ZEISS Receives ACEC Award for Wixom Quality Excellence Center

New Facility Showcases Interconnectivity Between Quality and Smart Factories

WIXOM, Mich., March 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The interconnectivity of quality inspection equipment with the infrastructure of modern smart factory environments is becoming increasingly critical. ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions opened its Wixom, Michigan Quality Excellence Center to demonstrate that interconnectivity with a modern work environment and state-of-the-art setting enhances insight into quality assurance for customers. The new facility has been honored by the American Council of Engineering Companies of Michigan (ACEC/M) with an Engineering Honorable Conceptor Award for the 2021 Engineering & Surveying Excellence Awards Competition.

The Engineering & Surveying Excellence Awards recognize outstanding projects, honor industry leaders, and present scholarships to the next generation of engineering talent while showing firsthand the impact engineering and surveying has on everyday lives. The ACEC recognized ZEISS and its goal for applying holistic engineering disciplines to the design of the building, located in the Detroit metro area. "Like ZEISS products, the design of this facility is taut and precise. Its sleek silhouette is reflective of the company's strong, collaborative workforce and brand identity, and provides the exacting conditions needed to test and operate ZEISS equipment," shares Bob Varga, AIA, LEED AP, project designer for SmithGroup, the architect and engineering firm responsible for the project. The result is a new standard in designing sophisticated lab systems while simultaneously using strategies to improve the user experience. During the virtual Engineer & Surveying Excellence Awards Gala on February 26, the building also qualified for the 2021 Grand Conceptor Award. This award signifies the year's best overall engineering achievement and will be announced during the upcoming virtual Engineering Excellence Awards Gala, scheduled for June 17, 2021.

The new ZEISS Quality Excellence Center contains a customer demonstration area with new technologies and systems. Customers gain access to comprehensive training, support and metrology services. The center's broad portfolio of dimensional metrology and inspection equipment and services cover a wide variety of industries and applications, including:

• Automotive including car body and powertrain
• New energy vehicles
• Medical
• Aerospace and defense
• Additive manufacturing
• Electronics
• Visual inspection
• General manufacturing

ZEISS measuring specialists can perform proof-of-capability demonstrations for multidimensional measurement equipment, surface form and geometry equipment, and non-destructive testing and surface defect detection equipment.

Reducing the center's carbon footprint was also a key consideration that went hand in hand with the user experience. "As sustainability is one of our core values, we wanted to make sure that our green spaces adhered to the ZEISS tradition," says Michael Kirchner, President of ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions. "We are utilizing solar power to support our facility and have EUV charging stations for our employees and guests. We also produce large systems and measure very large components for our customers, so access and transport paths had to be optimized." 

Kirchner accepted the Engineering Honorable Conceptor Award during a virtual event broadcast on Friday, February 26. "I would like to thank the American Council of Engineering Companies for recognizing our new building project," said Kirchner during his acceptance speech. "This project perfectly reflects our identity and is a great representation of the ZEISS Brand, both leading and precise. It demonstrates exemplary engineering design by the SmithGroup along with inspiring concepts for our staff and customers. The elevated workplace environment encourages creativity, innovation, collaboration and offers comfortable and efficient customer spaces."

ZEISS' goal is to always provide smarter working environments for better results. ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions looks forward to many years of serving and supporting North American customers with the Wixom Quality Excellence Center.

The facility is currently open for essential business including metrology services, training, and product demonstrations. A grand opening event will take place in the late Summer / Fall of 2021 or as soon as COVID-19 safety is assured.

To learn more about ZEISS, visit www.zeiss.com/metrology

About ZEISS
ZEISS is an internationally leading technology enterprise operating in the fields of optics and optoelectronics. In the previous fiscal year, the ZEISS Group generated annual revenue totaling 6.3 billion euros in its four segments Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology, Industrial Quality & Research, Medical Technology and Consumer Markets (status: 30 September 2020).

For its customers, ZEISS develops, produces and distributes highly innovative solutions for industrial metrology and quality assurance, microscopy solutions for the life sciences and materials research, and medical technology solutions for diagnostics and treatment in ophthalmology and microsurgery. The name ZEISS is also synonymous with the world's leading lithography optics, which are used by the chip industry to manufacture semiconductor components. There is global demand for trendsetting ZEISS brand products such as eyeglass lenses, camera lenses and binoculars.

With a portfolio aligned with future growth areas like digitalization, healthcare and Smart Production and a strong brand, ZEISS is shaping the future of technology and constantly advancing the world of optics and related fields with its solutions. The company's significant, sustainable investments in research and development lay the foundation for the success and continued expansion of ZEISS' technology and market leadership. ZEISS invests 13 percent of its revenue in research and development – this high level of expenditure has a long tradition at ZEISS and is also an investment in the future.

With over 32,000 employees, ZEISS is active globally in almost 50 countries with around 30 production sites, 60 sales and service companies and 27 research and development facilities. Founded in 1846 in Jena, the company is headquartered in Oberkochen, Germany. The Carl Zeiss Foundation, one of the largest foundations in Germany committed to the promotion of science, is the sole owner of the holding company, Carl Zeiss AG.

Further information 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, microscopy systems for industrial quality assurance as well as 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 portfolio. In addition, ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions offers a broad global spectrum of customer services with ZEISS Quality Excellence Centers close to its customers. The company 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 part of the Industrial Quality & Research segment.

About SmithGroup
SmithGroup is one of the world's preeminent integrated design firms. Working across a network of 15 offices in the U.S. and China, a team of 1,200 experts is committed to excellence in strategy, design and delivery. The scale of the firm's thinking and organization produces partnerships with forward-looking clients that maximize opportunities, minimize risk and solve their most complex problems. SmithGroup creates exceptional design solutions for healthcare, science and technology organizations, higher education and cultural institutions, urban environments, diverse workplaces, mixed-use and waterfront developments, and parks and open spaces.

SOURCE Carl Zeiss Industrial Metrology, LLC

Related Links

http://www.zeiss.com