MergenIMS AR
See MergenIMS AR in action
Discover how model-based fabrication, AR-guided fit-up and quality traceability can work together across your steel fabrication workflow.
Request a product demoAn error costs more than the work required to correct it.
A fabrication error can create additional costs across quality control, engineering, logistics, erection, project execution, contractual performance, client confidence, reputation, and future projects.
The error can usually be corrected by repositioning, adjusting, or replacing the component before permanent welding. The cost is mainly limited to additional labor, limited additional material and consumables, and reinspection of the corrected condition.
The error now requires completed work to be undone—cutting, grinding, refitting, and rewelding—followed by renewed inspection and, where required, NDT or engineering review. Additional labor, consumables, equipment time, and QC resources are required for correction.
The correction now affects both fabrication and coating. The affected area must be stripped, repaired, reinspected, surface-prepared, recoated, and inspected again. Additional fabrication labor, coating materials, handling, equipment time, and QC resources are required.
The assembly may need to be removed from staging or loading, returned to the appropriate production area, repaired, reinspected, recoated where necessary, and brought back for final release. Additional handling, lifting equipment, labor, QC resources, and shipment preparation are required.
The error is no longer contained within the factory. The assembly may need to be isolated, unloaded, handled again, and held while engineering and QC assess the required correction. Additional logistics, site coordination, inspection, transportation, and handling costs begin to accumulate before the repair itself is completed.
The assembly must be transported back, handled again, repaired, reinspected, recoated where necessary, reloaded, and delivered to the project again. Return transportation, repeated handling, factory resources, QC, and additional delivery costs are added to the correction.
Qualified personnel, tools, welding and cutting equipment, inspection resources, coating materials, and engineering support must be mobilized to the project. Travel, transportation, local services, site access, inspection, and additional coordination further increase the correction cost.
A fabrication error can interrupt erection, delay dependent assemblies, change planned lifts, and force crews, equipment, and site supervision to remain committed longer than planned. Rescheduling, recovery work, overtime, and knock-on delays to subsequent activities can further increase the project cost.
When the error creates additional cost, delay, or other consequences for the contractor or client, those impacts can return to the fabricator through backcharges, claims, payment deductions, withheld payments, corrective obligations, or delay-related penalties. The commercial exposure can become many times greater than the original repair cost.
Repeated fabrication problems can reduce the client's confidence in the fabricator's quality and reliability. Additional witnessing, hold points, documentation, third-party inspection, and direct supervision may follow, making the remaining project activities more demanding and more costly to execute.
Quality problems can extend beyond the current project. A weakened project reference, reduced client trust, or poor delivery experience can affect repeat orders, future tenders, subcontracting opportunities, and access to new markets. The largest loss may therefore be the next project that is never awarded.
The error itself may be the same. What changes is when it is identified—and how far its consequences have already spread.
Rework does not only create repair costs. It consumes the same resources needed for new production.
A fabrication facility may have sufficient labor, equipment, workshop space, QC resources, and supporting resources—but when part of those resources is occupied correcting previous work, less capacity remains available for revenue-generating fabrication.
LABOR — Welders, fitters, fabricators, painters, inspectors, supervisors, and other skilled personnel
EQUIPMENT — Cranes, welding machines, cutting and grinding equipment, lifting devices, forklifts, and other production equipment
QC CAPACITY — Reinspection, repeated measurements, NDT, coating inspection, verification, and final acceptance
WORKSHOP SPACE — Fabrication bays, welding stations, inspection areas, staging zones, and painting facilities
MATERIALS & ENERGY — Replacement steel, welding consumables, gases, coating materials, electricity, and other production inputs
ENGINEERING & SUPERVISION — Technical assessment, repair decisions, engineering review, production supervision, coordination, and follow-up
A factory's available production capacity comes from the labor, equipment, space, and supporting resources it has. But the capacity actually available for new fabrication is lower whenever part of those resources is consumed by rework.
Effective Production Capacity = Available Production Capacity − Capacity Consumed by Rework
Reducing avoidable rework does not create new physical capacity. It releases more of the factory's existing labor, equipment, QC resources, workshop space, engineering support, and production time for new fabrication.
Less capacity consumed by rework means more capacity available for revenue-generating production.
MergenIMS AR connects the IFC model with the physical fabrication process, carrying each assembly through digital preparation, identification, fit-up, inspection, welding, painting, pre-shipment, shipment, site receiving, and erection while keeping its model, drawings, quality records, corrective actions, production status, and logistics information connected in one continuous workflow.
