💰 Calypso Vs. Zone3 - Price 💰

[[Je...]]

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Hello!

At Cretex Medical, we’re reviewing our metrology software as well as investigating competitor offerings.

Besides Zeiss, one of the brands we use here is OGP (owned by QVI), which operates with software called Zone3. It’s much younger than Calypso but has a curious resemblance to it 😂.

Zone3 has made significant strides in recent years, though I’ve heard a wide spectrum of opinions. Some of my peers are big fans, so they invited a local OGP distributor to showcase their systems.

One unique aspect of Zone3’s licensing is the ability to program on their full-featured "Pro" version, then run that program on another machine using a scaled-down version, which comes at a much lower cost:

- A new seat of Zone3 Pro runs about $20,000.

- The "operator" version, however, costs only $5,000 to $7,000.

Some coworkers view this as a clear cost advantage. However, I’m curious how this compares to Calypso’s licensing model when running on multiple machines.

While I know pricing can depend on addons, what would you say is the ballpark cost for a new seat of Calypso in the U.S. in 2024? Let’s assume it includes the Curve + Freeform addons but is otherwise a standard setup.

For now, let’s focus purely on software costs and leave hardware out of the equation.

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[[Cl...]]

One big cost savings between QVI and Zeiss is the support. We have both (Zone3 and Calypso).
We pay the annual Zeiss calibration/SMA for five machines (three Conturas and two O-inspects)
and get customer hardware/software support with that. OVI to the best of my knowledge doesn't
charge for their support.

As far as other options. Keyence offers the LM-X with a rotary, tactile probe and laser. I think the
cost is about 80,000. Similar to QVI, I think the hardware/software support is included in that price.

[[Wo...]]

Don't really have any input as we use Calypso almost exclusively for now, but thank you for pointing out OGP. Looks really interesting, going to visit them at IMTS tomorrow. Company is looking for a vision system so we'll see what they have. Thanks!

[[DW...]]

Call or email Zeiss and they will put you in contact with your regional sales rep. He will give you a quote; that being said, my guess would be somewhere in the $8-$10k range.

[[Ri...]]

I don't want to get into trouble here, but I'd be curious to have you expand upon "Zone3 has made significant strides in recent years, though I’ve heard a wide spectrum of opinions.".

Feel free to contact me privately if you'd like though. 🙂

[[Je...]]

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Thanks, Devin. I have a close working relationship with our local Zeiss distributors and with Kailey Blaidow, our Aftermarket Client Specialist.

The reason for this post is to hear other users' opinion and experience with licensing and price strategy.

[[Je...]]

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Absolutely Richard.

I have the flexibility as an end user to speak openly about Zeiss and other vendors.

Honestly, I think any brand that desires to be customer-focused should be willing to entertain constructive criticism. Staying competitive means looking outward to solutions offered by competitors.

So, with that in mind: Zone3 🤔

QVI introduced Zone3 approximately a decade ago as a successor to MeasureMind, which is mostly a 2D software and linear-step driven.

We've begun using Zone3 for engineering purposes but not for production inspection. I personally haven't used it much yet. It appears to handle CAD and GD&T well, and it is feature-based programming similar to Calypso. I attended a local user forum for Zone3 recently that had senior software execs from QVI onsite. They gave a presentation that included the evolution of Zone3 over the past decade. It was obvious that they've invested heavily into its development and improvement.

Since I haven't spent much time on Zone3, I can't elaborate, but hopefully the competition will motivate Zeiss to stay sharp and relevant.

[[Ky...]]

I'll start with that I program both Zone3 and Calypso regularly.

My biggest problem with Zone3. It has repeatedly failed to correlate to a customer that double checks our parts. Whereas Calypso hasn't failed yet.

Has customer service done well from QVI? Certainly they have worked with me on quite a few issues. But at the end of the day. The customer won't sign off on what they are measuring as out of tolerance. Now these are on complicated parts concerning profile. I will also admit that we are 2 versions behind on Calypso and probably 4 versions behind on Zone3. Could either of these programs improved since then? For sure. Do I wish I had the latest and greatest? You know it. But it creates a cause for concern for us every time we use it. To where I have stopped using it for certain parts. Simple length and diameter parts though it has done well.

[[Je...]]

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Hi Kyle. I truly appreciate sharing about your experiences with programming both Calypso and Zone3.

I'd love to hear more of your thoughts on this. Besides the situation you mentioned about profile correlation issues, are there other ways that Calypso seems to perform better?

I sent you a PM as well regarding this. Thanks!

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[[Ma...]]

We have run Zeiss CMM's, Keyence LMX vision, and are looking to purchase a system that combines both these, such as a O-Inspect or OGP with Zone 3.
Last week I saw a demo of the Zone 3 system, looked like a nice system, but I've never seen an O-Inspect in person. The fact it uses Calypso is great; moving forward I hope Zeiss makes Calypso software used on Rondcoms and Surfcoms also. One software for all their machines would be a game changer.
Cost of ownership is a big factor.. Yearly calibration intervals, especially with multiple machines becomes quite taxing.