The annual symposium of Applied Industrial Optics has since its inception in 2010 attracted a large number of industrial researchers, as well as academic researchers who are considering commercialization of their work. To make their work more accessible, the past participants of the symposium were invited to contribute to this special issue of Applied Optics. This current issue therefore focuses on optical techniques and measurements that are either already applied in an industrial setting, have the strong potential to be commercially viable, or have been developed by industrial researchers to address their specific problems.