It all began 100 years ago in a workshop in Esslingen am Neckar. Festo founder Gottlieb Stoll asked himself how technology could make work easier. From the initial production of machines for woodworking, the company developed into the production of pneumatic and electrical automation technology for mechanical engineering in a wide range of industries. Today, Festo is one of the world's leading automation specialists.

The Festo Group achieved a positive result in the financial year 2024, on a par with the previous year. This was announced by the Chairman of the Management Board, Thomas Böck, at the press conference held during the Hannover Messe. The innovation leader significantly expanded its portfolio in electric and pneumatic automation, particularly in the areas of control technology and digital solutions, software and AI. The company will continue to ...

During a tour of the Hannover Messe at the Festo stand, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz congratulated the company on its 100-year success story: In the anniversary year, Festo welcomed the Federal Chancellor accompanied by Stéphane Dion, Special Envoy of the partner country Canada to the European Union, and Stephan Weil, Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, with a special exhibit, the "Festo Incredible Machine". 

Festo is an independent family-owned company and a global player in automation technology and technical education, with headquarters in Esslingen a.N. (Germany) – with over 20,000 employees at around 250 locations worldwide, a turnover of around 3.5 billion euros and an R&D rate of over 8%. As a partner in motion, Festo offers integrated and seamless pneumatic, electric and digital drive technologies across all industries – including ...

From digital twins to efficient circuit diagrams, from design tools to maximum energy savings – Festo supports its customers holistically and in every phase of their value creation process. This extends to the circular economy and the product carbon footprint, but also to lifelong learning with digital training tools for both trainees and long-term employees.

"No matter what movement task customers approach Festo with, we can solve it. We are the only supplier to combine electrical and pneumatic automation technology that fits together seamlessly," explains Gerhard Borho, Member of the Executive Board for IT and Digitalization at Festo. In doing so, he emphasizes the core of the "Seamless Automation" approach at Festo. Seamless – this applies to Festo from a technological point of ...

Monday, March 31, 2025, 1.30 - 2.30 p.m. at the Festo stand in Hall 7, Stand A32

To mark the company's 100th anniversary, the automation specialist Festo has designed an extraordinary machine that will be presented for the first time at the Hannover Messe 2025. Based on the principle of a Rube Goldberg machine, it does not manufacture a specific product but tells the story of motion in automation technology that has significantly influenced the family-owned company.

Creating added value for customers through innovation has been the driving force behind the family-owned company from the very beginning and remains the key to Festo's success today. With its constant determination to make people's work easier and thus increase efficiency, Festo has shaped an entire era of industrial production. Today, the company is a global player and a front runner in automation technology, as well as a world leader in ...

On the shopfloor, machines not only deliver products, but also large amounts of data that are converted into information using artificial intelligence in such a way that they show humans specific optimization potential . Initial successes are visible: in hundreds of customer applications, solutions from the Festo AX Industrial Intelligence portfolio have reduced unplanned downtimes by up to 25 % and cut waste by 20 %.

Users today face the challenge of having to integrate different topics such as control and motion, AI, data integration and evaluation, predictive maintenance and much more into their applications at the same time, with short development cycles and ever new requirements. Festo AX Controls presents an automation portfolio that takes these requirements into account. The motto "from the workpiece to the cloud" is taken further here, and Festo AX ...