Different Flexibilities of 3D Scanners and Their Impact on Distinctive Applications: An Analysis

3D scanners are supporting technology which offers a higher level of flexibility to create designs for ergonomic tooling, biocompatible surgical guides, and realistic prototypes and parts. Flexibility helps to reduce lead time, weight, cost, and product development time. Scanning technologies are in tandem with support software that helps a designer to (re)design products at a cheaper and faster rate. There is a need to understand different types of flexibilities and associated application of 3D scanner. In this article, we have conducted an extensive review of the available literature for identifying various flexibilities of 3D scanners and its applications. This research categorises 3D scanner flexibility and applications into five major types. From design to final quality inspection, these flexibilities play a significant role in industries and sectors to achieve optimum performance. Ranking of these flexibilities and their impact on different applications are accomplished using the analytical hierarchical process (AHP) with the help of expert opinion. The ranking of five significant flexibilities by using 3D scanners, undertaken through the AHP technique shows that scanning provides object flexibility at a higher level. The impacts of different flexibilities on applications are also weighted, and it shows that all flexibilities are enough to achieve application individually. This digital technology is helpful to create the customised product which is also helpful to achieve goals of Industry 4.0. It facilitates the customisation and has a significant impact on the design applications. This study provides an understanding of the 3D scanner in the context of flexibilities by identifying the different flexibilities it offers when used for different applications. Findings may assist developing a decision support system for the selection of 3D scanners for the different applications.