Zeiss lauds efficiency, lower cost of less red tape
Print Edition
DURING his visit to China last year, ZEISS Chief Executive Officer Michael Kaschke said China is the “biggest and fastest-growing market in the Asia-Pacific region” and “an obvious choice” to invest in.
German-based optics and optoelectronics maker ZEISS set up its Chinese headquarters in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone in 2013.
The decision to participate in the Free Trade Zone was especially prudent for a company seeking to establish an efficient research and development base in China, according to Maximilian Foerst, President and Managing Director of ZEISS China.
Foerst spoke to the media last month to mark the 200th anniversary of the company’s founder — Carl Zeiss.
The Free Trade Zone, said Foerst, has simplified administrative procedures in areas such as trade, taxes and financial services, enabling ZEISS to increase efficiency and lower costs.
He cited “substantial” improvements in inbound and outbound dispatching, reducing processing time up by 30 percent.
“This means that we are able to transport prototypes from our research and development center in the zone within one working day to other members of the network, such as manufacturing plants or suppliers,” Foerst said.
Another notable example of improved efficiency is the speed by which ZEISS China can deliver payments to foreign suppliers. It used to take one week for overseas transfers. Now the money arrives in just one day, he said.
ZEISS, which had been operating in Hong Kong since 1975, officially entered the mainland in 1999, when it established a trading company in Shanghai’s Waigaoqiao port, one of China’s first free trade zones.
In 2004, the company expanded in China with the opening of an industrial metrology factory, and eight years later, it opened its first corporate research center outside of Germany.
Its regional headquarters in the Free Trade Zone is a 16,400-square-meter building integrating sales, after-sales services, training, logistics, personnel management, finance, legal services and information technology.
Its research arm spans advanced technologies in camera lenses, microscopes, media equipment and automated systems.
The Free Trade Zone has provided stable access to high-quality talent, a mature legislative system and well-developed infrastructure, Foerst said.
ZEISS China encompasses four business groups: microscopy, medical technology, industrial metrology and vision care. It employs 2,500 people across China in six factories and 11 sales and service offices. The company said revenue in China was growing at a 22 percent annually on average in the past five years. No figures were given.
Foerst said the company is eager to publicize the fact that ZEISS is no longer just a lens-maker but has expanded Into other high-technology realms.
On a media tour, ZEISS displayed diagnostic and treatment devices for hospitals and CMM (coordinate measuring machine) used in manufacturing. ZEISS clients in China including new energy car maker BYD and Foxconn, the world’s biggest made-to-order electronics maker.
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