Customer Solutions:
Customers in China too will
enjoy tailored solutions for their applications.
“
We are moving
towards a model
of production
based in the
region for the
region.”
Dr. Hong Zhou, Head of the
Global Production Centre,
Jinan, Shanghai and APTC
institutions. Festo has also been involved in extensive coopera-
tion with the renowned Tongji University in Shanghai since 1985.
The success of the Esslingen-based company in China is
founded on its extensive pool of highly trained experts. This
provides the basis for successful projects such as the water
treatment plant in Nanjing, a city with over 6 million inhabitants,
in which automated solutions from Festo supply a million
people with 4.5 million cubic metres of clean water every day.
Like many other countries in the world, China has realised
the need to make the most efficient use of this scarce natural
resource. Hundreds of water and wastewater treatment
plants have been equipped with solutions from Festo. These
solutions help the plants to operate more efficiently.
If you count the arguments in favour of sustained economic
growth in China, the bottom line remains extremely positive
despite a few dissenting voices. China is not about to slow
down any time soon – and why should it? Not only have people
in China learned a great deal from the West, but the West
has also learned a great deal from China, and will continue to
do so in the future.
Festo in China
Next year, the national company celebrates 20 years
in the Shanghai metropolis. A lot has happened since
the company was founded. Over the years, Festo has
invested in plant construction and expansion and in a
customer-oriented infrastructure. The Global Produc-
tion Centre (GPC) in Shanghai was created in 2005. In
2007,
a new production location was acquired with
the takeover of the Jinan Huaneng Pneumatic Company
(
JPC) in the industrial city of Jinan, which is served by
the high-speed rail link between Beijing and Shanghai.
At the beginning of this year, Festo hosted a traditional
celebration to mark the inauguration of a new extension,
a step increase in the plant by a further 26,000 m
2
to
around 46,000 m
2
.
The plant in Jinan is now officially one
of the 11 GPCs worldwide.
At around the same time, a groundbreaking ceremony
was held in Shanghai for the expansion of Asia Pacific
Technical Centre (APTC). Through this programme of
expansion, Festo aims to meet growing demand for
customised and user-specific products and solutions
in China. Festo currently employs around 1,800 people
in the areas of production and logistics and in 42 sales
and service centres throughout China.
Dr. Eberhard Veit,
Chairman of the Management Board of Festo AG,
at the celebrations to mark the expansion of the plant in Jinan.
2.2012
trends in automation
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