Electronics industry challenges its suppliers

Electronic components are rapidly finding their way into other industries too. In addition to the classic products associated with smartphones, computers and TVs, the automotive industry, medical technology and trade logistics are demanding more powerful electronics and sensors, e.g. for electro-mobility or self-driving vehicles. And even the food and packaging industries are hungry for smart, intelligent packaging that comes equipped with electronic chips.

Development and product design in Europe, the US, China and South Korea are generally separated from production in China or South East Asia. That is why it is hugely important for OEMs that their suppliers be close at hand all over the world – with products, spare parts, consultancy and services, and also with individual, customised product solutions. Automation specialists from Festo with their industry expertise are therefore increasingly travelling to China and the Asian countries to advise their customers.

Double the manufacturing capacity

Large quantities, high speed, worldwide availability and attractive prices – these are the minimum requirements of the semiconductor industry and electronics manufacturing for automation technology. "Festo has therefore doubled its production capacity worldwide with a focus on Asia, which means it is now prepared for the high demand for electric and pneumatic standard products," explains Arian Scholz, Head of Global Key Account and Industry Segment Management at Festo.

Particularly attractive for the electronics industry are the compact cylinders ADN, the mini slide DGST and the guided drive DFM, in addition to matching proximity sensors, the VUVG valves and the MS2 series of service units. All products enable a pneumatic control chain with a very compact design.

2200 components in the core range

The automation components mentioned are part of the Festo core range. These "Stars in Automation" include over 2200 components from every phase of the pneumatic and electrical control chain – from compressed air preparation, valves and cylinders to accessories, such as matching tubing and fittings. With the core product range from Festo, textile machine manufacturers can realise around 80% of all applications effortlessly and quickly at attractive prices, even when large quantities are needed.

Fast availability worldwide

Many of the components marked with the star are ready to be shipped just 24 hours after the order is received, while configurable products are ready for delivery within five days. All products in the core range are available worldwide and with the same level of quality thanks to automated production at various decentralised locations in the core markets of Germany, China and the USA. There are further plants in India, Brazil, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Switzerland. Distribution is also decentralised thanks to highly automated logistics centres in Germany, China and the USA, so 70% of all customers can be reached within one day.

Efficient production

The hallmark of the latest components of the core range is the collaboration between the design engineers and production planners at Festo. They worked closely together during the development of these products to ensure that the components can be manufactured in the Festo plants with a high degree of automation. For the new mini slide DGST, for example, the yoke and slide are manufactured fully automatically as a single part. In addition, the developers successfully reduced the number of components by 60% compared with the previous model.

This enables the DGST to be produced in large quantities with maximum efficiency. This approach also allowed the cycle times for the guided drive DFM to be reduced by almost 50%. Festo plants can now produce a DFM every minute. Another example is the fully automated production line for the standard valve VUVG, which produces a fully assembled valve every 12 seconds.