MergenIMS AR helps reduce rework by acting at the points where fabrication errors can still be prevented, detected early, corrected, and verified before they progress downstream. AR-Guided Fit-Up helps prevent avoidable mistakes before permanent welding, while focused inspection helps identify remaining problems earlier.
When an issue is found, MergenIMS AR keeps the finding, correction, reinspection, and approval connected to the same assembly until verified resolution. Project-wide quality information also makes recurring problems and rework patterns more visible, supporting preventive action and reducing recurrence.
FEWER AVOIDABLE ERRORS → EARLIER DETECTION → LESS REWORK → MORE EXISTING PRODUCTION AND QC CAPACITY AVAILABLE FOR NEW WORK
Direct access to everything related to each assembly.
Each assembly in MergenIMS AR automatically receives its own Assembly ID and QR code. By scanning the QR code or entering the Assembly ID in MergenIMS AR, the user can directly access the assembly's 3D model, drawings, technical information, quality records, production status, shipment information, and erection status.
As the assembly moves through Fit-Up, Welding, Painting, Pre-Shipment, Shipment, and Erection, information created at each stage remains connected to the same assembly and available to the authorized users who need it.
Together, this information forms the assembly's Digital Assembly Record, providing a clear history of the assembly and its current status.
Instead of records becoming scattered between fabrication, QC, logistics, and site teams, MergenIMS AR keeps the assembly history together. This makes it easier to trace what has been inspected, what problems were identified, what was corrected and reinspected, what has been approved, and where the assembly is in the project.
This reduces time spent searching for or reconstructing information, strengthens control of unresolved quality issues and rework, and provides clear assembly-level traceability for quality documentation and selected EN 1090 Factory Production Control activities.
See the intended component position directly on the physical assembly before welding makes it permanent.
During Fit-Up, fabricators must determine from drawings where each component belongs, which side or face it should be placed on, how it should be oriented, and how it relates to the surrounding assembly. With complex details, this interpretation can take time and create opportunities for positioning or orientation errors.
MergenIMS AR displays the corresponding 3D assembly model on the iPad and aligns it with the physical assembly using AR and LiDAR, giving the fabricator a direct visual reference while working with the real steel.
The aligned model helps the fabricator quickly understand:
Instead of relying only on repeated interpretation of 2D drawings, the fabricator can see the intended arrangement directly in the fabrication context. This can make complex details easier to understand and help reduce unnecessary time spent determining where and how components should be fitted.
The AR-guided reference can help reduce the risk of:
When a potential error is recognized before permanent welding, it can usually be corrected with much less effort and disruption than after welding or later production stages.
Inspect faster. Cover more assemblies with the same QC resources.
During Fit-Up Inspection, the inspector uses the AR-guided 3D model on the iPad, aligned with the physical assembly using LiDAR, to compare the fabricated assembly with its intended geometry.
Component position, orientation, and hole locations can be checked directly in relation to the reference model, while automatic missing-component detection helps identify modeled components that are absent from the physical assembly.
Instead of manually searching the complete assembly for every possible geometric problem, MergenIMS AR directs the inspector toward locations where the physical assembly differs from the aligned reference 3D model.
The inspector can then focus measurement, tolerance assessment, verification, and technical judgment on those locations.
Reducing broad manual searching can shorten the time required for geometric inspection. This allows the same QC resources to inspect more assemblies and creates more opportunities to identify fabrication problems before additional welding, coating, handling, shipment, or erection effort is added to an incorrect condition.
Keep every quality finding connected to the assembly until it is properly resolved and approved.
As an assembly moves through Fit-Up, Welding, Painting, Pre-Shipment, Shipment, and Erection, MergenIMS AR keeps its drawings, technical information, inspection history, quality findings, corrective actions, and current status connected to the same assembly.
During inspection, the inspector can access the relevant information on the iPad and record the anomaly type, inspection result, photographs, comments, and supporting evidence directly in MergenIMS AR.
The finding remains connected to the affected assembly instead of becoming separated in photographs, messages, or standalone reports.
Production personnel can open the recorded finding in MergenIMS AR and see what was identified, where the problem is, and the supporting photographs and comments before correction begins.
This gives the person performing the rework a clear record of what QC has identified.
After correction, the inspector can reopen the original finding, review the previous evidence, inspect the corrected condition, and either approve it or return it for further correction.
MergenIMS AR keeps production status and quality status connected but distinct. An assembly can therefore remain visibly pending inspection, correction, or reinspection even when the related production activity has been completed.
