamless and responsive user experience.

Slice Views

Source: Lumafield

As the name implies, this feature is a slice of the reconstruction. Similar to how a standard X-ray looks, these are reconstructions of the slice across a 3D object on the cardinal axes.

Bookmarks

Source: Lumafield

Within Voyager a user can bookmark the different views that they are analyzing. The bookmarks appear in the bottom left tab and, on selection, will show a comment thread on the right. This allows bookmarks to be a means of communicating ideas with peers and other users looking at the project. These comments will populate live, so if two users view a project concurrently, they can communicate in live time.

Inspection Planes

This feature enables users to analyze more deeply what is happening on a 2D slice of the product. Once a user selects a reconstruction and selects the inspection plane button a new inspection plane data object is created.

Source: Lumafield

The dimensioning tools are a circle, line, and angle. Each example of the tooling comes with a label to describe its purpose. A line can be added with two points (start and end), a circle is defined with 3 points, all of which represent the perimeter, and an angle with 4 points, two to define a line, and then another two for another line. The label’s location determines what angle is being measured.

Auto Alignment

After two meshes have been coarsely aligned with the manual manipulation handles, the auto alignment tool allows a user to snap the meshes into the best alignment based on the globally calculated best alignment.

Source: Lumafield

In this view, the pink and blue represent two separate parts of the same model. The blue is a mesh of a printed part, while the pink is an STL file. Auto alignment allows for a more precise set of deviations between the STL and the mesh to help a user understand where there are differences between the intended and resulting outcomes. This can also be applied to two meshes. These alignments can be used on either computer-aided design (CAD) comparisons, digital files that contains a 2D or 3D model of physical objects, or Scan-to-Scan Comparisons.

Source: Lumafield

For CAD comparison workflow, after the alignment is made between two pieces, a user will have the ability to select “compare” from the top bar. This creates a new object under the alignment object. Once the comparison is complete, a range map and color map selector are provided. The range map on the right enforces tolerance ranges, while the color map is used to draw attention in specific ways.

Source: Lumafield

A Scan-to-Scan Comparison is effectively the same thing as the CAD comparison, but between two scans from a CT scanner. The Scan-to-Scan Comparison is meant as a deviation check between two products in manufacturing. This feature provides an understanding of whether manufacturing equipment is facing wear and tear and how exactly it may be impacting the product. These capabilities ideally turn complex analyses into a more simple and straightforward check, shortening iteration cycles, and maintaining product quality across a line.

Custom Slice Planes

Source: Lumafield

Custom Slice planes allow a user to define slice planes beyond the standard X-Y-Z planes. A user would select the reconstruction or element that they want to place the slice plane on and select the slice tool. This will bring them to a view where the user can set up rotation and translation to focus on the feature of interest. The slider on the right window functions in the same way in allowing a user to navigate slicing through a particular part of a product. The axis length can also be adjusted for more granular control.

Revolving Slice Planes

Source: Lumafield

Revolving slice planes allow a user to set up a plane on the X, Y, or Z axis that rotates 360 degrees through the scan. A user would select an item to create the revolving slice plane, then create a 3-point circle to define the diameter. Once submitted, a Slice Angle Slider on the right data panel would allow a user to rotate through the part. The center of the diameter defined earlier acts as a pivot point for the rotation. These are particularly useful to inspect seals for possible leakage, assembly analysis for tubing, fittings, and valves, or analyzing the threads of a screw.

Region of Interest

This feature allows a user to zoom into specific areas of the scan. By zooming in, it allows regions to be excluded, while also bringing chaining tools into a workflow. The region of interest (ROI) tool allows users to align the scan to a specific, user-defined coordinate system, enhance the resolution of specific areas of the scan, and enhance contrast by removing high or low-density materials. It is important to note that ROIs can be nested upon each other.

