ZEISS China Highlights Metrology’s Critical Role in Future of Advanced Manufacturing
On the occasion of the 27th World Metrology Day, celebrated by the global metrology community, ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions successfully hosted the “Metrology Builds the Foundation, Quality Shapes the Future” summit on May 20 at the ZEISS China headquarters in Shanghai.
Marking the 180th anniversary of the ZEISS Group, the event not only echoed this year’s global theme “Metrology: Building Trust in Policy Making” of World Metrology Day but also represented an important milestone for ZEISS in leveraging its long-standing precision expertise to actively align with China’s 15th Five-Year Plan and contribute to the nation’s high-quality development strategy.
The summit brought together representatives from metrology institutes, standards organizations, and leading industrial enterprises to discuss how precision measurement and quality management can empower full value chain collaboration and intelligent transformation in manufacturing, amid industrial upgrading and the emergence of new productive forces.
A Legacy of Precision, Opening a New Chapter in Quality
China’s 15th Five-Year Plan emphasizes building a modern industrial system and advancing a “quality-driven nation,” identifying measurement, testing, and standards as foundational technologies. Today, quality is evolving from simple product compliance inspection into a core capability spanning the entire lifecycle – from R&D and production to assembly and operation.
Against increasing complexity, higher precision requirements, faster iteration cycles, and growing demand for supply chain collaboration, ZEISS continues to demonstrate deep insight into industry transformation.
The summit theme reflected a dual meaning:
Metrology Builds the Foundation: Underscoring ZEISS’ 180-year heritage in precision measurement as a trusted cornerstone of high-quality industrial development.
Quality Shapes the Future: Representing ZEISS’ ability to leverage quality as a strategic capability – enabling data-driven decision-making, anticipating industry change, and driving sustainable growth.
The event served as a high-level industry exchange platform, reinforcing ZEISS’ leadership in metrology standards and quality assurance, while fostering collaboration across the industrial ecosystem to build a future-oriented trust network in quality.
Bringing Together Authorities to Explore the Frontiers of Quality
The summit featured two major thematic tracks: ‘policy trends’ and ‘intelligent manufacturing innovation’, delivering a comprehensive and forward-looking agenda.
In the opening remarks, Lei Xie, Chief Operating Officer of ZEISS Greater China, highlighted that ZEISS’ 180-year history is fundamentally driven by a commitment to precision and the advancement of measurement science.
He noted that under China’s strategic focus on high-quality development and new productive forces, “the value of metrology is being redefined in today’s era,” reaffirming ZEISS’ commitment to deepening localization and supporting customers in addressing global challenges.
Shijie Qiu from the Shanghai Administration for Market Regulation shared insights from a regulatory perspective, emphasizing the transition of metrology from a supporting function to an empowering force for industrial development.
Leading experts from national institutions contributed forward-looking perspectives including:
Yushu Shi, Director of the Nano Metrology Laboratory at the National Institute of Metrology, discussed how metrology and standards underpin advanced instrumentation and the National Quality Infrastructure (NQI).
Genzi Li, Deputy Chief Engineer at the Standardization Institute of China Academy of Machinery Science & Technology, explored the role of standardization in enabling high-quality development in micro- and nano-manufacturing.
Bo Zhang, Director at the Shanghai Institute of Measurement and Testing Technology, shared how full-chain metrology solutions support key industries.
Together, these insights provided a comprehensive interpretation of metrology’s strategic significance in China from both national and industrial perspectives.
Metrology Builds the Foundation – Quality Shapes the Future
A key highlight of the morning session was the release of the “Metrology Builds the Foundation, Quality Shapes the Future — ZEISS Industrial Quality Blue Paper.”
Presented by Jiayu Zheng, Head of Marketing and Online Sales, Industrial Quality Solutions, ZEISS China, the report outlines major industry transformations across two dimensions: industry trends and technological innovation. It emphasizes the strategic role of measurement and standards under China’s 15th Five-Year Plan and explores the integration of quality management with artificial intelligence.
The blue paper highlights a shift from experience-driven quality management toward data and model-driven approaches, offering guidance to manufacturers navigating industrial upgrading, AI-driven transformation, automation enabling closed-loop quality, and software and data enabling end-to-end collaboration.
For more information: www.zeiss.com/metrology
