Dipl.-Ing. Dr. h.c. Oliver Jung, chairman of the management board at Festo, headlines its 19th annual international press conference on July 6 in Esslingen, Germany
Festo reported July 6 that it’s making substantial progress toward achieving environmental sustainability at its 19th annual international press conference at its headquarters in Esslingen, Germany.
“There isn’t just one way to success. We must be open to different ways, and what we want to make is the way to be a sustainable company in a circular economy. Festo is on its way to carbon neutrality,” said Dipl.-Ing. Dr. h.c. Oliver Jung, chairman of the management board at Festo, at the press conference. “Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, we also had a record year in 2021 with a turnover of 3.36 billion euros, which was an 18% increase from the year before. No one can know exactly what’s going to happen in the next month or year, but we believe we’ll continue to find a way with solutions based on innovation.”
Jung reported that Festo’s innovation strategy for 2025 and beyond includes:
- Controlling pneumatics with piezoelectric technology to gain efficiency and precision;
- Digitalization, artificial intelligence (AI) and electric automation platforms;
- Sustainability and energy efficiency; and
- Collaborative robotics.
“Now we can look to individual applications, and decide which technology is right for power use and sustainability as well as optimal production,” explained Jung. “This is revolutionary.”
Jung added that Festo is concentrating on four primary strategies to achieve its sustainable manufacturing goals, including: Festo energy-saving services, energy-efficiency products, engineering tools for product selection, and basic and continuing technical education. Festo is also in the process of meeting seven of the United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals, and adds that its German locations, worldwide production and logistics will be climate neutral by early 2023.
“We just want to make our own contribution to sustainability. We’re calling it the Festo Blue World Approach,” added Jung. “The problem is population growth and demographic changes, which are challenging climate and resource protection. The solutions include biologization and bioreactors, industrial intelligence, digitalization, automation, pneumatics, electronics and process applications. We’re also on our way to climate-neutrality and a circular economy from sourcing raw materials to delivering finished products, and we have the components to do it.”
