Responsibility is of key importance and has a long tradition at ZEISS. It involves effective environmental protection and the responsible use of resources. The company has thus devised a set of ambitious reductions targets and is working tirelessly across all segments to reduce its consumption and emissions. From product development, manufacturing and sales through to the product's use by the customer, a key consideration is the efficient use of materials and energy. Since every reduction in energy consumption also decreases CO2 emissions, ZEISS is doing something good for the climate, too. At the same time, costs are optimized and processes enhanced – as illustrated by a project from the ZEISS Consumer Products strategic business unit. There, assembly and special tools used to be produced through machining, but this has been replaced with 3D printing.
We spoke to Dr. Torsten Scheidt, Head of Process Engineering at the strategic business unit ZEISS Consumer Products. He initiated and accompanied the new production process and worked with Florian Schimurda, the production engineer who had been involved with 3D printing from the outset and was able to contribute his knowledge of tooling design.