Ramboll is a global architecture, engineering, and consultancy company founded in Denmark in 1945, delivering expertise and sustainable solutions to clients and partners around the world.
As a trusted NavVis user, Ramboll’s Reality Capture team in Copenhagen received early access to NavVis CLX. During an early-access customer visit, Annika Debes Vestergaard, Team Lead Reality Capture, and Oliver Lang, Consultant, shared their first impressions of the new device, the kinds of projects they see it supporting, and where it could fit alongside the reality capture systems already used across Ramboll.
The following statements are based on feedback gathered during this early-access customer visit to Ramboll. Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity, brevity, and readability while preserving the original intent.
A clean and easy first impression – with new possibilities
Ramboll’s reality capture team has worked with and incorporated many different scanners into its workflows over the years, including equipment that can be challenging to operate. After adopting NavVis MLX, the team experienced an unprecedented level of ease in capturing data at scale. Now, the new device is perceived as even more approachable while continuing to deliver high-quality results.
“I see a lot of different scanners, and what stood out to me about NavVis CLX during its demonstration is that the data is very clean while, at the same time, the device is very easy to use from an operator’s perspective – with some onboarding, it could even be used by non-surveyors.”
After testing the device themselves, the team recognized a major accessibility advantage: its compact size and ease of handling make it possible to capture positions and perspectives that larger systems simply cannot reach.
“After trying the device and seeing what it can do, we can imagine it being applied to many different projects and used in places we haven’t been able to access before. You’re really able to go almost everywhere – it’s so easy to hold and position it exactly where you want to scan. We can capture angles that we weren’t able to capture before.”
Data that's ready to use
A recurring theme was pragmatism around accuracy: for many engineering workflows, immediately usable data matters more than the absolute maximum precision everywhere, and targeted surveys can always follow when required.
“This data can be processed quickly due to its size and requires no additional manual processing due to its quality. You can use it as it is. And there is significant value in having easily accessible data.”
The right device for each job
For Ramboll, the new device fits into a deliberate multi-device strategy.
“We don’t just buy one device for one thing. We look for devices we can use across many different types of projects and situations, and there’s a benefit to having multiple scanners in the same environment, so we can switch between them as needed and mix and match.”
That journey has taken Ramboll from heavy, hard-to-manage equipment in its early offshore days to today’s mobile systems, with each step expanding the range of projects the team can take on.
“We have moved from heavy equipment that took a long time to operate to having both NavVis VLX and MLX in our toolbox. NavVis CLX expands the range of environments and projects we can cover with dynamic scanning.”
Built for global collaboration
As a global engineering consultancy working across water, buildings, transport, and more, Ramboll foresees the device’s greatest impact in enabling shared remote access to project sites – for colleagues and clients alike. The team expects point clouds and imagery to become the standard starting point for project work, making comprehensive capture a foundation for collaboration rather than a specialist add-on.
“We work globally and collaborate globally, so we need remote access to our projects. Having a shared view of the same site is incredibly valuable, especially when we’re speaking with clients. After seeing the new device, we can envision even more scanning and even more opportunities for collaboration.”
A little training goes a much longer way
Scanning at Ramboll remains a technical discipline that requires control and understanding – but the easier the capture process becomes, the more people across the company can contribute.
“Scanning is still a specialized thing. You need to know what you're doing. But as little onboarding as possible is always good, and from what we've seen, you can learn how to operate NavVis CLX quite easily and quickly. With some essential training, particularly on data use, it can be utilized by many more people across the company.”
Reality capture is here to stay
Looking at the industry as a whole, the team believes the new device is arriving at exactly the right moment in a broader shift.
“Reality capture is here to stay. We’re going to see many more projects and sites being scanned – capture is now far more accessible than it was just a couple of years ago. It’s already used on most projects at some level, and I’m really looking forward to what the future will bring.”
Summary
For Ramboll, the new device extends a long reality capture journey: cleaner data with less processing, access to places and angles that weren’t reachable before, and a capture process simple enough to put into many more hands – all within the NavVis ecosystem the team already relies on, and in support of the global, collaborative way Ramboll works.
“We are really happy with our NavVis systems, and we're always excited to see new devices come out. We were very excited about NavVis MLX – and we are just as excited about this one.”
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