Highlights of topics and products

Which future topics are we driving forward to make you fit for new challenges in the years to come? Our goal is to make automation for your application simpler, more reliable and at the same time more efficient. That is why we are working passionately on developing hardware, software, services and technology at all our sites. On these pages we not only show you several of these products, but we also give you a compact overview of the topics that move us and that play an important role for us this year.

Sustainability

Sustainability is a question of social responsibility. Festo is taking on this responsibility – with a comprehensive approach that is aligned with the relevant UN Sustainable Development Goals. This touches every part of our business, from procurement to production at our sites to the use of our products by customers. The right design in engineering, products for energy- and resource-efficient production, Energy Saving Services and our range of technical basic and further training help to reduce CO₂ emissions and thus improve the environmental footprint, all the way to carbon-neutral production. Festo sees automation as an opportunity and enabler for efficiency improvements in a sustainable industry.

Piezo technology

An inconspicuous little device is changing the world of valves forever: the piezo bender. It is the core of piezo valves, and what makes them small, low-energy, efficient, fast and inherently proportional. Thanks to their numerous benefits, such as the ability to meter, mix or dispense gases and liquids with high precision, piezo valves are right on trend. Piezo valves are therefore popular in life sciences, the electrical industry as well as other industries, and in near-patient mobile terminals. Their compact dimensions and very low heat generation also make them suitable as pilot controls in the smallest of spaces, as in the Motion Terminal VTEM.

LifeTech

Festo offers an attractive mix of standard automation components and specially developed industry-specific solutions, whether for laboratory processes, manufacturing medical equipment or in vitro diagnostics. Our fluid and motion technology is perfectly tailored to the needs of modern laboratory environments. And our innovative products, systems and services for the diagnostic market reduce the validation time and speed up the time to market. Our products, systems and services enable us to realise precisely the flexibility, quality and safety that every industry sector demands. This also includes maximum efficiency.

Electromobility

Electromobility is a growing trend: never before have as many electric cars been registered as in 2021. At the heart of every electric vehicle are lithium-ion batteries for energy storage. These are still the only available scalable technology that can be used for motion. Solutions from Festo ensure that these expensive components are produced safely and end up in the car without getting damaged.

Electric automation

Moving away from pneumatics and moving towards electrics or a mix of the two: one of the big automation trends in recent years has been electric automation. Demand continues to rise rapidly. Festo is responding to this demand with an offer that covers most movement options: from cost-effective and simple movement between two end positions to highly complex and flexible servo drive solutions with many synchronised axes or dynamic Cartesian robots. This portfolio is characterised by seamless connectivity: mechanically, electrically and intelligently. From the shop floor to the master controller, everything fits together. Innovative servo drive technology, direct integration in networks and clever software solutions, in combination with state-of-the-art communication and control concepts, already represent tomorrow's automation solutions.

Digitalisation

Efficient and safe processes are the prerequisite for maximum overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). This is particularly important in highly challenging markets in order to remain competitive or even to keep ahead of the game. Artificial intelligence, or AI for short, is one of the tools that will be used to monitor and improve processes in the future. However, AI also helps to detect faults and the imminent failure of components or to improve energy efficiency. With Festo Automation Experience AX, such a tool is now available.