This helps prevent unresolved quality issues from being overlooked or carried into later production stages, shipment, or erection.
See where problems repeat, where rework is concentrated, and where quality issues are affecting production.
Every inspection, quality finding, corrective action, reinspection, approval, and production-stage update recorded in MergenIMS AR contributes to a connected project-wide view of quality and production.
MergenIMS AR can show:
RECURRING ANOMALIES · CORRECTIVE ACTIVITY · REINSPECTION FREQUENCY · REWORK CONCENTRATION · PRODUCTION STATUS · BOTTLENECKS · STAGE-LEVEL QUALITY PATTERNS
Instead of treating each quality issue as an isolated event, QC and management can see where the same problems occur repeatedly and where corrective effort is being consumed.
TURN VISIBILITY INTO PREVENTIVE ACTION
Management can trace recurring patterns back to the affected assemblies, findings, photographs, corrective actions, and related production information to investigate what is happening and why.
The information can support root-cause investigation and help determine whether recurring problems are linked to personnel, equipment, fabrication procedures, work methods, drawings, or other production conditions. Based on the findings, management can take targeted action such as training, closer supervision, equipment adjustment or maintenance, revised work instructions, or process improvement, and then monitor whether the problem occurs less frequently.
Keep quality status, shipment information, site receiving, storage planning, and erection connected to each assembly.
MergenIMS AR continues to track each assembly after fabrication, so the same information used for quality control remains available as the steel moves through Pre-Shipment, Shipment, Site Receiving, Storage, and Erection.
Before release, QC can review the assembly's inspection history, outstanding findings, corrective actions, reinspection status, and approval information in MergenIMS AR.
Only after the required quality activities are complete is the assembly released as Ready for Shipment.
MergenIMS AR can also automatically compile the recorded inspection information into a printable quality document when required.
The logistics team records transport information in MergenIMS AR and assigns the relevant assemblies to each vehicle.
This provides a clear record of which assemblies are included in each shipment, while shipment status can progress through stages such as Loaded, In Transit, and Arrived.
Before or when a shipment arrives, the site team can review the assemblies in that load and see where each one belongs in the complete 3D building model.
Storage zones can be defined in MergenIMS AR, allowing the site team to plan where arriving loads or assemblies should be unloaded and stored based on their future structural location and erection needs.
At site, the team can locate an assembly in the 3D building model and access its drawings, technical information, quality history, shipment information, and structural location directly in MergenIMS AR.
As erection progresses, the assembly status can be updated within the same connected project record.
Turn the complete IFC model into an assembly-ready digital project with less manual preparation.
A steel fabrication project may contain hundreds or thousands of assemblies. Preparing individual assembly models manually can require significant repetitive work in isolating, exporting, naming, organizing, and associating files.
The complete IFC project model is imported once into MergenIMS AR. MergenIMS AR automatically separates the project into individual assemblies, prepares the corresponding 3D assembly models, and connects them with their Assembly IDs and project information.
For large projects, this can significantly reduce repetitive project-preparation work and reduce the risk of missing assemblies, duplicate files, inconsistent naming, or incorrect assembly associations.
Once the project is prepared, authorized users can access the information relevant to each assembly directly on the iPad during fabrication, inspection, production control, logistics, and site activities.
The 3D model, drawings, technical information, quality records, photographs, findings, and assembly status remain available within the same connected project environment.
MergenIMS AR supports offline working on the iPad, allowing production and inspection activities to continue when reliable internet connectivity is unavailable.
When connectivity returns, MergenIMS AR automatically synchronizes the updated project information, avoiding the need to manually transfer inspection records, photographs, findings, or status updates afterward.
Use one connected digital workflow while keeping project and operational data within the organization's own controlled environment.
As MergenIMS AR is used across fabrication, inspection, production, shipment, and erection, it brings together important project information including models and drawings, production progress, inspection records, quality findings, rework activity, shipment information, and erection status.
Because this information can provide a detailed picture of the company's projects, quality performance, and production activities, how and where it is stored matters.
For structural steel fabricators operating under EN 1090, Factory Production Control requires documented control of manufacturing, inspection, product conformity, nonconformities, and associated quality records.
MergenIMS AR supports selected workshop-level FPC activities by keeping each assembly's model, drawings, technical information, inspection results, photographs, quality findings, corrections, reinspection status, approvals, and production status connected within its Digital Assembly Record.
This provides a structured digital foundation for maintaining, retrieving, and demonstrating assembly-level production and quality-control records alongside the manufacturer's established Factory Production Control system.
