Industrial CT Scanning for Plastic Parts: A US Buyer’s Procurement Checklist

Choose an industrial CT service by asking whether its proposed scan and analysis can answer your plastic-part question—not whether it can produce impressive images. Detection, measurement, and evidence for an acceptance decision require different levels of analysis. [1][3][4]

Send a quote-ready inspection question

Start with the task rather than the scanner.

Use this suggested brief:

• Specimen: part identifier, condition, polymer, known fillers, overall dimensions, and assembly condition.
• Target: marked internal region of interest, suspected flaw or dimensional concern, and smallest feature requiring evaluation.
• Decision: what the findings must help determine, including the applicable acceptance criterion.

For a molded plastic housing, the question could read:

“Inspect housing [part ID], supplied [condition], made from [polymer/fillers], measuring [dimensions], in [assembly condition]. In the marked [region], can you quantify suspected voids at or above [feature size] for evaluation against [acceptance criterion]?”

Jesse Garant Metrology Center’s consultation provides an intake example: it reviews part type, material, region of interest, and scan objective before matching the project to a system. [1] Ask it to confirm its receiving location and US service coverage.

Confirm feasibility for the material and geometry

A scanner’s advertised resolution is not a promise for your part. ZEISS’s US-market guidance says actual resolution depends on part size, material, and scanner model. [4] IIA identifies very large, high-density, and very flat parts as challenging; Jesse Garant warns that artifacts can limit dimensional or density measurements. [1][3]

Ask the laboratory to assess the polymer and fillers, thickest X-ray path, overall dimensions, assembly condition, and internal region of interest. Jesse Garant describes matching part size and material to the X-ray source and inspection purpose. [1]

Request separate written expectations for detecting an indication and quantifying its size or dimensions. Ask Jesse Garant, IIA, or ZEISS to confirm the plastic-part detection limit and accuracy for your job. [1][3][4]

If feasibility remains uncertain, ask whether a separately scoped trial scan or another inspection approach is appropriate. Agree on trial charges and what result would justify proceeding.

Separate visualization, measurement, and acceptance

A visible indication, a measured defect, and an acceptance decision are different results. Define which level the work must reach. [1][3][4]

• Visualization locates an indication. Virtual slices show internal features, but artifacts can resemble geometry and limit quantitative interpretation. [1]
• Quantitative analysis reports a measurement. Match the question to void volume or percentage, wall thickness, an internal dimension, or nominal/actual deviation—not simply a rendering. [1][3][4]
• Acceptance applies your rule. Supply the drawing revision, tolerances or defect limits, region to evaluate, and decision rule. Confirm whether the provider will deliver a job-specific pass/fail report against those criteria. [1][3][4]

For dimensional work, agree on alignment, measurement uncertainty, and treatment of borderline results before authorizing a pass/fail conclusion. Request an inconclusive outcome when artifacts or insufficient evidence prevent the agreed decision. Artifacts can limit quantitative interpretation, so an image alone is not an acceptance result. [1][3][4]

Specify the evidence package before booking

Put the required files and interpretation in the quote rather than accepting “CT images” as the deliverable. Treat this checklist as a requested specification, not a standard package:

• Located slices: Request specimen identification, slice location, orientation, units, and region-of-interest references. IIA lists slice-image stacks or video among its CT scanning deliverables. [3]
• Reconstructed volume: Confirm whether the volume will be delivered for subsequent analysis rather than shown only during a presentation. IIA lists a 3D volume viewable in supplied Volume Graphics myVGL Viewer software among its CT scanning deliverables. [3]
• Viewer access: Confirm compatibility requirements and any license or access limits.
• Quantitative results: Specify fields such as void volume and position, porosity percentage, wall thickness, or nominal-versus-actual deviations, with units and location references. These analyses appear in published CT service offerings. [1][3][4]
• Findings report: Request the inspection question, method, relevant settings, limitations, findings, acceptance criterion, and a conclusion where supported. Confirm whether interpretation and report review are included.

Jesse Garant’s project-dependent deliverables may include pictures, spreadsheets, presentations, viewing software, or certain model files; its workflow also includes a final customer web conference. Identify which outputs and review activities the quote includes. [1]

Check the analysis and reporting team

Ask for relevant plastic-part experience and a redacted report demonstrating the analysis you need. Confirm who selects scan parameters, performs measurements, interprets findings, and reviews the report.

ZEISS’s US-market page recommends evaluating equipment, expertise, resolution and accuracy, turnaround, reporting clarity, and quality-control processes. Use those factors to assess the proposed work, not merely the scanner. [4]

If purchasing requires accreditation, request the scope applicable to the proposed inspection.

Compare total scope and price

ZEISS’s US-market page lists starting prices of $285 per scan and $700 per project—not fixed quotes or market averages. It identifies part size, complexity, required resolution, turnaround, and scope as cost factors. [1][2][4] Do not add the starting figures together or assume one includes the other.

Request an itemized quote covering:

• Specimen and scan quantities, reconstruction, and analysis hours.
• Report preparation, review, and data delivery.
• Shipping and rush work.

Compare the total for the agreed evidence package, including the interpretation needed to answer the original question.

What to confirm with each provider

The Jesse Garant, ARA, and ZEISS pages do not state receiving-lab addresses, confidentiality terms, or rescan conditions; ZEISS’s US-market page does not identify city or state coverage. [1][2][4] Obtain written confirmation of:

• Location and handling: receiving address, shipping instructions, arrival-condition records, handling restrictions, return shipping, and responsibility for loss or damage.
• Confidentiality and data: NDA arrangements, ownership, authorized access, retention, and deletion.
• Schedule and charges: confirm delivery commitments, cancellation and refund conditions, and approval for additional analysis.
• Rescans: who pays when artifacts, incomplete coverage, handling problems, or scope changes require another scan—and whether inconclusive work incurs the full fee.

For evidence preservation, ARA advertises chain-of-custody imaging before destructive testing, calling it “legally defensible” documentation. That is a vendor claim, not a legal guarantee. Ask for the custody procedure and receiving location before shipping. [2]

Check that the quote answers the acceptance question

Before approval, connect the defined question and internal location to a feasible detection or measurement target, specified analysis, customer-supplied acceptance rule, evidence package, and treatment of inconclusive results.

Ask: “If the scan performs as proposed, which result will answer our original question, and where will that answer appear in the deliverables?” Request a revised scope if the answer promises only general imaging.

References

1. Industrial CT Scanning Services – Jesse Garant Metrology ® (jgarantmc.com)
2. Radiography & CT | ARA (ara-i.com)
3. CT Scanning – Industrial Inspection & Analysis (IIA) (industrial-ia.com)
4. Industrial CT Scanning Services Near Me (zeiss.com)