Festo – Global Leader in Automation Technology and Technical Education Solutions
About Festo
Festo was founded in April 1925 when Albert Fezer and Gottlieb Stoll established "Fezer & Stoll" in Esslingen, Germany, specializing in woodworking machinery manufacturing. The company began using "Festo" as its brand name—derived from the founders‘ surnames—while marketing its first patented product, the universal woodworking machine (ZUM). In 1950, Kurt Stoll, son of the founder, introduced pneumatic technology from the United States to Germany and further developed it, marking Festo’s official entry into the automation industry. After a century of development, Festo has grown into a globally oriented independent family-owned company, operating in approximately 60 countries and regions worldwide, with over 20,600 employees and an annual group turnover of €3.33 billion. The company is a global leader in automation technology and also holds a world-leading position in technical education and training.
Festo entered the Chinese market in 1985 by establishing a training center at Tongji University; in 1993, Festo (China) Co., Ltd. was established in Shanghai Pudong Jinqiao. Today, Festo Greater China operates 1 global production center, 1 technology R&D center, 5 customer experience centers, over 200 sales offices and authorized dealer outlets, and 3 regional distribution centers. China has become Festo‘s second-largest market globally, with localization production rates reaching 80%. The Jinan Global Production Center, fully operational according to Industry 4.0 standards and spanning 430,000 square meters, is Festo’s largest production facility worldwide.
Why Choose Festo
Festo‘s core strength lies in its comprehensive automation capabilities and deep industry expertise. The company offers approximately 30,000 products, customized components, ready-to-install solutions, and related services, covering electric, pneumatic, and servo-pneumatic drives, pneumatic valves and valve terminals, compressed air preparation and vacuum technology, grippers and industrial robots, servo motors and drives, sensors and vision systems, controllers and software.
In pneumatic technology, Festo has been an industry leader since the 1950s, with products renowned for high reliability, long service life, and easy commissioning. In electric automation, Festo offers electric drives for flexible linear or rotary positioning and CODESYS-based programmable controllers. The company‘s "pneumatic-electric integration, hardware-software synergy" strategy provides a systematic development path for smart manufacturing and flexible production. Festo products comply with GMP, food-grade, ATEX, and various industry standards, suitable for high-temperature, low-temperature, harsh, or corrosive environments.
Festo maintains strong R&D innovation capabilities, filing approximately 100 new patent applications annually, with R&D investment accounting for about 8% of turnover. The company became the world‘s first pneumatic products manufacturer to obtain ISO 9001 certification in 1990, and has also achieved ISO 14001, ISO 13485 (medical devices), and other international certifications. Since its establishment in 1965, Festo Didactic has provided technical education and training services to approximately 56,000 educational customers worldwide, building a complete industrial training system covering laboratory construction, curriculum development, qualification certification, and career guidance.
Applications
Festo solutions are widely deployed across automotive manufacturing, electronics and assembly, semiconductor, food and beverage packaging, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, medical technology, renewable energy (solar/Li-ion), water treatment, chemicals, and over 35 other industries.
In the automotive industry, Festo provides pneumatic and electric integrated solutions for body welding, stamping, final assembly, and new energy vehicle battery manufacturing. In electronics and semiconductor, Festo‘s precision drive and positioning technologies meet high-accuracy, high-cleanliness manufacturing requirements. In food and packaging, Festo offers hygienic compliant柔性 gripping and handling solutions. In life sciences and medical technology, Festo’s fluid and motion technologies are widely used in laboratory automation, in-vitro diagnostic equipment, and drug discovery. In renewable energy, Festo provides automation technology support for solar and wind power generation.
Additionally, Festo is renowned for its bionic technology innovations, including bionic bees, butterflies, swift birds, and柔性 robotic arms, demonstrating the company‘s leading exploration in bio-inspired automation. Whether in traditional industrial manufacturing or cutting-edge technology applications, Festo delivers high-performance, reliable automation solutions.