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Automation is a term that may seem like part of the current zeitgeist. Yet the idea of getting machines to do tasks that for generations had only been performed by humans is not a recent phenomena.
In reality, it’s the continuation of a millennia-old trend: think pottery wheels, windmills or waterwheels. But what is indisputable is that in recent years, the possibilities of automation have expanded exponentially – and a leading light on this new horizon is Festo.
It is highly possible that an object in the room you are currently sitting in exists thanks to Festo China.
The German-headquartered specialists in industrial automation make the technology that creates products that are ubiquitous in our daily lives, from electronics and cars to bottled water and medicines. With more than 300,000 customers in more than 35 industries, its reach is truly global.
Today, its Chinese arm, Festo China, has become an indispensable cog in the group’s machine, with the Chinese automation market becoming the world’s largest. Although Festo China traces its roots back 30 years, the company itself has a century of expertise behind it.
Festo’s story began in Germany in 1925, in the midst of the golden 20s, a period of economic growth and artistic flourishing in the Weimar Republic. In the idealistic spirit of the age, two young craftsmen, Albert Fezer and Gottlieb Stoll, decided to found a company specializing in manufacturing machinery for woodworking. Combining their two surnames, the company was christened Festo.
However, Fezer parted ways with the company a few years later and Stoll was left to assume the mantle. With one partner gone, another stepped up: Stoll’s wife, Berta. Together they set their sights on growth, marking the birth of a family company deeply committed to the principles of efficiency.
A major inflexion point for Festo came 25 years later, once the company had successfully established itself in Germany.
In 1950, Gottlieb and Berta’s eldest son, Kurt Stoll, had flown to Chicago, where he had learned about pneumatics, a technology that uses compressed gas to create mechanical motion. Kurt realized the vast potential this had for automating manufacturing processes, and returned home with the ideas that would revolutionize Festo.
The company’s pneumatics division was established soon after, and remains one of its core competencies to this day. Its burgeoning success enabled Festo to start expanding internationally, first into Italy in 1956, then France, Switzerland and Austria.
The company was a dynamic force during the technological boom of the late 20th century, embracing innovations in electronic data processing and computer-aided design to refine its product offering, resulting in faster production processes and shorter delivery times.
By the turn of the century it had also become a learning organization, providing technical expertise to wider industry.
Festo began its operations in China in 1985, right as the country was shaping up to be the manufacturing powerhouse of the future. Its official entity, Festo China, was incorporated in Shanghai 1993, and ever since, it has been offering its market-leading expertise in China. It took just 16 years for it to become Festo’s largest subsidiary outside of Germany.
Today, its pneumatic and electric drive technologies help provide comprehensive solutions for factory and process automation in China, producing the essential items for daily life globally.
With more than 2,300 employees in Greater China, the company serves a plethora of industries, from automotive, electronics and light assembly to food packaging, water treatment and pharmaceuticals. Such is the scope of its operations, it is highly possible that an object in the room you are currently sitting in exists thanks to Festo China.
Festo China is truly a nationwide company, with a locality that provides tailored and bespoke customer solutions.
Festo’s involvement in China today spans the length of the nation. While its headquarters are in the centrally located Shanghai, the company has had ties to the southern subtropical regions of Hong Kong and Guangdong since the 1970s.
In 2018, a Festo Experience Center was established in the shimmering ultra-modern metropolis of Shenzhen, bordering Hong Kong. Festo Experience Centers are innovation and collaboration hubs where the company showcases its latest technology, as well as working with customers to develop solutions and overcome technical challenges.
Its other Experience Centers are in the central Chinese city of Chengdu, as well as in Taipei, Shanghai and the capital Beijing, almost 2,000 kilometers from Hong Kong. This sprawling geographic presence means Festo China is truly a nationwide company, with a locality that provides tailored and bespoke customer solutions.
Perhaps its most important premises in Greater China is Festo Jinan Global Production Center. Covering an area of 430,000 square meters, this facility produces the valves, cylinders and electrical drives that themselves form the backbone of manufacturing across China. It is highly versatile, outputting more than 20,000 different products annually.
Not only is its output impressive, so are its sustainability credentials. The roof of this huge facility is covered in solar panels, which generate five million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually and stop the emission of 4,000 metric tons of carbon.
Looking to the future, Festo is passionately committed to research and development in order to sustain its reputation as an innovation specialist.
Eight percent of its global annual revenue is invested in R&D, resulting in 100 new products annually that contribute to its growing tally of more than 2,600 patents. In Greater China, its R&D hub is its Technical Engineering Centre Shanghai. Founded in 2001 and expanded in 2013, its breakthroughs are creating greater efficiencies for supply chains across the world.
Festo China today embodies the values the company was founded on in Germany more than a century ago.
As well as developing new products and technical support for Festo’s subsidiaries, it also offers tailored solutions for its key partners. Among Festo China’s key partners are Zhejiang Easun Pneumatic Science & Technology and Wanhua Chemical Group.
These partnerships enable Festo China to continue in the footsteps of the Stoll family, who envisioned the company as a standard bearer for greater industrial efficiency. From being inspired by nascent innovations in faraway lands, to becoming the exporters of the innovations underpinning our very existence, Festo China today embodies the values the company was founded on in Germany more than a century ago.
It’s a legacy that Gottlieb and Berta Stoll would surely be proud of.
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