MergenIMS AR supports selected EN 1090 Factory Production Control activities at workshop level, particularly across fabrication, inspection, assembly traceability, nonconformity control, and quality documentation, working alongside the manufacturer's established FPC system.
| EN 1090 area | How MergenIMS AR supports it |
|---|---|
| FPC Inspection & Quality Records — EN 1090-1 §6.3.1 | Creates assembly-specific inspection records and evidence. Inspection results, photographs, comments and quality findings are recorded against the relevant assembly and remain available for later review. |
| Component Specification & Inspection Control — EN 1090-1 §6.3.6 | Brings intended component information to the point of work. Fabricators and inspectors can access the relevant 3D model, drawings and technical information while working with the physical assembly. |
| Product Evaluation & Geometrical Verification — EN 1090-1 §6.3.7 / EN 1090-2 §12.3 | Supports direct comparison between intended and fabricated geometry. The AR-guided 3D model helps inspectors verify component position, orientation, hole locations and missing components in their physical context. |
| Nonconformity, Correction & Reinspection — EN 1090-1 §6.3.8 / EN 1090-2 Clause 12, particularly §12.3 | Controls the finding through to verified resolution. Anomalies remain connected to their evidence and supporting information through correction, reinspection, verification, and approval. |
| Quality & Execution Documentation — EN 1090-2 §4.2.1 / §4.2.4 | Preserves the history of what happened to each assembly. Production progression, inspection activity, identified problems, corrections and quality status form a continuous Digital Assembly Record. |
Faster Geometric Inspection → comparison with the LiDAR-aligned 3D model on the iPad shows where the physical assembly differs from the reference geometry, reducing manual searching and inspection time.
Lower Risk of Missing Components Going Undetected → automatic missing-component detection identifies modeled components absent from the physical assembly, reducing the risk of omissions progressing unnoticed.
More Focused Technical Verification → identified difference locations allow inspectors to concentrate measurements, tolerance assessment, and professional judgment where verification is actually required.
Faster Access to Inspection Information → the Digital Assembly Record keeps drawings, technical documents, previous findings, photographs, corrective history, and status together on the iPad.
Greater Inspection Coverage → shorter inspection time allows more assemblies to be inspected using the same available QC resources.
Stronger Control from Finding to Resolution → findings remain connected through correction, reinspection, verification, and approval until the reported issue is satisfactorily resolved.
More Efficient Reinspection and Inspector Handover → original findings, photographs, comments, and evidence remain available on the iPad, allowing any authorized inspector to continue the verification.
Less Manual Reporting → exportable assembly-specific inspection reports containing results, photographs, findings, comments, and other recorded QC information are prepared automatically.
Better Visibility for Preventive Action → anomaly, corrective-work, and reinspection statistics reveal recurring quality problems and rework concentration, helping QC and production teams investigate causes and reduce recurrence.
Better Control Before Shipment → inspection history, outstanding findings, reinspection status, and—when required—LiDAR-based geometric inspection on the iPad help resolve remaining quality issues before release.
Clearer Project-Wide Visibility → production, quality, shipment, and erection status can be viewed together with the complete 3D digital building model, providing both numerical and spatial project visibility.
Clearer Production and Quality Status → each assembly's production stage and quality status remain connected, showing what is progressing and what is waiting for inspection, correction, or reinspection.
Earlier Identification of Bottlenecks → assemblies accumulating at a production stage or waiting for quality-related action reveal where production or project flow is slowing.
Clearer Visibility of Rework and Capacity Consumption → corrective-work and reinspection statistics show where labor, equipment, QC resources, workshop space, and production time are repeatedly consumed by rework.
Better Visibility of Recurring Quality Problems → anomaly, corrective-action, and reinspection statistics reveal which problems repeatedly occur and where corrective effort is concentrated.
Better Visibility of Personnel-Related Quality Patterns → where production personnel are associated with assemblies or quality findings, management can examine whether recurring anomalies or corrective work are concentrated around particular personnel or teams, supporting targeted investigation, training, supervision, and performance improvement.
Faster Investigation of Operational Problems → management-level statistics can be traced back to the relevant Assembly IDs and Digital Assembly Records, including the underlying findings and corrective history.
Stronger Basis for Preventive Action → recurring production and quality patterns help management identify where causes should be investigated and preventive action taken to reduce recurrence.
Better Factory-to-Site Visibility → assembly status and history remain connected through Pre-Shipment, Shipment, receiving, and Erection, maintaining project visibility beyond the factory.
