With the official groundbreaking, ZEISS has started the construction of a new modern site outside of Detroit.

The new facility for the Industrial Quality and Research (IQR) segment of ZEISS, represented in the USA by Carl Zeiss Industrial Metrology, LLC, will consolidate four existing Michigan facilities into one location and provide room for business growth. It will contain a customer demonstration area with new technologies and systems, offer training, support and metrology services, and house fixture system production and assembly.

New IQR customer center in North America with almost 170 employees

The new center will provide a broad portfolio of dimensional metrology and inspection equipment and services to a wide variety of industries including: automotive, medical, aerospace, defense, machine tools and general manufacturing job shops. With almost 170 employees, the center will span over 82,800 ft² (7,700 m²) with two floors and is expected to open in 2020.

"We are investing over 45 million dollars in the Detroit metro region to strengthen and increase our engagement in this global automotive and smart factory hot spot. This will not only have a strong, positive impact for our customers and partners in North America, but will also generate new momentum for the whole Industrial Quality and Research segment of ZEISS worldwide," says Dr. Jochen Peter, Member of the Executive Board of the ZEISS Group and Head of the Industrial Quality and Research segment.

Greater customer satisfaction and a better working environment

"With the new ZEISS Center in Michigan, we aim to assure a higher level of satisfaction with our solutions for our customers and provide a more attractive working environment for our team," explains Michael Kirchner, member of the leadership team for the ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions strategic business unit and Head of its business in North America.

ZEISS measuring specialists will be able to perform proof-of-capability demonstrations for multidimensional measurement equipment, surface form and geometry equipment, and non-destructive testing and surface defect detection equipment. The need to show how digital platforms and solutions that connect ZEISS equipment to the new infrastructure within modern smart factory environments is becoming increasingly important.

It will also be a center for aftermarket sales support. Here customers will receive training on how to use the software and systems. Additionally, software help desk services will operate out of the facility.

Mark Adams, Oakland County Sr. Business Representative, attended the groundbreaking event to support ZEISS with the consolidation of their operations into Lyon Township. "ZEISS is an optical technology leader with forward thinking leadership and a talented workforce. This is the type of firm and jobs that our County Executive L. Brooks Pattersonenvisioned when he started our Emerging Sector program 14 years ago. Economic development is a 'varsity sport' that involves competition from other states and countries. Oakland County competes on the national and international playing field for jobs and investment. This project demonstrates a partnership with ZESS, the State of Michigan and Lyon Township working as a team which led to an economic development win."

About ZEISS
ZEISS is an internationally leading technology enterprise operating in the fields of optics and optoelectronics. The ZEISS Group develops, produces and distributes measuring technology, microscopes, medical technology, eyeglass lenses, camera and cinema lenses, binoculars and semiconductor manufacturing equipment. With its solutions, the company constantly advances the world of optics and helps shape technological progress. ZEISS is divided up into the four segments Industrial Quality & Research, Medical Technology, Consumer Markets and Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology. The ZEISS Group is represented in more than 40 countries and has over 50 sales and service locations, more than 30 manufacturing sites and about 25 research and development centers around the globe.

In fiscal year 2016/17 the company generated revenue approximating €5.3 billion with around 27,000 employees. Founded in 1846 in Jena, the company is headquartered in Oberkochen, Germany. Carl Zeiss AG is the strategic management holding company that manages the ZEISS Group. The company is wholly owned by the Carl Zeiss Stiftung (Carl Zeiss Foundation).

Further information is available at www.zeiss.com.

ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions
ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions is a leading manufacturer of multidimensional metrology solutions. These include coordinate measuring machines, optical and multisensor systems, and metrology software for the automotive, aircraft, mechanical engineering, plastics and medical technology industries. Innovative technologies such as 3D X-ray metrology for quality inspection round off the product portfolio. ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions additionally offers a broad global spectrum of customer services with measuring houses and competence centers close to its customers.

The unit is headquartered in Oberkochen. Production and development sites outside Germany are located in Minneapolis in the USA, Shanghai, China and Bangalore, India. ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions is allocated to the Industrial Quality & Research segment. Around 6,300 employees work for the segment, generating revenue totaling €1.5 billion in fiscal year 2016/17.