More high-tech in Silicon Saxony: The Jenoptik fab in Dresden
After around two and a half years of construction, the Jenoptik Group has completed its largest single investment in recent history and officially inaugurated its new fab in Dresden, Germany for the manufacture micro-optics and sensors for the semiconductor equipment industry. Discover more about this investment in a high-tech manufacturing facility.
The new Jenoptik fab in Dresden was officially opened on May 6, 2025 in the presence of customers, partners, construction stakeholders, neighbors, and representatives from business, politics, and government agencies of the Free State of Saxony and the City of Dresden. Together with the Minister President of the Free State of Saxony, Michael Kretschmer, and the Lord Mayor of the City of Dresden, Dirk Hilbert, Jenoptik President & CEO Dr. Stefan Traeger and Site Manager Dr. Andreas Morak opened the fab in Dresden, in the heart of the semiconductor hub called 'Silicon Saxony'.
Previously, exactly one year after the groundbreaking ceremony on September 6, 2022, Jenoptik celebrated the topping-out ceremony for its new high-tech factory on September 6, 2023.
Impressions from the fab opening on May 6, 2025 (©Benjamin Jehne)
Michael Kretschmer, Minister President of Saxony
Dirk Hilbert, Lord Mayor of Dresden, Saxony
Video of our new fab in Dresden, Germany (©Pascal Blaurock)
Facts and figures about our high-tech fab
Timeline
- Purchase of land: May 2021
- Groundbreaking: September 2022
- Topping-out ceremony: September 2023
- Ready for equipment: October 2024
- Opening: May 2025
Project & partners
- Planning: RSE Architekten Ingenieure GmbH, Stuttgart, Germany
- General and technical building services planning: CRC Clean Room Consulting GmbH, Freiburg, Germany
- Construction: individual awarding of the trades
Site area: 24,000 sqm
- of which approx. 60% sqm currently under construction
- of which approx.40% sqm later expansion/extension options
Total net area: approximately 11,000 sqm, with space for ...
clean room/ production
logistics
technical areas
offices & admin
showroom, meeting & reception areas
Our top-7 fab facts
- Less than 1,000 days passed between the groundbreaking ceremony and the grand opening, exactly 793 days.
- During the construction of the fab, comprehensive vibration monitoring was set up to avoid disrupting the production processes of neighboring companies in the industrial park.
- The construction was coordinated by the Jenoptik project team, and the trades were contracted individually. Up to 50 companies were working on the construction site at the same time.
- Cleanroom classes range from ISO 9 (lowest) to ISO 1 (highest). In ISO 3 cleanrooms, a maximum of 1,000 particles smaller than 0.1 µm per cubic meter of air are permitted, up to eight particles with a size of 1 µm, and no particles larger than 1 µm.
- While the high ISO classes of the large semiconductor fabs in the clean rooms are predominantly fully automated processes, manual processes are indispensable in the manufacture of optics. This places high demands on the employees in the clean rooms. For example, any kind of makeup is taboo.
- Employees in the fab wear dark blue cleanroom clothing. There is a good reason for this: dark blue does not reflect light when working in so-called darkrooms, which is advantageous for the processes. Guests and customers in the cleanroom are provided with light-colored protective clothing.
- The cleanroom was designed to be “support-free.” This ensures maximum flexibility of use in the future.
These were the milestones on the construction site
November 2024: Ready for equipment
January 2024: Interior work has started
April 2023: The first floor was built
November 2022: Drilling the foundation piles
May 2024: Cooling machines and next steps
July 2023: Shell construction with ventilation system
February 2023: Pouring the base plate
Images from the groundbreaking ceremony (©Benjamin Jehne)
Impressions from the topping-out ceremony in September 2023
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