Source: Lumafield

Porosity

The porosity tool detects voids and pores that compromise material integrity and lead to part failures. Porosity can lead to fractures. Being able to analyze whether there are pores in an object reduces the likelihood of part failure. Using the porosity can include finding where leakage in packaging could occur. In terms of real effects, this could mean product spoilage, contamination, reduced shelf life, and compromised safety.

Source: Lumafield

The porosity tool enables a user to save and run an analysis on porosity with a custom pore threshold size.

Source: Lumafield

When the porosity analysis is completed and loaded, it appears under the reconstruction tab. This analysis tool also provides metrics to the user to explain the nuances of the pores that are being addressed. This can be seen on the right tab, under Pore Metrics.

Mesh Smoothing

Creating a mesh from volumetric data involves segmenting the data into different groups to identify distinct materials. Voyager supports Binary Segmentation, which is the process of partitioning a digital image into multiple segments to simplify or change the representation of an image into something more meaningful and easier to analyze.

Binary segmentation involves separating the data into two distinct groups. During segmentation, artifacts or noise can cause inaccuracies at the boundaries, resulting in high-frequency, low-amplitude noise on the mesh surface. Artifacts are any distortion or error in the image that does not originate from the actual scanned object, and noise refers to random variations in the image signal. Mesh smoothing can address this surface noise, making the mesh more representative of the real object.

Source: Lumafield

While smoothing may reduce accuracy in specific areas like creases or corners, it generally improves overall mesh quality and should be used carefully to enhance meshing results. This example has similar thresholds, but different smoothing valuations applied to it.

Renormalization

Renormalization in CT scanning enhances the perception of details within multi-material scans by adjusting specific ranges of attenuation values. Volumetric data, stored as a cube of voxels, will store more voxels than can be displayed in Voyager and also more color depth.

Source: Lumafield

Within the ROI tooling, a user can access the renormalization feature. This feature has three options:

• Default range (ROI 1): This is the normalization applied to scans once they have been created, and is what Voyager will normally display.

• Selected Range (ROI 2): These are the specific values that the range mapper and visualization show. This is to be used when choosing a specific range to normalize the ROI

• Full Range (ROI 3): If the default data looks like it has been clipped, which can happen with high variation multi-material datasets, this will allow access to the raw, unclipped data.

Crack Detection & Analysis

The crack detection tool is used to identify and analyze cracks, leaks, surface pits, and surface-connected voids. Cracks refer to fractures, fissures, or discontinuities within a material often caused by structural failures, impact damage, or wear and tear over time. Surface voids and pitting appear as small, localized depressions or cavities on a material's surface. These voids typically result from deterioration, corrosion, mechanical damage, or manufacturing process issues. Leaks refer to unintended pathways through which a substance, such as a fluid or gas, escapes from a sealed or contained system due to improper design, manufacturing defects, damage, or wear.

To access this feature, the user must have access to Integrity Analysis within Voyager. A user can use this feature by selecting a reconstruction tool and then “Cracks” in the top toolbar. This will prompt the user to set a crack threshold and the cracks can then be seen in 2D slices (X, Y, and Z views). Cracks in blue are more likely to be detected. A user can also define a max crack diameter for detection in conjunction with the measurement bar in the viewer.

Source: Lumafield

This process is similar to the porosity analysis, as are the results. Cracks are highlighted when adjusting the range map. Once Voyager has run Crack Detection, the analysis will appear under the volume that it was run upon in the data panel.

Beam Hardening Correction (BHC)

BHC is used to correct beam hardening artifacts and reduce streaking artifacts in the software. This panel can be seen on the right once clicking the correct button in the toolbar, and turning on the BHC option.

Source: Lumafield

This prompts the user with a slider on top of the scan. The point where the line intersects the part in an area of interest that is shown as a darker, more dense region where there is more likely to be beam hardening artifacts.

Source: Lumafield

Atlas

Source: Lumafield

Atlas is an AI agent embedded into Voyager. It is trained on engineering knowledge to identify issues like anomalies and generate annotated bookmarks that highlight key features. Lumafield claims to reduce weeks of quality assurance processes to mere minutes, enabling a single engineer to accomplish what once required a dedicated team. Atlas pops up as a simple chat interface from the bottom left of the screen and is prompt-based. It can initiate workflows such as porosity analysis, CAD comparisons, and Scan-to-Scan Comparisons.

