Mavlon vs GroundControl

GroundControl manages suppliers. Mavlon reads the drawing first.

What if the Form 3 was already filled out before you opened GroundControl?

By Atishay Jain, founder of Mavlon · Updated July 2026

Full disclosure: Mavlon is our product. This comparison is written by the Mavlon team from public documentation, and it says plainly where GroundControl is the better choice. Spot an error? atishay@mavlon.co

A Tuesday you already know

You know how this goes

A new aerospace drawing lands in your inbox. Seven sheets. Two hundred features. You open GroundControl and start ballooning.

1:00 PM

You start ballooning. Sheet one feels fine. You are in a rhythm.

3:30 PM

By balloon 60, you have lost your place. You missed a flag note on sheet 3.

5:00 PM

The Form 3 has 47 untoleranced dimensions where you apply the ISO 2768 value by hand, one at a time.

6:45 PM

You are still on the first part. Your kids ate dinner without you again.

You are not slow.
The work is just being done in the wrong order.

The belief
Most quality engineers think they need a faster ballooning tool.
The truth
They need a tool that reads the drawing for them first. So by the time they open GroundControl, every dimension is already found, every GD&T frame is parsed, every flag note is on the right feature, and every untoleranced dimension already carries the right ISO 2768 value.
The answer
That is Mavlon. It reads the drawing like a senior engineer, in 2 to 3 minutes, and hands you a filled Form 3. GroundControl manages approvals across your suppliers. Mavlon does the reading underneath it all. Most shops do not realize they should be using both.

What Mavlon does that GroundControl does not

An AI that reads drawings like a senior engineer

Reads the whole drawing in 2 to 3 minutes
You upload the PDF. A couple of minutes later, every dimension, every GD&T frame, every surface finish, every flag note, every untoleranced dimension is identified and listed. Like having a senior quality engineer read the drawing for you. Except this one never gets tired and never loses its place.
Form 3 filled out before you start
Mavlon gives you back a Form 3 with balloon numbers, tolerances, datum references, and inspection methods already filled in. You verify the 10 percent Mavlon flagged for review. You are done in 30 minutes, not 3 hours.
Nothing to learn. Nothing to install.
You do not need a 2-day training or a sales demo. You upload a drawing. You get a result. Your first drawing is free. You will know within 5 minutes whether it saves you time. The answer is almost always yes.

And everything that comes after the reading

Mavlon does the whole job, drawing to FAI

CMM import and customer FAI formats
Once your CMM runs the part, the measured results map straight back onto the Form 3. Mavlon exports the finished report in the formats your customer asks for, including Net-Inspect and PPAP. No retyping numbers from one screen to another.
Revision control and a full audit trail
Every change is tracked, every version saved, every approval logged. When the customer audit comes, the history is already there. You do not go digging through email and old spreadsheets.
Works at every site, from any browser
Mavlon is cloud based, so it runs at one shop or ten with nothing to install. And if you already own GroundControl and your team likes it, Mavlon fits right in next to it. Keep what works, drop the part that hurts.

The new workflow

The order your shop should be running

Here is the day that small AS9100 shops are quietly moving to:

A new aerospace drawing lands in your inbox. You drag the PDF into Mavlon.
A couple of minutes later, Mavlon hands you back a filled Form 3. Every dimension. Every GD&T frame. Every flag note. Every untoleranced dimension with the right ISO 2768 value already applied.
You spend 10 to 15 minutes verifying. You correct the 10 percent that Mavlon flagged as uncertain.
Your CMM runs the part and the results map back onto the Form 3. No retyping numbers from one screen to another.
Mavlon exports the finished FAI report in your customer's format. Already own GroundControl and prefer it? The Form 3 drops straight in there too.
You leave the office at 5:15 PM.

Side by side

Different tools. Different jobs.

Job to be done GroundControl Mavlon
Reading the drawing
Time per drawing2 to 3 minutes2 to 3 minutes
Dimensions identifiedAI ballooning, around 85 to 90 percent, correction needed90 percent verified, the rest flagged for review
GD&T datum referencesDetects frames, datums sometimes incompleteComplete A and B and C with modifiers
Untoleranced dimensions with ISO 2768Not applied by sizeApplied automatically by size
Fit class expansion (G6, H7)Shows designation onlyExpanded to actual values (9.005 to 9.014 mm)
Flag notes mapped to featuresYou track them yourselfMapped automatically
Surface class designationsNot detectedCaptured from every sheet
Form 3 ready to importYou build itFilled out before you start
Learning curvePlatform onboardingFirst drawing in 5 minutes
Managing the inspection
CMM data importYesYes, results map back to the Form 3
FAI report in customer format (Net-Inspect, PPAP)YesYes, standard AS9102 formats supported
Revision control and audit trailYesYes, every change tracked
Multi-site deploymentYes, cloudYes, cloud based, any site, any browser
Approval workflows across many suppliersYes, reviewer rolesCore FAI, plugs into your workflow tool
ITAR GovCloud hostingYes, AWS GovCloudStandard secure cloud

If you run quality across twenty suppliers and need approval flows and GovCloud hosting, GroundControl is built for that layer. But none of that touches the slow part: reading the drawing. Mavlon is a different category: AI agents read the drawing as engineering, apply your ISO 2768 values automatically, and fill the Form 3 before you start. Use Mavlon to do the reading and hand the finished Form 3 to GroundControl, or let Mavlon carry the whole job.

Upload your hardest drawing. See for yourself.

A 7-sheet aerospace drawing. Two hundred features. A couple of minutes. Then decide if you still want to balloon by hand on Saturday.

Try with One Drawing

First drawing is free. No signup. No salesperson.

Where GroundControl genuinely wins

Buy GroundControl for what it is genuinely great at.

GroundControl is a modern, well-built cloud FAI system with real aerospace depth: AS9102 Rev C discipline, Net-Inspect workflows, and an established aerospace customer base. If you want a proven FAI workflow platform where a human drives the ballooning with strong software assistance, GroundControl is a credible choice, and switching to it from desktop tools is a genuine upgrade. Mavlon's difference is the reading itself: interpretation of tolerances, fits, and notes rather than detection. Decide based on which half of the job costs you more hours.

Frequently asked questions

Does Mavlon replace GroundControl?
For the drawing-to-FAI job, yes. Mavlon reads the drawing, fills the Form 3, takes CMM results, tracks revisions, and exports your customer's format. GroundControl's strength is approval workflows across many suppliers, so many teams let Mavlon do the reading and submit the finished Form 3 through GroundControl.
Is Mavlon ITAR or GovCloud hosted?
GroundControl runs in AWS GovCloud, which matters for some ITAR programs. Mavlon runs in a standard secure cloud with strong data practices. If GovCloud is a hard requirement, use Mavlon to do the reading and submit through GroundControl.
What does Mavlon do that GroundControl does not?
The reading. Mavlon lands around 90 percent on dimensions and GD&T, applies every ISO 2768 value by size, expands fit classes to real limits, and maps flag notes to features, all in 2 to 3 minutes.
How accurate is Mavlon?
About 90 percent on dimensions and GD&T overall. Higher on specific categories such as flag notes and ISO 2768 application. Lower on hand-redlined revisions or very low-resolution scans. The remaining 10 percent is flagged for your review, so you know exactly where to look.

Comparing the whole field?

See every tool side by side: FAI software compared and ballooning software compared.