Circuit diagrams at the touch of a button
Macros for Festo automation products for the Eplan circuit diagram software have been popular planning tools with high data quality for many years. With the “Schematic Solution” service, customers can now automatically generate complete Eplan projects for individually configured products such as valve terminals. Schematic Solution is another module offered by Festo to support its customers entering the digital age.
For an individually configurable product such as a valve terminal, finding the right Eplan documentation used to be a tedious task. The type codes of the valve terminals first had to be broken down into component parts before they could be used to find the individual macros. The individual macros then had to be linked again into a complete set of documentation.
That is now no longer the case. Since the beginning of this year, Festo has offered a web service via the Festo App World (www.festo.com/appworld) for automatically creating a correctly configured Eplan project using the type code. What used to take hours and was prone to errors can now be done in just a few minutes, without any errors and according to standard. At present the service is not only available for the automation platform CPX, the valve terminal series MPA, VTSA and VTUG, but also for the revolutionary automation platform Festo Motion Terminal VTEM whose pneumatic functions are controlled using software apps. Festo is continuously extending this service to other products.
Dawn of digitalisation
With the Schematic Solution in the Festo App World, Festo is also driving digitalisation in the area of circuit diagram software and supporting its customers entering the age of Industry 4.0. The App World is the central online platform for purchasing and downloading paid apps and digital services. Festo as an automation expert is combining its extensive knowledge of industrial applications with the latest developments in information technology to realise online applications for industrial automation practice.
Festo is also using digital communication to support its customers throughout the Digital Customer Journey. This digital journey guides users safely and comprehensively through the Festo portfolio, from information procurement and configuration through ordering and delivery to commissioning and maintenance or even to the technical training offering of Festo Didactic.
Festo is a global player and an independent family-owned company with headquarters in Esslingen am Neckar, Germany. Festo has set standards in industrial automation technology and technical education ever since its establishment, thereby making a contribution to sustainable development of the environment, the economy and society. The company supplies pneumatic and electrical automation technology to 300,000 customers of factory and process automation in over 35 industries. Digitalization, AI and the LifeTech sector with medical technology and laboratory automation are becoming increasingly important. The products and services are available in 176 countries. With about 20,600 employees in over 250 branch offices in around 60 countries worldwide, Festo achieved a turnover of around €3.65 billion in 2023. Each year around 7% of this turnover is invested in research and development. In this learning company, 1.5 % of turnover is invested in basic and further training. Festo Didactic SE is a leading provider of technical education and training and offers its customers worldwide comprehensive digital and physical learning solutions in the industrial environment.