In addition to these workflows, Atlas offers a versatile range of other tools to help analyze and understand parts better. These tools include measuring features, creating cross-sections, and visualizing data in different ways. Some of the extra features it provides are material selection insights and manufacturing process choices. For material selection, Voyager provides insights into the properties of different materials based on data from CT and surface scans. Regarding manufacturing processes, it analyzes part data and suggests the most suitable manufacturing method based on factors such as part complexity, material used, and desired finish.

Atlas also helps identify key requirements for manufacturing, including applicable regulations, tolerances, surface finish, and other specifications needed for successful production. It offers analysis suggestions, such as recommending a porosity analysis for parts with complex internal structures. Additionally, Atlas aids in root cause analysis by comparing scans over time to identify defects or issues in parts.

Customer

Lumafield’s target customer base is expected to be relatively broad, including anyone that looks for a more affordable means to inspecting their goods. In a June 2024 interview with Eduardo Torrealba, Lumafield’s CEO, 80% to 90% of customers are companies that have never had a CT scanner before. According to Jon Bruner (head of marketing), these are companies that are producing items at scale, with those in industries that already have used CT scanning before such as medical device and auto part manufacturers.

For customers dealing with these issues, Lumafield’s response is speed. Companies that do have access to CT scanners might not necessarily have them on hand, but instead will need to mail the parts to an external body to get them scanned. “It’s the difference between having your engineering problem answered in two hours and waiting a week” stated Bruner.

Lumafield services use cases in a variety of different industries including aerospace & defense, automotive, athletic equipment, consumer packaged goods, medical devices, batteries, and electronics. As of July 2024, Some of Lumafield’s notable customers include companies such as L’Oréal Group, WHOOP, New Balance, PUMA, Milwaukee, and Shark | Ninja.

Market Size

The market for smart manufacturing was valued at $107.2 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach a market size of $611.5 billion by 2032 with a CAGR of 19.1%.

Lumafield has been able to serve use cases in a variety of multi-billion dollar industries including aerospace & defense ($496.6 billion in 2024), automotive ($3.6 trillion in 2023), athletic equipment ($332.6 billion in 2022), consumer packaged goods ($2.1 trillion in 2022), medical devices ($536.1 billion in 2023), and batteries & electronics ($84.3 billion in 2024).

Nikon Metrology: Nikon is a public company founded in 1917, and has a market cap of $3.7 billion as of July 2024. Nikon Metrology is a subsidiary founded in 1998, expanded in 2009, and offers solutions intended for manufacturing including optical inspection and mechanical 3D imaging, similar to Lumafield. It offers four models compared to Lumafield’s two as of July 2024. Each of Nikon’s models is very specific to CT scanners, while Lumafield is more general. The source energies of the VOXLS 30 Series is higher than Neptune’s. It has configurations at 225kV, 320kV, or 450kV while Neptune is at 120kV, 130kV, and 190kV. Nikon’s models are larger compared to Lumafield’s and thereby can scan larger items. However, it does not offer software accessible to the public like Lumafield.

ZEISS: Carl Zeiss Meditec AG is a public German company with a market cap of $5.9 billion as of July 2024. Founded in 1846, ZEISS offers solutions for industrial metrology with limited optionality, including CAD comparison, dimensional measurements, thickness inspection, and tolerance or geometric dimensioning, which are also offered by Lumafield. ZEISS's options are supposedly more flexible in size and come with what is reportedly a more powerful analysis. However, the EasyTom S system, comparable to Lumafield's Neptune, is supposedly less efficient and less suitable for automation. The EasyTom L, which competes with the Triton, has a higher microfocus but is not designed for production line handling. Additionally, ZEISS offers the EasyTom XL, which offers a larger space to scan, but its max microfocus is lower than Neptune’s at 160kV compared to 190kV.

