Creating added customer value through innovation has been the driving force behind the family-owned company from the beginning and remains the key to Festo’s success today. With its constant determination to make people’s work easier and increase efficiency, Festo has shaped an entire era of industrial production. Today, the company is a global player and front-runner in automation technology, as well as a world leader in technical education and training. Festo’s anniversary is being celebrated with employees, customers and partners worldwide throughout the year.
From the very beginning, Festo has focused on innovation, responsibility and the future, and it is the people who still make all the difference. “Festo is the work of many hands” is the saying of the company’s founder, Gottlieb Stoll. This is still the guiding principle for management and staff worldwide. In 1925, he and Albert Fezer founded the company Fezer & Stoll to make woodworking machines in Esslingen am Neckar. Albert Fezer left the company shortly afterwards, and Gottlieb Stoll continued to run the company on his own.
The second generation of owners laid the foundation for the company as it is now. Dr Kurt Stoll brought the idea of pneumatics from the USA to Germany in 1950, and as a pioneer in his father’s company developed it further. This marked the start of pneumatics at Festo and paved the way for its use in factory automation.
Internationalisation played a vital role in the ongoing development of Festo. Dr Wilfried Stoll concentrated on developing international markets and establishing national companies. In 2000, the owners separated the power tools division from the rest of the company and established it as an independent company under the name Festool.
Education as a key theme for customers and employees
Lifelong learning is firmly rooted in the corporate culture at Festo. This is because successful companies need people who can understand, develop and apply technologies. Training and developing competencies are thus fundamental success factors for a flourishing workforce. This is why Festo Didactic was established as a worldwide independent division as early as 1965.
Wilfried Kurt Stoll’s inventive spirit, holistic thinking and approach, and positive customer-oriented perspective have had a lasting impact on the company. Today, Festo is one of the leading automation companies worldwide. Together with Festo Didactic, it is the world market leader in technical education and training.
Festo says “Thank you”
“In 2025, we want to say thank you to our customers, partners and employees and celebrate this unforgettable anniversary with them,” says Thomas Böck, a member of the Festo management board. Anniversary activities will take place throughout the year - in Germany and in the more than 60 Festo companies worldwide, with ‘thank you’ parties for employees, school days for the young talents of tomorrow, customer events and press events. For representatives of the press and visitors who are enthusiastic about technology, world-leading industrial fair, the Hannover Messe, will have a special highlight in store. “The project is still top secret. What we can say is that it showcases our wide range of skills, our broad expertise, our passion for innovation, and our aspiration to make the impossible possible,” says Böck.
The anniversary as a definitive boost for the future
Hannover Messe will be a strong start and that momentum will continue throughout the year. For example, there will be ‘Innovation Days’ worldwide where Festo will use a new format to share future trends, technologies and innovations with customers and partners. “In our anniversary year, we are very much looking to the future since we see it as our responsibility to use our innovations in automation and technical education to help solve the most pressing challenges facing industry and society, and to play a key role in driving industrial transformation as a solution provider,” says Böck. In the future, topics such as digitalisation, artificial intelligence, biologisation and the circular economy will give automation a new boost and inspire future generations. Festo will be making a considerable contribution to moving these developments forward.
Responsibility as a continuous guiding principle
The anniversary will also be the kick-off for an ongoing company-wide initiative to strengthen Festo’s guiding principle of social responsibility for sustainable development. “Our Corporate Citizenship Programme underscores our belief that companies should not only pursue economic goals, but also play a significant part in society,” says Böck. As part of the programme, all 20 000 employees worldwide can spend one day working on a charitable initiative.
For more information contact Festo South Africa,
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