Vision & Control
Vision & Control is a German OEM partner that designs and manufactures photonic-based industrial image processing systems, including precision optics, LED illumination, and machine vision platforms, serving OEMs in measurement, semiconductor, glass, medical, automation, and laser verticals.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1991
- HeadquartersSuhl, Germany
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Vision & Control does
Vision & Control GmbH is a privately held German industrial image processing company headquartered in Suhl, Thuringia, operating since 1991 as an OEM partner for photonic-based inspection solutions. The company designs and manufactures a coordinated modular product portfolio across three registered brands: vicotar precision optics (telecentric, wide-field, microscope, and entocentric lenses), vicolux high-performance LED illumination, and the vicosys machine vision platform that integrates cameras, optics, and lighting with PROFINET, EtherCAT, and Ethernet/IP industrial network interfaces. Production is conducted entirely in Germany under ISO 9001 certification, with GMP-compliant inspection systems supporting pharmaceutical and medical technology applications.
The business model combines a catalog-component model, with standard products available from stock for rapid time-to-market, with custom OEM development of customer-specific optical systems in moderate batch sizes. Revenue is generated primarily through direct B2B sales from Suhl to industrial OEMs across measurement technology, semiconductor, glass inspection, medical technology, automation, and laser application verticals, supplemented by a distribution partner network being expanded globally for the BLUE Vision telecentric lens line. Pricing is not publicly disclosed; transactions are handled through direct contact with the sales team.
The company maintains deep ties to regional research, including an endowed chair in Industrial Image Processing at the University of Ilmenau and participation in the BMBF-funded RUBIN AMI Alliance developing multimodal imaging. Recent strategic activity (2025-2026) centers on new product launches in pharmaceutical glass inspection, long-distance optics, telecentric lighting, and liquid lens integration, alongside channel expansion through international distributor recruitment.
Vision & Control firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Vision & Control
- Legal name
- Vision & Control GmbH
- Website
- https://vision-control.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1991
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Vision & Control is a German OEM partner that designs and manufactures photonic-based industrial image processing systems, including precision optics, LED illumination, and machine vision platforms, serving OEMs in measurement, semiconductor, glass, medical, automation, and laser verticals.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Vision & Control industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Industrial Machine Vision
- NAICS
- Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing (33451), Instruments and Related Products Manufacturing for Measuring, Displaying, and Controlling Industrial Process Variables (334513), Other Measuring and Controlling Device Manufacturing (334519)
- SIC
- Optical Instruments & Lenses (3827), Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Machine Vision & Industrial Imaging Systems (IMAHAHAE)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Machine Vision & Optical Sensing (Cameras, 3D vision, LiDAR, illumination) (IMAGAFAB), Industrial Vision & Quality Inspection (HDAAAEAG), Machine Vision & Inspection Lighting (Ring lights, bar lights, backlights, strobed illumination) (IMAGAIAG)
Keywords
Where Vision & Control is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Suhl
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Vision & Control business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Optical Components (vicotar): Sale of precision optics including telecentric lenses, microscope lenses, and entocentric lenses. Catalog components are available short-term from stock for fast time-to-market.
- LED Lighting Systems (vicolux): Sale of industrial LED illumination components including ring lights, spot lights, dome lights, and specialized variants. Components available from stock or customized.
- Vision Systems (vicosys): Sale of machine vision platforms and smart cameras including the pictor series. Systems support real-time monitoring, documentation, and process parameter adjustment.
- OEM Custom Development: Custom optics development and optical system integration services. The company develops customer-specific solutions based on their photonic expertise, offering the shortest time-to-market with moderate batch sizes.
- Accessories and Filters: Sale of accessories including adjustment aids, lens holders, spacer rings, thread adapters, beam splitters, deflection mirrors, and optical filters (ND, IR, polarization, color, UV blocking).
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels10 records
Vision & Control product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Vision & Control develops, produces, and sells a coordinated modular system for industrial image processing, combining proprietary precision optics (vicotar®), high-performance LED lighting (vicolux®), and machine vision platforms with smart cameras (vicosys®). The company serves as an OEM partner for industrial inspection solutions, offering both catalog components available from stock and custom optical development for measurement technology, semiconductor, glass inspection, medical technology, automation, and laser applications.
Product overview
Vision & Control is an OEM partner for photonic-based solutions in industrial image processing. The product portfolio centers on three core brands: vicotar precision optics (telecentric, wide-field, microscope, and entocentric lenses), vicolux LED lighting (telecentric, ring, line, area, spot, dome illuminations), and the vicosys machine vision platform. Additional offerings include polarization cameras, microbolometer thermal cameras, optical filters, and SWIR cameras. The company also develops specialized solutions like webHMI for human-machine interfaces and BLUE Vision telecentric lenses. Products are designed to work as integrated systems with standardized industrial interfaces (PROFINET, EtherCAT, Ethernet/IP) and are complemented by OEM services for custom optical development and adaptation.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- vicotar®: Precision optics product line including telecentric measurement lenses, wide-field lenses, microscope lenses, and entocentric lenses for industrial image processing applications
- vicolux®
- vicosys®
- BLUE Vision
Products and services
- vicosys Machine Vision Platform Machine vision platform that integrates control of cameras, optics, and lighting for industrial image processing, supporting configuration, parameterization, and diagnostics. Includes smart cameras (pictor series) and standardized industrial network interfaces. Designed for industrial OEMs and system integrators in measurement technology, semiconductor, glass inspection, medical technology, automation, and laser applications.
- vicotar Precision Optics Lenses Precision optics for industrial image processing, including telecentric measurement lenses, telecentric wide-field lenses, microscope lenses, and entocentric lenses. Designed for optimal chromatic correction, low distortion, and industrial robustness, with components available from stock for industrial OEMs.
