What Summit Engineering and Design does

Summit Engineering and Design, LLC is a privately held Washington-state engineering and design firm founded in 1998 that provides 3D laser scanning and multi-discipline engineering services to marine, refinery, power, and process industry clients. The company operates a professional services model delivering on-site laser scanning using FARO scanners (including Focus3D and Focus3D X 330 units), point cloud processing, clash detection, as-built documentation, and CAD design services for refineries, shipyards, offshore drilling operators, ferries, and federal agencies including the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, and Los Alamos National Laboratories.

The firm's core technology is the proprietary Kohera3D software platform, developed in-house beginning in 2007 and released commercially in 2015 as a standalone product (Kohera3D Piping) that fits piping components to 3D laser scan data without requiring a CAD license. Kohera3D Piping supports E57, PTX, and FARO scan file formats and exports pipe centerlines and scan data to third-party CAD environments including AutoCAD Plant 3D, Bentley AutoPlant, Plant3D, Rhino3D, and Revit Architecture. The company holds the Scan-To-Plan™ service mark for project planning using laser scanning data. Revenue is generated through professional services engagements (project-based engineering and scanning) plus software licensing of Kohera3D, distributed via direct enterprise sales from a single Washington State office with 11–50 employees including 7 licensed Professional Engineers.

Name

Summit Engineering and Design

Legal name

Summit Engineering and Design, LLC

Website

https://sead.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Summit Engineering and Design provides 3D laser scanning and multi-discipline engineering services for marine, refinery, power, and process industries, and sells proprietary Kohera3D Piping software for piping feature extraction from scan data.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

3D Laser Scanning & Engineering Design Services

NAICS

Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services (54137), Other Specialized Design Services (54149)

SIC

Optical Instruments & Lenses (3827)

akta.pro primary industry

Dimensional Inspection Software (GD&T, SPC, Reporting) (IMAAAHAD)

Keywords

• 3D laser scanning services
• Engineering design services
• Point cloud processing
• Piping design software
• As-built documentation

Headquarters

HQ city

Ferndale

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Engineering and Design Services: Multi-discipline engineering and design services including project engineering, process engineering, design, drafting, and document control for marine, refinery, power, and process industries. Professional services delivered by licensed engineers.
2. 3D Laser Scanning Services: On-site laser scanning services using FARO equipment. Includes scan registration, processing, isolation and classification, clash detection, demolition planning, and as-built modeling.
3. Kohera3D Software Licensing: Licensing of proprietary Kohera3D Piping software for feature extraction from 3D laser scan data. Stand-alone program that does not require CAD program license.
4. Scan-To-Plan™ Services: Project planning enhancement services using laser scanning data for scope definition, scheduling, and site visit reduction.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Summit Engineering and Design delivers 3D laser scanning services using FARO scanners and proprietary Kohera3D software to capture as-built conditions, isolate and classify point cloud data, and produce CAD-ready piping models. It also provides multi-discipline engineering and design services (project, process, design, drafting, and document control) to marine, refinery, power, and process industry clients, and licenses its Kohera3D Piping standalone feature-extraction software.

Product overview

Summit Engineering and Design offers a portfolio of 3D laser scanning services and proprietary software products. The core offering centers on Kohera3D, a software brand developed in-house for scan data feature extraction, with Kohera3D Piping as the flagship standalone product that fits piping components to laser scan data without requiring CAD software licenses. Services are organized into three main tiers: Scan-To-Plan™ for project planning and scope definition, Scan To Design for detailed design and fabrication support, and Scan To Mesh for converting scan data into mesh models. Supporting services include point cloud isolation and classification, clash detection, and demolition planning. All services utilize FARO laser scanners. The software exports pipe centerlines and scan data for integration with third-party CAD tools including AutoCAD Plant 3D, Bentley AutoPlant, and Rhino3D. The company also provides general multi-discipline engineering and design services for marine, refinery, power, and process industries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Kohera3D: Laser scanning software brand developed by Summit Engineering and Design for feature extraction from 3D laser scan data, including Kohera3D Piping which fits piping components to scan data.