North Star Imaging: North Star Imaging specializes in digital radiography and CT X-ray systems. Founded in 1986, it was a private company that was acquired by a public company, Illinois Tool Works, in 2010. Illinois Tool Works has a market cap of $73.2 billion as of July 2024. North Star Imaging offers 12 models of physical scanners compared to Lumafield's two. Application download for individual types of analysis is a Windows-based software package, which must be downloaded to a laptop and is not accessible online, unlike Lumafield, which works on any laptop and is a more holistic offering with a broader set of features enabled from the start. Lumafield also supports the upload of user scans, provided they fit the supported format. A unique feature of North Star Imaging is its 4D scanning, which allows users to observe wear and tear over time.

Waygate Technologies: Waygate Technologies, formerly known as GE Inspection Technologies is a subsidiary of Baker Hughes founded in 2004 and joined Baker Hughes in 2017. Baker Hughes is a public company with a market cap of approximately $35.7 billion as of July 2024. It offers a broader range of sizes, CT systems, and inline inspection solutions.

Comet Yxlon: Comet Yxlon is a subsidiary of Comet Holdings and was founded in 1998. Comet Holding is a public company with a market cap of $3 billion as of July 2024. Like many other competitors, it offers multiple high-powered CT scanners (up to 600kV), and each model has a specific focus. Similarly, it has a large number of software packages for a variety of different purposes.

Voyager

Source: Lumafield

As of July 2024, Lumafield has four pricing tiers for its software, Voyager:

1. Free: The Free tier is designed for a single public project viewable by anyone, with no organization management and limited use of Atlas, Lumafield’s AI co-pilot.

2. Individual ($40/month): The Individual tier, priced at $40 per month, offers unlimited private and public projects, full control over sharing, and unlimited use of Atlas, though it lacks organization management.

3. Team ($52/seat/month): The Team tier, at $52 per seat per month, includes all the features of the Individual tier, along with organization management.

4. Enterprise: The Enterprise tier provides unlimited private and public projects, full control over sharing, organization management, unlimited use of Atlas, and SSO integrations.

Neptune & Triton

Source: Lumafield

As of July 2024, Lumafield has two models of CT scanners, the Neptune and the Triton. There is no public pricing information available for the Triton, as it is priced on a per-company basis. However, for the Neptune, Lumafield has two pricing levels for that hardware:

1. Standard (starts at $75K/year): The standard package starting at $75K, includes onsite hardware, unlimited scanning and storage with three editor seats, unlimited viewers, service and support from the team, core Voyager features plus comparative tools, 3D viewing and slicing, 2D measurements, acquisition modules, faster scanning, high resolution, and expanded scan volume.

2. Production: The Production package, with custom pricing, includes all features of the Standard package and adds automated operation with loading and unloading parts for high throughput, a production dashboard, and recipe execution.

As of March 2023, a year after Lumafield came out of stealth, Torreabla stated that the company had shipped more than 10 but fewer than 100 machines, without further indication as to the exact number. There is not much public information on Lumafield’s customer base besides the publicly listed names on the company’s case study page. In 2022, it was reported that Lumafield has quietly built a customer base of “dozens” of companies. As of June 2024, these customers range from technology startups to publicly traded enterprises. Lumafield has been featured in several popular YouTube channels including LinusTechTips and Adam Savage’s Tested.

As of July 2024, Lumafield had raised a total of $67.5 million from various investors including, Lux Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Data Collective, and Tony Fadell’s Future Shape. In 2022, Lumafield raised a $35 million Series B round, which was led by Spark Capital. In June 2024, Lumafield reportedly had raised an undisclosed amount of additional funding from Shane Neman. Prior rounds include a 2019 seed round led by Lux Capital and Kleiner Perkins, who followed on in a $32.5 million Series A round led by DCVC in 2020.