Lower Risk of Expensive Site Rework → Pre-Shipment quality status, outstanding findings, reinspection history, and—when required—geometric inspection using the LiDAR-aligned 3D model help resolve remaining issues before they reach the site.
More Existing Capacity Available for New Production → fewer avoidable errors and less repeated corrective work keep more existing labor, equipment, space, QC capacity, and production time available for new fabrication.
Clearer Understanding of Fabrication Deviations → comparison with the LiDAR-aligned 3D model on the iPad shows where the physical assembly differs from the reference geometry, providing clear geometric context for technical review.
Faster Technical Review and Decision-Making → the Digital Assembly Record keeps the 3D model, drawings, inspection evidence, findings, corrective history, and current status together for the assembly under review.
Better Evidence for Technical Review → photographs, comments, inspection results, and corrective information reduce dependence on verbal descriptions and repeated requests for supporting information.
Faster Investigation of Recurring Problems → anomaly and reinspection statistics can be traced back to the affected assemblies and their supporting records for detailed technical review.
Less Repetitive Model Preparation → automatic IFC-to-assembly preparation reduces manual isolation, exporting, naming, and organization of individual assembly models.
More Engineering Time for Higher-Value Technical Work → reducing repetitive model preparation and information searching leaves more time for design review, problem solving, and production support.
Faster Remote Technical Support → engineering specialists can review workshop or site issues remotely with the relevant assembly information available in the same connected project context.
More Efficient Shipment Preparation and Verification → MergenIMS AR shows exactly which assemblies are included in each shipment, making load verification, shipment preparation, and coordination between factory and receiving teams easier.
Better Receiving, Unloading, and Storage Planning → arriving assemblies can be viewed within the complete 3D digital building model on the iPad, helping teams prepare for arrival and place steel according to its future structural location.
Stronger Release Control Before Shipment → Pre-Shipment status shows whether fabrication, required inspection, correction, reinspection, and approval have been completed before release.
Faster Preparation of Shipment Quality Documentation → relevant QC information remains connected to the assembly and can be provided as automatically generated printable quality documentation when required.
Faster Assembly Identification and Structural Location → scanning the QR code opens the correct assembly record on the iPad, showing where it belongs within the complete 3D digital building model.
Better Erection Planning → seeing each assembly in its final structural location helps site teams plan erection sequence, handling, and access more effectively.
Faster Access to Technical Information → drawings, the 3D model, fabrication history, inspection records, and previous corrective information remain available on the iPad when questions arise at site.
Faster Resolution of Site Issues → connected assembly history gives erection and technical teams the information needed to understand and resolve problems without searching across separate records.
Less Factory-Originated Rework at Site → stronger factory-side inspection and Pre-Shipment control reduce the risk that erection crews, cranes, access equipment, and site time are consumed correcting fabrication problems.
Faster Technical Support at Site → engineering or QC specialists can remotely review the relevant assembly information when additional technical input is required during erection.
Faster Access to the Right Information → the Digital Assembly Record keeps the 3D model, drawings, technical information, quality history, production status, shipment information, and erection status connected to each assembly.
Less Information Loss Between Teams → the same assembly information remains available from fabrication and QC through management, logistics, and erection, reducing information loss between departments.
No Manual Data Transfer After Offline Work → information recorded on the iPad is automatically synchronized when connectivity returns, eliminating the need to manually transfer inspection records, photographs, findings, and status updates afterward.
Faster Access to Specialist Support → remote collaboration allows engineering, QC, and other authorized specialists to support workshop or site personnel without always being physically present.
Controlled User Access → individual accounts and role-based permissions give each user access only to the information and functions relevant to their responsibilities.
Organization-Controlled Data Environment → project and operational data remain within the organization's own iPads and iCloud environment, without requiring storage on an MKA Software project-data server.
Factories seeking higher production output with their existing resources
Factories where improvements in fabrication quality deliver significant value
Factories producing assemblies where Fit-Up accuracy is especially demanding
Factories where QC capacity is becoming a bottleneck as production volume grows
Factories where inspection, correction, and reinspection involve multiple people, shifts, or departments
Factories with demanding assembly-level traceability and quality documentation requirements
Factories where management needs clearer visibility of recurring quality problems, rework, and production bottlenecks
Factories working on projects where site correction carries serious financial, operational, and schedule consequences
If the conditions above reflect your factory, the next step is simple: see MergenIMS AR in action in real steel fabrication and quality control workflows.
Discover how one connected system can support Fit-Up, inspection, rework control, traceability, production visibility, and assembly management directly on the factory floor.