Products and services

• Kohera3D Piping software Standalone feature-extraction program that fits piping components (cylinders, elbows, tees, valves) to 3D laser scan data, with enhanced mixed-pixel filtering and export of pipe centerlines for import into CAD piping design programs such as AutoCAD Plant 3D and Bentley AutoPlant.
• Scan-To-Plan™ laser scanning service Laser scanning service providing highly detailed 3D data for project planning, improving scope definition and scheduling while reducing on-site hours for scope definition, ship checks, equipment moves, and demolition planning activities.
• Scan To Design service Laser scanning service that isolates systems of interest from point cloud data, allowing designers to work with isolated piping without surrounding data for visualization, statusing, and 3D modeled system creation using CAD piping software.
• Scan To Mesh service Laser scanning service that converts scan data into mesh models representing items such as valves, equipment, and complex systems, providing a time and cost saving alternative to creating traditional CAD models.
• Multi-discipline engineering and design services Engineering and design services for marine, refinery, power, and process industries including project engineering and management, process engineering, design, drafting, and document control, delivered by licensed Professional Engineers.
• Clash Detection service Service that places client models into a scanned 3D environment to detect clashes in designs, with manual inspection of each pipe or mechanical system producing screenshot documentation and XYZ coordinates for identified clashes.
• Point Cloud Isolation and Classification service Service that transforms registered point cloud scan data into color-coded 'smart' scan data by isolating or classifying items into individual layers, allowing engineers and designers to toggle items and view only necessary elements for downstream design work.

Quantifiable outcome

• Significant reduction in rework compared to traditional methods, as noted by clients including Shell and Transocean
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• FARO TechnologiescoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2013Scanner manufacturer and technology partner. Summit owns several FARO laser scanners including the first FARO Focus3D in the USA (ordered 2010) and added a Focus3D X330 in 2013 with 330m range and 50% noise reduction. FARO scanners are core to Summit's service delivery.
• IQA SolutionscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2004Partnership formed in 2004 to provide laser scanning based design services to refineries in the Northwest. Together in 2006, Summit and IQA Solutions purchased their first Phase Shift (High Speed) scanner, a Leica HDS 4500. This partnership led to Summit developing its own work processes and in-house software.
• Carl Berglund (formerly of IRI)minorOthers · 1 January 2001Professional who constructed piping on Summit's first laser scan project in 2001 and was impressed by the accuracy and minimal rework laser scanning provided. Currently works for Transocean Deepwater, a client for Summit's Scan to Design Services.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Aveva: Plant design and digital twin software (E3D, PDMS, Aveva Plant) used in the same refinery and process plant projects Summit scans. Aveva's growing native point cloud ingestion features increasingly compete with Kohera3D's piping extraction role.
• Trimble: Provider of surveying hardware (TX8, X7) and software (Trimble RealWorks, TBC) covering scan capture, processing, and CAD integration. Overlaps with Summit's end-to-end scan-to-design workflow across multiple verticals.
• Burns & McDonnell: Large employee-owned engineering, architecture, and construction firm serving refinery, power, and process industries - the same core verticals as Summit. Operates in-house laser scanning and as-built modeling teams at materially greater scale.
• Bentley Systems: Provider of OpenPlant, AutoPlant, and iTwin infrastructure software that Summit's Kohera3D exports into. Bentley's own ContextCapture and Pointtools compete with parts of the Kohera3D value proposition for plant and civil engineering clients.
• Leica Geosystems (Hexagon): Major manufacturer of laser scanners (P-series, RTC360, BLK) and point cloud software (Cyclone, Leica CloudWorx). Hardware and software ecosystem competes with both Summit's FARO-led hardware stack and its Kohera3D software positioning.
• FARO Technologies: Hardware partner and laser scanner manufacturer whose Focus3D and X 330 units form Summit's entire scanning fleet. FARO's own As-Built software and recent move into service bureau offerings creates partial overlap with Summit's services business.

Direct peers

• TruePoint Laser Scanning: U.S.-based 3D laser scanning service bureau serving architecture, engineering, construction, and industrial clients. Closest like-for-like services competitor to Summit, performing as-built scanning, BIM modeling, and clash detection for similar end markets.
• ClearEdge3D: Software vendor specializing in point cloud feature extraction and scan-to-BIM tools (EdgeWise, Verity). Directly comparable to Kohera3D as both sell standalone piping/structural extraction software that consumes laser scan data without requiring a CAD license.
• TopoDOT: Point cloud feature extraction software widely used in transportation and infrastructure surveying. Competes head-on with Kohera3D Piping in the same scan-to-CAD workflow, particularly for linear assets like roads, bridges, and pipelines.

Emerging players

• Cintoo: Cloud-based reality capture platform for sharing and measuring large point cloud datasets. Emerging competitor that could absorb part of the processing and visualization steps currently handled by Kohera3D.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/Summit3D
• Facebookfacebook.com/seadllc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/summit-engineering-and-design-llc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Summit Engineering and Design