Connected microscopy. Accelerate decisionmaking.

What relevance does microscopy have in industrial applications?

The ZEISS name has been synonymous with high-quality microscopes for the last 170 years. This experience has generated a unique range of high-performance microscopes that significantly increases the productivity of companies through workflow focus and connected software solutions. Dr. Robert Zarnetta, Head of the Industrial Microscopy Solutions and Roger Landolt who is responsible for software in this area explain the added value in detail.

What relevance does microscopy have in industrial applications?

Dr. Robert Zarnetta: the basic requirements of our customers are image, analyze and connect – in other words acquiring, and analyzing images and then consolidating and using the results. The biggest areas of application for the technology are failure analysis, optical inspection and metrology, but there are also other important areas such as technical cleanliness and metallography as well as the characterization of roughness and topography of surfaces. 

Failure Analysis & Metallography
Failure Analysis & Metallography
Particle Analysis  & Technical Cleanliness
Particle Analysis & Technical Cleanliness
Optical Inspection
Optical Inspection
Surface Characterization
Surface Characterization
Optical Measurement
Optical Measurement

What challenges do they bring with them?

Roger Landolt: in industry the image created by the microscope is never an end in itself. The analysis of the i mage must generate quantitative statements which the development, quality assurance or production areas of a company use for specific purposes. This sometimes can cost a lot of ti me, particularly if these tasks have to be done by hand. Reproducibility is another important aspect - different users should not have any influence on image acquisition, analysis or measurement results. 

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What does the ZEISS microscope portfolio offer?

Dr. Robert Zarnetta: our portfolio is unique in that it covers all microscope technologies. The range starts with light microscopy and includes stereo-microscopy, inverted light microscopy and confocal microscopy. It extends further to include electron microscopy for the nano-meter range. And we are the only company to additionally offer X-ray microscopes with ZEISS Xradia Versa. This enables our customers to inspect and analyze components with high resolution and non-destructively. Finally, our software platform ensures the future-proof connection of all microscope technologies.

Stereo Microscope
Stereo Microscope
Digital Microscope
Digital Microscope
Compound Light  Microscope
Compound Light Microscope
Confocal Microscope
Confocal Microscope
Scanning Electron Microscope
Scanning Electron Microscope
X-ray Microscope
X-ray Microscope

What objectives is ZEISS pursuing with connected microscopy?

Dr. Robert Zarnetta: with the unique combination of our broad portfolio and our software platform, we can provide every customer with their ideal tool. This means, for example, that with solutions such as ZEISS ZEN Connect, areas which we identify with a light microscope can be immediately relocated with a highresolution scanning electron microscope. That may sound trivial but it really isn‘t. The same component looks significantly different depending on the imaging method. Long searches across different types of microscopes are now superfluous with our correlative microscope solution.

Roger Landolt: and with ZEISS ZEN core, our software and database solution, customers can use a uniform software platform for all industrial microscope solutions. Thus they can operate all their microscopes in the same way, store their data centrally, process images from everywhere and share the results with people anywhere in the world. With the new release which we are launching at Control, the international trade fair for quality assurance, our customers also obtain a uniform software interface for all ZEISS solutions.

What benefits do customers gain from workflow-oriented solutions?

Dr. Robert Zarnetta: to put it i n a nutshell, fast, reproducible and user-independent results. Thanks to our integrated hardware and software solutions our customers can plan their microscope tasks as workflows and al low them to operate automatically with motorized systems. This accelerates the quality process and increases productivity considerably. For standardized microscopy tasks such as technical cleanliness or detecting non-metallic inclusions we offer our customers standard-compliant workflows and equipment as a comprehensive solution.

Roger Landolt: In addition, the connectivity means that users can continue to work on any other computer after the image has been acquired without further strain on the microscope. This increases microscope availability and efficiency. It is possible to save individual workflows as „jobs“ and send them to other staff members even across different locations. This is how to establish a uniform global quality standard.

NEW: ZEISS Industrial Microscopy Series presents digital microscope with extended depth of field in real time.

With ZEISS Visioner 1, ZEISS is launching an innovative digital microscope that for the first time enables all-in-one focus in real time thanks to its Micro-mirror Array Lens System (MALS™). With its extended depth of field, users i n their quality control and quality assurance applications in manufacturing can for the first ti me see the sample completely in focus without having to combine different focus planes from a series of i mages or post-process them. This not only simplifies the imaging and documentation process, but also allows for faster inspection and therefore higher throughput.


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