Zeiss unit aims to double biz in nation

Thanks to China's rapid development in new energy vehicles and electronics, the country has already become the largest global market for Zeiss industrial quality solutions (IQS), which has set an ambitious goal to double its business in the country by 2030.

The German company's IQS strategic business unit achieved an average year-on-year growth of 12 percent in the China market in the past few years, and aims to maintain this pace of development for the next five years, said Bettina Friedl, chief operating officer of IQS at Zeiss, during a recent exclusive interview in Suzhou, Jiangsu province.

"China overtook the United States as our most important market during the last fiscal year, which ended in September, and China's growth rate far exceeded the global average at between 3 and 5 percent," Friedl said.

"Given the positive market dynamics and government support for industrial innovation, we believe our target for China is an ambitious yet realistic objective," she said, describing Zeiss as an innovation-driven company that pushes boundaries and thrives on challenges.

Such business growth in China is a testament to the country's strong focus on industrial innovation, and the company is actively engaging in the domestic market's new breakthroughs in areas such as precision measurement and artificial intelligence-driven quality control, Friedl said.

"The fastest-growing segments seen from our business are new energy vehicles and electronics. We support major companies like BYD, CATL, Volkswagen and most of the electronics supply chain with our industrial quality assurance solutions," she said.

Robust market growth has enabled the company to continuously increase investments over the years.

On Oct 28, the Zeiss IQS Flagship Center was unveiled in Suzhou, which, together with the Zeiss's Suzhou R&D and manufacturing base that began operations in June last year, involved an investment of $25 million.

The 3,400-square-meter exhibition center integrates the display of a full range of measurement technologies, application development and industry solution validation, as well as industry exchange and training.

"It ranks among the top three largest globally, as we only have similarly sized facilities in the United States and at our German headquarters," said Friedl, adding that the company operates over 200 customer centers worldwide.

According to the company, the Suzhou base doubled its revenue within one year of operation, a progress far more rapid than it had anticipated. The two facilities demonstrate the company's deep localization efforts, and mark the completion of the company's full localization chain in China, encompassing R&D, manufacturing and services.

"We are committed to more than just selling here. We aim to create value locally through R&D and operations, and leverage China's robust industrial supply chain. About 80 percent of the machines we sell in China are manufactured locally, alongside next-generation innovations," she said.

Furthermore, the products and solutions from the Suzhou base are not aimed at the China market only, but are also exported, with a particular focus on Southeast Asia.

"Together, our Chinese operations account for approximately 40 percent of global production output, with the remaining 60 percent coming from Europe and the Americas," Friedl said.

On the day of the Suzhou center's opening, the Zeiss China Quality Innovation Summit was held at the facility. It marked the first time that the summit was held outside of Germany.