Improve your pneumatics troubleshooting skills and optimise your production efficiency, says Festo
Would you know what to do if your pneumatic system was experiencing intermittent pressure fluctuations? Are you confident that the component you have just replaced was actually the cause of the fault? How can you extend mean time between failure to optimise productivity?
Would you know what to do if your pneumatic system was experiencing intermittent pressure fluctuations? Are you confident that the component you have just replaced was actually the cause of the fault? How can you extend mean time between failure to optimise productivity?
According to Festo, these are common dilemmas faced by engineers with responsibility for pneumatic systems in industries across the UK. From pharmaceuticals to machine tooling, electronics assembly to food production and packaging, pneumatic systems play a fundamental role in performing, highly repetitive tasks. Understanding how pneumatic systems work and being able to diagnose and correct faults effectively are therefore vital engineering skills.
Drawing on its experiences as a manufacturer and employer, Festo has been running training courses for many years that take engineers through the fundamentals of pneumatic system design and operation. It has recently added a new course, available from July 2021, that focuses on troubleshooting and fault diagnosis to further improve skill levels in the pneumatic systems arena.
Hakan Emince, Head Trainer at Festo, explains:
“The performance of pneumatic systems in industry directly impacts overall equipment effectiveness, productivity and competitiveness. Our new course, Troubleshooting and Maintenance in Pneumatics, offers an introduction to common mistakes, fault finding, maintenance and inefficiency in pneumatics and electro-pneumatics systems. Using a combination of theory and practical exercises, the course aims to improve how engineers approach maintenance of pneumatic systems and enable them to deal with breakdowns more efficiently.”
The practical sessions are used to simulate various common problems, helping delegates to understand reasons and consequences of issues from real life. Among other things, participants will learn how to interpret pneumatic system diagrams, how to establish the root cause of a problem quickly, fix faults faster, and avoid costly downtime; and how to optimise system performance to improve the quality, efficiency and lifecycle of the machine. Aspects such as hazard identification and safety are also covered.
Troubleshooting and Maintenance in Pneumatics is a two-day course and is applicable for personnel in multiple engineering type roles, who already have a grasp of pneumatic system fundamentals. Courses take place at Festo’s dedicated purpose-built training centre in Northampton, although there is an option to run courses at the customer’s site for groups where circumstances allow. If potential attendees are unsure if they are at the correct level for the course then they can complete a free knowledge check via the Festo Didactic website.
About Festo
Festo is a leading international supplier of automation technology with a turnover in 2023 of around €3.65 billion. Festo employs over 20,600 people worldwide and is a proven innovator and problem solver in pneumatic and electrical automation, where it is the performance leader. Festo offers around 33,000 pneumatic and electric products in hundreds of thousands of variants for factory and process automation technology, many of which can be tailored to specific customer needs. Sustainability, reducing its CO2 footprint, digital learning, innovation, performance and speed are the key drivers for the company's future. Festo GB operates as a carbon neutral organisation and uses the PAS 2060 standard externally audited by NQA to validate this claim to customers, employees and other stakeholders.
Festo Industrial Automation's innovative strength is demonstrated through the launch of around 100 new products every year. The company invests over 7% of its turnover in R&D, resulting in over 2,600 patents held worldwide. For more information about the company's products and UK / Irish services, please visit: www.festo.com/gb and www.festo.com/ie
Festo and Industry 4.0 - Festo has engaged with the Industry 4.0 initiative from its inception: as a user, manufacturer and trainer. As a member of the steering group, the company has taken an active role in defining the core standards such as the RAMI model and the Administration Shell. Festo Didactic has installed Industry 4.0 Cyber-Physical Factory training hardware systems in many leading universities and training centres. It also provides Industry 4.0 training courses for change managers and practical workshops for employees. Industry 4.0 technologies such as OPC-UA communications are embedded in the latest generation products. For more information, go to www.festo.com/digitalisation
Festo Didactic training delivers training for industry – by industry. Combining Festo's industrial heritage with its future-focused manufacturing and engineering expertise to deliver courses for greater productivity and competitiveness. Offering a wide range of open courses, structured development programmes and tailor-made, customer-specific projects on technology and Industry 4.0 and the industry-leading online training suite, Festo LX. Festo also provides state-of-the-art training equipment solutions for industrial companies and educational institutions around the world. Festo Didactic has around 56,000 education customers worldwide. More information on Festo training and consulting services can be found at: www.festo.com/didactic
Festo Bionic Learning Network encapsulates the innovative nature of Festo, raising awareness and attracting talent to the company. Exploring the links between nature and technology opens new areas of innovation and demonstrates complex ideas in a stimulating and enjoyable way. Festo works with an alliance of internal R&D, external educational establishments and specialist companies to advance bionic solutions for automation applications of the future. The objective is to benefit from bionics as a source of inspiration and to realise these in industrial automation. For more information about Festo's Bionic Learning Network, please visit: www.festo.com/bionics
