The growing pace of technological change, political disputes over trade relations and increasingly dismal prospects for the global economy are putting the manufacturing industry under pressure. The corona pandemic was and is a particular challenge, too. How can we succeed in not simply going with the flow but playing an active role in this complex scenario, especially as a medium-sized family company?

In the financial year 2019, the Festo Group extended its position in the market and in technology during the downturn and was able to maintain the number of its employees almost at the previous year’s level. Sales were just under the figure for the previous year. As a supplier to systemically relevant areas such as the food and packaging industries, medical technology and laboratory automation, Festo got off to a comparatively good start in the ...

Digitalization influences all areas of life. Not only the working environment is changing fundamentally, but also the way people learn. Learning trends such as mobile learning, micro learning, gamification, adaptive learning and virtual reality are also shaping technical education and training.  For this reason, Festo Didactic has developed a digital learning portal; the Festo Learning Experience, in order to be prepared for the future of learning ...

  Festo Didactic presents a new product for the bionics didactic concept of Bionics4Education. What is new: the orientation towards the maker movement approach and the 4Cs. The aim is inspiring learners, finding new ways and solutions, dealing creatively with provided materials, and sharing these experiences with others to prepare them for the digital world of tomorrow.

Thanks to radio-based indoor GPS with ultra-wideband technology (UWB) the BionicSwifts can fly safely and in a coordinated pattern in a defined airspace. To execute these flight manoeuvres as true to life as possible, the wings are modelled on the plumage of real birds. The agility of the artificial birds is not just due to their lightweight design and aerodynamic kinematics, but also to the use of function integration.

Industrial change demands a new kind of interaction between people, machines and data. In the future, operators and robots will work ever more closely together. This is why Festo has been working intensively on systems which, for example, can relieve people of monotonous or hazardous activities while at the same time posing no risk. Artificial intelligence plays a central role here. The BionicMobileAssistant is a prototype of a robot system that moves ...

The Festo Motion Terminal VTEM combines digitalisation and pneumatics. Quickly activated Motion Apps are revolutionising pneumatics by increasing flexibility and energy efficiency, and accelerating production processes. This also benefits electronics manufacturing, as demonstrated by the use of the automation platform VTEM in wafer handling.

Protective masks are in short supply in these times of coronavirus so why not just produce some yourself?! With a system from Mikron, this is almost within everyone’s reach. This scalable system produces 50-100 face masks per minute, depending on the version. With engineering support from Festo, Mikron managed to develop the system in just six weeks.

Festo’s Scharnhausen Technology Plant in the high-tech country that is Germany is at the forefront of automation for the future. The factory, where the automation company manufactures valves, valve terminals and electronics, is characterised by lean and energy-efficient processes, top-quality products and a pronounced customer focus, as well as sustainable and green production.

Walking and rolling like the flic-flac spider – the BionicWheelBot moves along the ground in astounding ways. Together with the team headed by the discoverer of the spider, Professor Ingo Rechenberg, Festo has taken a very close look at these unique forms of locomotion and has technically realised them. But no magnifying glass was needed for the flying fox: the BionicFlyingFox is an imposing figure with its wingspan of 2.28 metres and its partly ...

The global demand for textiles is growing unchecked. Experts expect an increase from 80 million textiles a year today to 120 million in 2030. Yet textile prices are falling. As a result, textile manufacturers are forced to keep cutting costs. For OEMs this means developing ever faster and more productive machines and plants. However, this can only be done with reliable and attractively priced components, such as from the Festo core product range. These ...

The role of the human being in tomorrow’s production is often discussed. What new tasks will arise? Which of these can robots take on, and how will humans and robots work together? Festo is researching answers to these questions and other practical solutions together with partners from science and industry in the ARIZ project (“Work in the Industry of the Future”). In this context, the focus is on cost-effectiveness in addition to ...

Compact design for 30% shorter cycle times and 50% less vibration – those are the most important characteristics of the cantilever axis with toothed belt ELCC-TB from Festo. The axis fits in seamlessly with Festo's concept of complete connectivity for its electric automation technology.

The fact that spot welding is becoming ever faster and more reliable is illustrated by a customer-specific solution installed at Volvo in Sweden. The ingredients of this special Swedish recipe are electric drive technology and vision systems from Festo, linked to the automation platform CPX. This means more reliability in the production of the sheet-metal components for Volvo car bodies, and more safety for the plant operators.

New technologies generate unprecedented market opportunities. This applies even more to digitalisation in the machine and plant construction sector. The aim of Festo is to support customers and partners and take them into the digital age as part of this transformation process. With the takeover of the industrial intelligence company Resolto, Festo is ready to enter the next stage in the automation technology: the use of artificial intelligence.

Highly pure, sterile processes are a key challenge for the industrial production of tomorrow – especially in food processing and the pharmaceuticals and medical technology industries, but also in the electronics sector. To keep manufacturing processes as free from contamination as possible, the workpieces and the workroom should be separated from each other. This can be achieved with superconductor technology. At the Anuga Foodtech 2018 trade ...