Federal President visits places which have seen successful transformation in action in Jena

Jena, Germany | 22 February 2024 | ZEISS Group

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited ZEISS today as part of his series of events called Werkstatt des Wandels (workshop of transformation), which aims to draw attention to successful transformation projects.

Founded in Jena 177 years ago, the company had a very successful fiscal year (2022/2023) in terms of turnover, innovative strength and growth. "Nevertheless, growth always brings new challenges," said Dr. Karl Lamprecht, President and CEO of the ZEISS Group. And as we want to continue to grow sustainably and profitably in the future, we initiated a comprehensive company transformation process. Part of this transformation is about allowing us to become even more efficient and robust in our processes and to make decisions in an increasingly data- and process-driven way."

Lamprecht accompanied the Federal President during his visit to see the huge building site of the new ZEISS High-tech Site in Jena and gave him an update on progress. "Through our high-tech site in Jena, one of the largest single investments in a construction project ever made by ZEISS, we are making it very clear that we are shaping the future and providing impetus for transformation," said Lamprecht. ZEISS is thus highlighting the importance of Jena for the company and providing important impetus to make the site appealing, especially to the international scientific community.

During his tour of the factory, the Federal President gained insights into state-of-the-art production of optical and mechanical components. In precision manufacturing, CNC grinding machines finish mechanical parts for the ZEISS semiconductor industry to an accuracy of 0.001mm. The mechanical parts are used to measure devices for automatic quality assurance in wafer production. These parts are then shaped in the trimming area and are finished automatically and simultaneously in five axes.

Lamprecht also showed the Federal President the measuring and repair systems for photomasks manufactured by ZEISS because they represent a key component in the semiconductor manufacturing process. The masks contain the information that is applied to the wafer by light exposure. In addition, Lamprecht presented multifunctional smart glass to the Federal President. For the first time ever, a technology developed by ZEISS has made it possible to utilize transparent glass or plastic in a whole range of different ways. Information and entertainment content can be projected on to transparent surfaces or turned into a camera with an image sensor. This camera function can be used in facial recognition on a transparent window in a front door or for driver monitoring in vehicles, for example. The Federal President also looked at the microscopy system, ZEISS Lattice Lightsheet 7 for the gentle 3D imaging of living cells which won the Deutscher Zukunftspreis (German Future Prize) in 2022.

Alongside the Federal President's visit, the "workshop talks" were held for the second time where experts from science, business and society were able to exchange views. The participants then discussed the outcome of their discussions with the Federal President.

As part of the Werkstatt des Wandels series, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is visiting companies, research institutions and projects that show how the future in Germany can be shaped with inventiveness, initiative and commitment.

Werkstatt des Wandels is a series of events set up by the Federal President in cooperation with the BMW Foundation and the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung (foundation). It is being implemented in conjunction with the Fraunhofer IAO's Center for Responsible Research and Innovation.