- vicotar eLD Extreme Long-Distance Lens Series
- vicolux LED Lighting Systems
- vicolux TZB48 Telezentrische Beleuchtung
- BLUE Vision Telecentric Lenses
- webHMI Web-based Human-Machine Interface
- SWIR Cameras
- Polarization Cameras
- Microbolometer Thermal Cameras
- Optical Filters
- Optical Systems for Pharmaceutical Glass Inspection
- OEM Custom Optics Development Services
Quantifiable outcome
- Temperature measurement accuracy of ±1.5 K achievable when using vicosys with SWIR cameras in soldering process monitoring (process temperature 230-330°C)
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Vision & Control
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Vision & Control technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration3 records
AI capability6 records
Feature6 records
Vision & Control partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- University of IlmenaucoreTraditional cooperation with regional research and educational institutions. Vision & Control holds an endowed chair 'Industrial Image Processing' at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Ilmenau University of Technology, collaborating on teaching and basic research.
- RUBIN AMI Alliance PartnerscoreAMI Alliance develops multimodal imaging methods for industrial growth fields in Southern Thuringia. Vision & Control contributes to three subprojects: multimodal illumination and HMI web components (MoSys innovation project), multispectral illumination for material classification (SenReRe application project), and web-based visualization for vital parameter estimation (VitAP application project).
- OptoNetminorIndustry association membership in OptoNet, an optical technology network.
- GS1 GermanyminorActive member of the global GS1 System for EAN/GTIN product identification standards.
- DIN German Institute for StandardizationminorInstitutional membership in DIN for participation in standardization processes.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Vision & Control competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Cognex Corporation: Largest pure-play machine vision company globally, offering vision systems, industrial cameras, and AI-based inspection software. Overlaps with Vision & Control across most factory-automation inspection use cases but at vastly greater scale.
- Carl Zeiss Industrial Metrology: Industrial metrology and quality inspection arm of Zeiss offering high-end optical and CT-based measurement. Comparable to Vision & Control on the precision-optics and quality-inspection axis, particularly in semiconductor and medical-device customers.
- Keyence Corporation: Japanese industrial automation sensor and vision-systems giant with a global direct-sales model. Overlaps with Vision & Control on inline inspection and factory-automation customers, but competes as a much broader portfolio incumbent.
- SICK AG: German sensor and automation company with a substantial machine vision division (2D/3D vision, LiDAR). Comparable in addressing inline industrial inspection and German Mittelstand OEM customers, but as part of a broader industrial-sensor portfolio.
Direct peers
- Basler AG: German-headquartered manufacturer of industrial cameras, optics, and machine vision software. Closely comparable to Vision & Control as a European OEM supplier of vision components for factory automation, with similar customer verticals (semiconductor, factory automation).
- Stemmer Imaging AG: European machine vision technology provider offering cameras, optics, lighting, and software. Comparable because it bundles third-party and proprietary vision components into OEM-ready solutions targeting similar industrial inspection applications.
- Edmund Optics: Global supplier of optical components including telecentric, machine vision, and microscope lenses, plus illumination. Directly comparable to the vicotar optics line, with broader catalog scale and global distribution.
- Schneider-Kreuznach (Jos. Schneider Optische Werke): German manufacturer of industrial optics, including telecentric and machine vision lenses. Highly comparable to Vision & Control's optics offering, with overlap in pharmaceutical/glass inspection and factory automation.
Emerging players
- MVTec Software GmbH: German vendor of machine vision software (HALCON, MERLIC). Adjacent/emerging peer because MVTec supplies the software layer that increasingly pairs with Vision & Control's optics and lighting — and competes in the same German machine-vision ecosystem.
- EFFILUX (a brand of LNE Group): Specialized European manufacturer of LED illumination for machine vision. Directly comparable to the vicolux product line, addressing ring lights, dome lights, and structured illumination for industrial inspection customers.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Vision & Control social profiles
Digital presenceVision & Control compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Vision & Control financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Vision & Control leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Vision & Control funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Vision & Control M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Vision & Control
What does Vision & Control do?
Vision & Control develops, produces, and sells a coordinated modular system for industrial image processing, combining proprietary precision optics (vicotar®), high-performance LED lighting (vicolux®), and machine vision platforms with smart cameras (vicosys®). The company serves as an OEM partner for industrial inspection solutions, offering both catalog components available from stock and custom optical development for measurement technology, semiconductor, glass inspection, medical technology, automation, and laser applications.
Is Vision & Control a public or private company?
Vision & Control is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Vision & Control founded?
Vision & Control was founded in 1991. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Vision & Control based?
Vision & Control is headquartered in Suhl, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does Vision & Control make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Optical Components (vicotar) is the primary driver. The others are LED Lighting Systems (vicolux), vision Systems (vicosys), OEM Custom Development and accessories and Filters.
Who are Vision & Control's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Cognex Corporation, Carl Zeiss Industrial Metrology, Keyence Corporation and SICK AG. Direct peers are Basler AG, Stemmer Imaging AG, Edmund Optics and Schneider-Kreuznach (Jos. Schneider Optische Werke). Emerging players are MVTec Software GmbH and EFFILUX (a brand of LNE Group).
Does Vision & Control have an API?
No public API is recorded for Vision & Control.
What industry is Vision & Control in?
Vision & Control's product category is Industrial Machine Vision. Its primary akta.pro industry code is IMAHAHAE, Machine Vision & Industrial Imaging Systems, with a secondary code of IMAGAFAB, Machine Vision & Optical Sensing (Cameras, 3D vision, LiDAR, illumination). Its NAICS code is 33451 and its SIC code is 3827.