The mining and metals industry continues its shift toward smarter, more connected, and more efficient production. Success depends on reliability and that is precisely what robust automation built for demanding environments helps to achieve. With smart engineering and deep process expertise, we support our partners to move from traditional process control to integrated, data-driven performance systems. Discover how you can achieve greater uptime, safer operations, and consistent quality, even under the toughest conditions.
Extreme temperatures, dust, corrosion, and continuous operation place high demands on automation in the mining and metals industry. That is why having reliably performing systems are crucial to keep production stable and safe. From stable level control in flotation cells to precise valve actuation in coke production, robust automation ensures process integrity and consistency. With decades of experience in process industries, we combine durable automation components with practical engineering know-how to strengthen every stage of production, from mineral extraction and processing to refining and casting.
Our global experts work with you from initial design to full system integration, ensuring smooth interaction between field devices and plant-wide control systems. Whether in traditional steelmaking, aluminium refining, or emerging areas such as urban mining and resource recovery, we help maximise uptime, reduce complexity, and create automation that works dependably where it matters most.
Many of these processes run continuously and often under conditions that are harsh and unsafe for both operators and the environment. Automation improves both safety and efficiency since it reduces manual interventions and stabilises performance around the clock. Festo focuses on designing cost-effective and value-adding automation concepts tailored to the demanding conditions of mining and metals applications.
Automation is more than PLC software and hardware. A robust framework in mining and metals connects mechanical, electrical, and control elements into one reliable system. It ensures that equipment such as valves and actuators perform precisely within defined process limits. A comprehensive approach to automation integrates mechanical, electrical, and digital layers into one system suited for your application.
Reliability begins with understanding the application and selecting components that match its environmental demands. Equipment performs best when it has been specifically designed for the process, rather than replicated from other systems or previous projects. Evaluating each setup individually and applying modern technologies can increase performance, simplify maintenance, and reduce long-term costs.
Yes. Together with digitalization, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, predictive maintenance identifies potential failures before they affect production. Real-time data from sensors and control systems provide early warnings so that maintenance teams can act before unplanned downtime actually occurs and productivity is lost.
Traditional centralized systems rely on individual wiring between components and a central PLC, which increases hardware and complexity. In decentralized automation, pneumatic and electric equipment is connected directly to the plant network via fieldbus interfaces. This reduces wiring effort, simplifies diagnostics, and improves flexibility in large-scale mining and metals operations.
External displacement sensors used for position feedback are often exposed to extreme conditions, leading to inaccurate readings and unstable control. Integrated solutions such as the actuators DFPI from Festo have built-in position feedback or modular control panels with diagnostic options and so eliminate these issues, resulting in precise, reliable pressure control.