ACTA TECHNICA CORVINIENSIS – Bulletin of Engineering Tome XI [2018] | Fascicule 2 [April – June] 113 | F a s c i c u l e 2 1. Zoran PANDILOV, 2. Betim SHABANI, 3. Dejan SHISHKOVSKI, 1. Gligorche VRTANOSKI REVERSE ENGINEERING – AN EFFECTIVE TOOL FOR DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF MECHANICAL PARTS 1. Institute of Production Engineering and Management, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, SS. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Skopje, MACEDONIA 2. Tools Factory “PLUS” A.E, Ferizaj, KOSOVO 3. Metal-solutions, Skopje, MACEDONIA Abstract: The Reverse Engineering has already found an extensive application in industry and other different fields. Reverse engineering (RE) is a process of taking the existing physical model and reproducing its surface geometry in three-dimensional (3D) data file on a computer-aided design (CAD) system. This paper will analyze the real situation in one industrial plant and provide comparative analysis of the application of current measuring methods and possibility of incorporating digital measurement. The Reverse Engineering (RE) is based on a method of reducing the time of dimensioning and modeling of mechanical parts which can be complex by geometry or dimensionally very accurate. In this paper we can give some practical examples of parts that are really produced in one manufacturing factory. Recommendation for digitalization will be of crucial importance for every company in its measurement and quality control activities. Keywords: Reverse Engineering (RE), Manufacturing, CAD, Measurement, Digitalization INTRODUCTION Global competition in the world industry today is very high. So the companies are trying continually to be competitive on global market by looking for new ways to reduce production times and develop new products to meet all the consumers requirements. Mostly, the investments of the manufacturing companies are concentrated on Reverse Engineering (RE), CAD / CAM, Rapid Prototyping (RP) and a large number of new technologies that offer greater production, business benefits and greater profit. Reverse Engineering (RE) is now considered as one of the new technologies that provides bigger business benefits using shortening the product development cycle. Reverse Engineering has been associated with the copying of an original product design for competitive purposes. In the manufacturing world today, however, the concept of reverse engineering is being legally applied for producing new products or variations of old products. The term reverse comes from the concept of bi-directional data exchange between the digital and physical world [12]. Its application is already proven in many areas of engineering and everyday life. There are many reasons why it should be used. Some of the reasons for using Reverse Engineering are given below:  The original manufacturer no longer exists, but a customer needs the product.  The original product design documentation has been lost or never existed.  Creating data for renewing or manufacturing a part for which there is no CAD data, or for which the data have become unusable or lost.  Inspection Quality Control–Comparing a fabricated part to its CAD description or to a standard item.  Some bad features of a product need to be eliminated.  Strengthening the good features of a product based on long-term usage.  Exploring new ways to improve product performance and features.  Architectural and construction documentation and measurement.  Fitting clothing or footwear to individuals and determining the anthropometry of a population.  Generating data to create dental or surgical prosthetics, artificial engineered body parts, or for surgical planning.  Creating 3-D data from a model or sculpture for animation in games and movies.  Creating 3-D data from an individual, model or sculpture to create, scale, or reproduce art work. The above list is not exhaustive and there are many more reasons for using Reverse Engineering, than documented above [1]. Figure 1. Comparison of Reverse Engineering and classic production processes [2]