NavVis

NavVis is a provider of 3D scans and digital twin (DT) solutions to the manufacturing and construction industries. The company enables businesses to virtually monitor and maintain buildings, make operational decisions, and remotely collaborate with suppliers to discuss changes.  

The company has two main product offerings: 1) NavVis VLX, a mobile mapping system for building and assets that can be used by laser scanning and surveying professionals and 2) NavVis IVION, a DT solution to transform physical spaces into a virtual space for collaboration and decision-making. The company claims its NavVis VLX 2nd gen is 10x faster at mapping than a terrestrial laser. Further in September 2024, the company launched the NavVis MLX, a handheld dynamic laser scanner designed for architecture, engineering, construction, and surveying workflows.

The company operates a B2B business model, where it has partnered with several companies globally that provide NavVis’s mapping, software, and hardware solutions to end consumers. The company operates globally, with offices in Germany, the US, and China. 

Key customers and partnerships

The company’s mapping partners include Hemminger (since May 2020) and PrecisionPoint (since October 2017), which provide scanning and data capture services via the NavVis mobile mapping device. In May 2022, the company partnered with AVEVA to advance laser scanning to provide 3D point cloud data and panoramic images for the DT solution. The company also has solution partners who offer services to customers using NavVis’s solutions, including Amazon Web Services, Autodesk, Siemens, and SAP.

In March 2023, the company collaborated with digital twin solutions provider Nvidia. This collaboration helped stream large amounts of data for industrial settings. They Integrated NavVis VLX and NavVis IVION with the Nvidia Omniverse via the Universal Scene Description (USD) framework. This allowed manufacturers to create virtual models of their factory environments and make improvements more easily. 

In November 2020, the company provided automobile giant BMW Group with DT modeling services for its product network, including photorealistic images, floor plans, and point cloud data of all its manufacturing plants. As of June 2022, almost four million square meters of BMW’s plants had been scanned using NavVis VLX and other drone scanning systems. The company also provided services to German consumer goods giant Henkel in December 2021 to create a virtual factory of its entire production facility. Its other key customers include Daimler, Allianz, Siemens, Huawei, Lenovo, and Deutsche Telekom.