The years 2017 until today

Dr. Stefan Traeger (pictured) has been the new Chief Executive Officer since May 2017. He succeeds Dr. Michael Mertin, who left the company after almost ten years as Jenoptik CEO.

Jenoptik acquires a British software company: The acquisition of the British company ESSA Technology is a further step in the development towards an integrated solution provider for traffic law enforcement and civil security. In Kuwait, Jenoptik is commissioned to install non-invasive average speed measuring systems on the world’s longest sea bridge.

In June 2017 Jenoptik moves into its new technology campus at the US site in Rochester Hills, Michigan. At the end of year, Jenoptik expands its optical manufacturing capacity in Jupiter, Florida with a new clean room. Jenoptik opens a new location in Fremont, California.

In August, Jenoptik acquires the US company Five Lakes Automation (FLA), a specialist for process automation in the automotive industry. This acquisition will help transform Jenoptik from a machine supplier to an integrated specialist for metal and plastic processing.

Jenoptik acquires the Canadian company Prodomax Automation Ltd, based in Barrie, Ontario, which plans and designs automated production lines similar to FLA and integrates them into the manufacturing environment of customers in the automotive industry. In the course of the year, Jenoptik also strengthens its metrology business with the acquisition of OTTO group in Thuringia.

Jenoptik is investing around 11 million euros in a new production facility for industrial metrology. In Villingen-Schwenningen, state-of-the-art development, production and office space is created for 220 employees.

Jenoptik is also investing in modern production equipment at its location in Berlin and is thus preparing itself for the increasing demand for high-performance laser diodes.

The Jenoptik measuring system VECTOR P2P for the control of average speeds is approved by the National Metrology Institute (NMi) and can therefore be used for traffic monitoring in the Netherlands.

Under the claim “More Light”, Jenoptik positions itself more strongly as an application specialist for photonic technologies as of 2019. Core elements such as structure, corporate culture and brand as the basis of the Strategy 2022 were launched successfully at SPIE Photonics West in San Francisco.

The focus on photonics is reflected in a new corporate structure: Jenoptik’s business is organized in the photonics-based divisions Light & Optics, Light & Production und Light & Safety as well as in VINCORION for the mechatronic business.

Near Bayeux in French Normandy Jenoptik opens new production facility for high-precision industrial metrology, which is being used in automotive manufacturing.

Jenoptik delivers lenses to NASA for their Mars 2020 mission that will send the first images of the Red Planet back to Earth once the Mars rover will have landed. (Image: Artist's concept of Rover on Mars. © NASA)

After Jenoptik had received German type approval for an average speed control system as the first company in Germany, section speed control is launched for the first time in Germany in a pilot project in Lower Saxony.

Jenoptik acquires the Spanish company INTEROB in January 2020 and thereby strengthens its position as a full-service provider of automated manufacturing solutions. In July, Jenoptik also accelerated its growth with the acquisition of TRIOPTICS. The complementary technology portfolios in the fields of mobility, connectivity, virtual reality and digital imaging strengthened Jenoptik's technologically leading position in the market.

In March, the photonics group announced new orders that should increase road safety in North America. These included Speed measurement systems and a new camera platform with artificial intelligence.

In the context of the Corona pandemic, Jenoptik took diverse measures within the company to protect employees and stakeholders as much as possible in addition to securing financial liquidity. For example, comprehensive precautionary measures were decided by the internal Corona Task Force.

Jenoptik improved significantly in the reassessment by the Women’s Career Index (FKi). A large number of internal measures are showing initial success to better promote women and diversity.

In Dresden, Germany, the group invests in a new electron-beam (e-beam) lithography tool to manufacture future sensor generations for the semiconductor equipment industry.

Jenoptik received a major order from the automotive industry in the third quarter. The order comprised three complete production cells for cutting and welding body components for electric cars.

In the spring, Jenoptik placed a 400 million euros debenture bond with sustainability components on the capital market. These funds give room for maneuver for acquisitions and investments in the photonics business. More than 250 institutional investors thus demonstrated their confidence in the company.

The group received orders for traffic safety equipment with a total value of over 24 million US dollars in North America. New technology such as the VECTOR camera platform will also be used to improve road safety in the USA and Canada.

