ZEISS and HYDAC Increase Performance in Technical Cleanliness with Digitalized Work Process

The newly introduced digitalized work process from partners ZEISS and HYDAC will enable customers to track down potential sources of contamination even faster in the future. The data from the HYDAC machines used to monitor the component washing process will be integrated into the ZEISS reporting for the microscopic examination of analysis filters. With this new approach, ZEISS and HYDAC are further improving performance in the technical cleanliness of functional parts and components.

"Technical cleanliness is no longer an option, it is an obligation – in the automotive sector, medical technology, in optics and in many other industries," says Werner Renz who is responsible for technical cleanliness at ZEISS. To enable customers to ensure technical cleanliness more efficiently, ZEISS has been working closely with the Fluidcare Application Development division at HYDAC since October 2019.

The goal of this partnership is to coordinate the hardware and software for individual products so that customers will be able to reliably access all necessary work process data from a single location. The next release of the ZEISS Technical Cleanliness Analysis software will be able to automatically transfer process-relevant parameters from the HYDAC machines into the microscopic analysis report for the extraction filters. Renz is convinced: "This step will significantly increase our customers' productivity, and thus also their competitiveness."

For many components, however, the design of the part requires analyzing more than just the surface in order to verify the presence of particles. They must be extracted from the entire component. HYDAC provides a range of machines which can be used to clean and capture component particles. In order to quantify the particle contamination and to determine the properties of the elements, the filters from the cleaning machines are examined using a light microscope and an electron microscope. ZEISS' product portfolio offers a range of tailor-made solutions to this end which not only enable operators to evaluate how clean their parts are, but also make it possible to identify and eliminate potential sources of contamination.

"HYDAC is perhaps the most renowned provider of solutions for extraction and component analysis. We are very pleased to be working with them and, together, to be the first in our industry to focus on improving technical cleanliness for our customers' entire workflow," says Renz. The collaboration between HYDAC and ZEISS was first announced at parts2clean, the leading international trade fair for industrial parts and surface cleaning. Through this partnership, both partners are specifically strengthening and growing their product portfolios in the area of technical cleanliness. "This is an area which is going to continue growing in importance globally," stresses Hubert Lorig, Key Account Manager Automotive at HYDAC International GmbH.