Market launch of ZEISS Smartzoom 5
At the trade show for quality assurance Control from May 6–9, 2014, the Microscopy business group of ZEISS presented its first automated digital microscope. The device particularly stands out thanks to its one-of-a-kind operating concept, which makes operation as easy as possible for the user. In an industrial environment, optical inspection is an important part of production-related quality testing. Parts such as screws, printed circuit boards, and metal elements need to be examined for defects. Often companies have neither much time to inspect these parts, nor do they always have experts in using microscopes available, however. “In this context, the microscope is one of many tools, just like pliers or a wrench. And it must work just as intuitively and reliably,” says Wolf Jockusch, product manager for ZEISS Smartzoom 5. The device is the first integrated complete system from ZEISS comprised of an optical engine (which itself consists of a zoom, camera, and illumination), a stand with sample stage, objective lenses, the operating unit, and software.
ZEISS Smartzoom 5 is equally suited to conducting failure analyses, i.e. the close examination of a defective part, as well as to routine inspections, during which the same material sample needs to be repeatedly inspected using the same workflow. Once the quality inspector has placed the sample under the microscope, they no longer have to switch back and forth between the device and the software, but instead can carry out all the necessary steps right on the screen. They can also save this workflow so that it is always available at a later time: “This makes the analysis reproducible and independent of the user,” says Jockusch. Furthermore, the Best Image feature allows users without any prior knowledge to achieve optimal results – the system shows a preview of different illumination options, and the user only needs to select the best one. In addition, the device is calibrated at the factory and can be used immediately without requiring any further adjustment.
ZEISS
ZEISS is an international leader in the fields of optics and optoelectronics. The more than 24,000 employees of ZEISS generated revenue of about 4.2 billion euros in fiscal year 2012/13. Founded in 1846 in Jena, the company is headquartered in Oberkochen, Germany. ZEISS has been contributing to technological progress for more than 160 years. ZEISS develops and produces solutions for the semiconductor, automotive and mechanical engineering industries, biomedical research and medical technology, as well as eyeglass lenses, camera and cine lenses, binoculars and planetariums. ZEISS is present in over 40 countries around the globe with more than 40 production facilities, around 50 sales and service locations and over 20 research and development sites. Carl Zeiss AG is fully owned by the Carl Zeiss Stiftung (Carl Zeiss Foundation).
Microscopy
The Microscopy business group is the world's only one-stop manufacturer of light, X-ray and electron microscopes. Its extensive portfolio enables research and routine applications in the life and materials sciences. The Microscopy business group is headquartered in Oberkochen. Additional production and development sites are located in Oberkochen, Göttingen and Munich, as well as in Cambridge in the UK, in Peabody, MA and Pleasanton, CA in the USA. The business group has around 3,000 employees. It generated revenue of 629 million euros in fiscal year 2012/13.
Contact:
Microscopy
Dr. Jochen Tham
Phone +49 3641 64-3949
Email: [email protected]
www.zeiss.com/press