In terms of comparable public companies, like Nikon and Illinois Tool Works, most of these businesses are broader conglomerates with subsidiaries which are involved in optical inspection. ZEISS, as an example, “is a multinational medical technology company… [manufacturing] tools for eye examinations and medical lasers as well as solutions for neurosurgery, dentistry, gynecology and oncology.” As a result its less clear what Lumafield could potentially trade at as a public company. The lack of standalone public companies with this focus are also indications that Lumafield may be more likely to end up as an acquisition of a larger conglomerate, rather than a standalone public company.

Leveraging AI & Data

As the cost for AI and large language models decreases, it provides an avenue to build out more efficient and well-informed models that have product context. Atlas, Lumafield’s software companion, is an early indication of that capability, but building it into the inline process can further improve the quality of each product reviewed. Further leveraging AI can better inform a user’s understanding of wear and tear on the products, which can deepen the understanding of future models, acting as a two-way solution.

AI could also be leveraged to create a more aware Atlas similar to Ramp Tour, an AI agent from Ramp, prompting the user to conduct new things that they might not have known could be done, without explicit instruction as a means of driving engagement on the piece being scanned. Better information, or knowledge, will improve results which improves bottom-line ROI and builds a natural flywheel for Lumafield engagement.

Manufacturing Optimization

Lumafield has solutions that work in line with manufacturing. As the demand for manufacturing increases, fewer and fewer individuals want to work in factories. Torrealba references a conversation with a friend about how 90% of individuals under 30 do not make it past the 90-day probationary period doing factory labor.

As a result, manufacturing has to deal with a shrinking workforce, all while output requirements continue to rise. This also presents an opportunity to bring manufacturing closer to a ‘lights-off’ approach by expanding its product line to encompass attachments that can be retrofitted to its scanners and reduce the requirement for labor needs on the manufacturing line. Lumafield could play a key role in automating the quality control processes within these more automated facilities in the future.

Expanding To Enterprise

Lumafield considers itself positioned as a generalist low-cost solution for CT scanners in the industry. However, the company has partnerships with large conglomerates and has shown substantial ROI for these companies. For example, Lumafield reduced the time to decision from three weeks to three days for a well-known conglomerate.

While Lumafield has established partnerships in racing and automotive parts, there is also potential to address larger enterprise opportunities in aerospace or automotive. For example, in 2023 the budget cap for research and development was $135 million per car, cars are continuously undergoing even the slightest tweaks to make sure they are performant and flawless. Using AI and modeling to suggest new improvements could save significant dollars on those engineering processes.

Competition

Given the diverse segments and industries that Lumafield’s industrial CT scanners can address, the company faces competition from various established players. While Lumafield has mentioned that it has a few large-scale clients, as Lumafield expands further into the aerospace or medical industries, it will encounter many established companies with decades of experience. Lumafield will need to demonstrate substantial value to effectively replace legacy tools either by expanding the product line to fit larger items or by continuing to innovate on existing processes.

High R&D Costs

Rapid technological advancements in the field of industrial CT scanning could outpace Lumafield's offerings. Developing high-end features such as sub-micron resolution, AI integration, and advanced software requires substantial investment in R&D. Competitors with more resources may develop superior technology, making it challenging for Lumafield to keep up without substantial investment in R&D.

Balancing the need to invest in R&D with the need to maintain affordable pricing for products can be challenging. High R&D costs can drive up the price of Lumafield’s scanners, potentially reducing its competitive edge in the market. Larger competitors can also leverage their extensive R&D facilities and partnerships with research institutions to accelerate innovation cycles.

Lumafield was started to bring quality control from using bandsaws and calipers to the modern age by way of CT scanners. The long-lasting problem of quality manufacturing could be addressed by making CT scanners more affordable and the relevant software more accessible. Lumafield finds itself addressing several industries and use cases from aerospace to consumer packaged goods. While the affordability creates an advantage for Lumafield, the high costs of R&D may pose a threat. Going forward, Lumafield has the opportunity to establish itself by expanding its product line, and further leveraging AI to service its customers and their use cases.