Cabinets are the clearest example of why "measure for the bid" and "measure for the order" are two different jobs — and why conflating them is how people end up with a filler strip problem.
What the scan is excellent at
For the bid, a kitchen scan gives you everything that drives the number:
- Wall lengths per run, which is linear feet of base and upper
- Room shape and corners, which decides corner cabinets and dead space
- Window and door positions, which constrain where runs can go
- Ceiling height, which decides whether uppers stack or stop
- Appliance and plumbing locations, noted as you walk
That is enough to price a kitchen accurately, lay out a plausible plan, and talk the client through options on the spot.
What still needs a tape
Shop drawings do not get built from a scan. Cabinet manufacturing tolerances are tighter than any room-scale capture, and the wall you are installing against is probably not square anyway. When the job is sold, measure the final runs by hand, check for square, and find out where the wall bows before the cabinets do.
The part that actually saves time
The usual kitchen bid sequence is: visit, sketch, measure, go home, draw it up, price it. With a scan, the first four steps collapse into one walkthrough, and you can show the client the room in 3D before you leave. The hour you save is the hour you spend on a second bid.
Capture the appliances out loud
Range width, whether the fridge is counter-depth, where the sink drain sits — pin all of it as voice notes to the spot you are standing. Those details are what turn a measured room into a cabinet plan.
The scan sells the kitchen. The tape builds it. Both are doing exactly the job they are good at.