Alice Chambers |
Hexagon is helping manufacturers across industries – from automotive to aerospace – drive digital transformation and agility with 3D scanning and digitalisation technologies.
“Automotive is our largest customer base, followed by aerospace and electronics,” said Emanuel Viklund, executive vice president of global marketing and sales at Hexagon, during a press conference at Hannover Messe 2025.
To illustrate this, Hexagon brought members of the Oracle Red Bull Racing team with them to Hannover to showcase how they are using its 3D laser scanning and digitalisation solutions to access the data that they need to make up to 20,000 design changes on their cars per season.
Hexagon has been a key technology partner for Oracle Red Bull Racing since 2006 and will continue to support the team for the 2026 racing season with its technology and trackside support teams to analyse data quickly for design development.
“Manufacturers are demanding greater agility,” said Viklund. And Hexagon is helping companies to achieve that through its Digital Factory software-as-as-service solution (SaaS) and Nexus platform.
Automotive and aerospace manufacturers are already using Hexagon’s Digital Factory solutions to map and model brownfield facilities in preparation for increases in production or to introduce new lines. By offering it as a service, manufacturers can access the information they need to remodel assembly workflows, increase automaton and install more advanced equipment.
The Hexagon team announced the SaaS solution at Hannover Messe and Benjamin Outrey, sales support manager at Hexagon, was at the event to explain to attendees how it works hands-on with a VR headset.
“Hexagon’s scanning experts take 3D scans of the factory floors – all of which can be done in a matter of hours,” he said. “The data is then used to create immersive 3D models of the factories that companies can use for planning new factories, monitoring production progress or updating brownfield sites. Anyone can use the technology – nobody needs expertise in 3D visualisation. The VR set lets you walk through a digital replica of the space to identify equipment.”
The solution is set to reduce travel costs associated with factory floor projects by 50 per cent and the need for site visits by up to 70 per cent.
Manufacturers can use the Digital Factory solution to place machinery within a virtual replica of a factory to see if it will fit, meets regulations and more
“Digital twin is a transformative technology that’s exceeding all expectations,” said Anders Winkler, director of solutions marketing at Hexagon, during the press conference.
Winkler explained how customers such as Presto Systems can drag and drop machinery onto a factory floor to see what impact it will have on the space.
Hexagon’s Ander Winkler presenting at Hannover Messe 2025
Also at the conference was Stephen Graham, executive vice president and general manager for Nexus at Hexagon. Graham revealed that since February 2023, Nexus has attracted over 30,000 registered users from across automotive, aerospace and advanced manufacturing, including Hyundai Motor Company.
“Nobody buys technologies from just one vendor,” said Graham, while explaining how companies don’t need to work with third-party vendors in order to connect Nexus to their existing technologies.
The Nexus product portfolio is “primarily about people”, according to Graham. Built on top of Microsoft’s cloud and AI technologies, it aims to connect workers from across the entire manufacturing lifecycle, from professional engineers to workers on the shop floor.
One of theNexus solutions that was highlighted at Hannover Messe was ProPlanAI, which offers automated programme generation for machine tools as well as copilot customer support.
“ProPlanAI can programme a simple part of a machine in just nine seconds, compared to the usual five minutes it takes for an engineer,” said Graham. “This completely changes the way we can think about production planning.”
“There’s growing recognition that successful digital transformations start with people and what they are trying to achieve,” said Graham. “Regardless of where they are in the value chain, Nexus is helping these people to improve their work and how they collaborate with their peers.”