Festo Systems department - producer, supplier, integrator
January 2004System Integration & Control Systems Design
The Festo Systems department has installed several large motion control systems in South Africa recently, predominantly valve terminals, pneumatic systems and PLC-controlled systems in the automotive, diamond mining and pharmaceutical industries.
About 50 units, ranging from general electro-pneumatic control cabinets to servo-electric systems, are produced monthly, and often installed, by this division. Pneumatic fittings alone exceed 100 000 units, valued at more than R1-million a year.
"From conceptualising solutions that suit individual customer applications through to drawing designing, assembling, testing, installing and commissioning the end-product, we have become true specialists in positioning and handling systems," says department head, Adrian Buddingh. The bulk of the department's impressive list of orders involves PLC-controlled electro-pneumatic systems for machine builders and for small-machine interfacing on assembly lines. Diverse markets with unique applications means that the department's engineering division is backed by highly skilled software engineers and repair facilities capable of accommodating a host of different components. Turnaround times of one to two weeks from request to implementation, depending on the complexity of the system, are being regularly achieved.
"As a supplier, our strength in the market is built on unique products, like the SPC 200 modular controller, which can be programmed to carry out functions combining servo control and logic," says Festo MD, Richard Teagle. "The Systems department is able to extend this leadership in the local market by tapping into the Festo global network, which puts us in touch with every technician, manager and engineer in the group in realtime."
"The resulting technology transfer implications alone are phenomenal," he continues. "While phrases like 'shrinking global marketplace' and 'worldwide seamless integration' are richly sown throughout today's business and industrial publications, few companies can actually deliver such integration of services, knowledge and support."
"While we cover both valve terminals controlled by a PLC on Fieldbus networks and DCS systems networked via Ethernet, the drive is towards spreading intelligence throughout the factory, for instance, through the use of valve terminals with remote intelligence," states Buddingh. "For this reason our valve terminals are also compatible with most communication protocols."
For more information contact Richard Teagle, Managing Director, Festo, 011 971 5500, [email protected]
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