Increasing demand from the semiconductor industry: Jenoptik plans to expand its optics manufacturing capacities in Dresden and decided in June 2021 to invest around 70 million euros in a state-of-the-art cleanroom fab for this purpose. A 24,000 square meter plot of land was acquired at Airportpark Dresden for the development. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2022 and production in the factory is expected to start in 2025.

Jenoptik started the construction of a new company restaurant in Jena in summer 2021. With an investment of approx. 11.9 million euros, a modern facility with catering, meeting and recreation zones will be built on the Jenoptik campus in the Jena-Göschwitz. The 2,100 square meter building is scheduled to open in mid-2022.

Jenoptik is continuing its focus on photonic applications with the sale of the non-optical process metrology business for grinding machines and the sale of the crystal growth business in Eisenach. In addition, with STAR Capital Partnership LLC, Jenoptik found a new owner for its mechatronics business under the VINCORION brand name.

The photonics group announced in October 2021 that it would acquire all shares in BG Medical Applications GmbH and SwissOptic AG. With this acquisition, Jenoptik aims to accelerate growth in the photonics and medical technology sector.

With the new growth agenda ’More Value’, which was introduced at the Capital Markets Day, Jenoptik will accelerate the company’s transformation into a globally leading, pure photonics player.

On July 1, Jenoptik celebrated the 30th anniversary of its founding at Ernst-Abbe-Platz in Jena, which had been postponed due to Corona. Under the motto "Jenoptik 30+1 - We shine together", the open-air festival delighted employees and the people of Jena with entertainment for young and old and a colorful stage program that included performances by the Belgian singer-songwriter Milow and the Erfurt-based band MAMA.

The Supervisory Board of JENOPTIK AG resolved to appoint new members to the Executive Board with effect from January 2023. Dr. Ralf Kuschnereit will become a member of the Executive Board on January 1 and will continue to be responsible for the Advanced Photonic Solutions division. Dr. Prisca Havranek-Kosicek will succeed CFO Hans-Dieter Schumacher, who is terminating his contract at his own request, as of April 2023.

On June 30, 2022, the sale of VINCORION to a fund managed by STAR Capital Partnership LLP was successfully completed. The sale is an important milestone in the transformation of Jenoptik into a pure and globally leading photonics group.

Jenoptik presented HOMMEL ETAMIC, the industrial metrology brand of its Non-Photonic Portfolio Companies. The comprehensive product portfolio for metrology solutions in industrial manufacturing processes was presented for the first time at the Control trade fair in Stuttgart in May.

In September, construction work on Jenoptik’s new Dresden high-tech factory began with a groundbreaking ceremony attended by Saxony's prime minister, the mayor and Jenoptik's Executive Board members. With 11,000 square meters of net floor space, the new plant at Airportpark Dresden is set to become a main site for Jenoptik’s micro-optics activities. The start of production is planned for early 2025.

Jenoptik received the Thuringia Innovation Award 2022 in the "Industry & Materials" category for its opto-electronic probe card for PIC wafer tests, the UFO Probe® Card. The prize comes with 20,000 euros in prize money for the Jenoptik team. Jenoptik also received an award at the Intertraffic trade fair in Amsterdam. The TraffiPole housing system, an environmentally friendly and sustainable solution for traffic monitoring, received the Intertraffic Green Globe Award in March.

Jenoptik celebrated the opening of its new medical technology site in Berlin in June 2023. Since then, more than 100 employees have been developing and manufacturing optical components and systems specifically for dentistry and robot-assisted surgery in the production facilities and state-of-the-art environment.

Exactly one year after the ground-breaking ceremony, the topping-out ceremony for Jenoptik's new high-tech factory in Dresden took place on September 6, 2023. Jenoptik employees and neighboring companies from the industrial park were present alongside those involved in the construction. Production in the new factory is scheduled to start at the beginning of 2025.

At “Blechexpo”, a trade fair for sheet metal processing, Jenoptik received an Innovation Award for its PSS-40/ LCLW inspection station (see team photo). The machine enables more efficient stamping production thanks to optical inspection with integrated laser processing.