Training and discussion on key issues for the future of handling and industrial automation.

On the occasion of the training on handling technologies, carried out in the last weeks by Festo Consulting & Academy Italia and Festo Italia within our Grow Hub space, we had the opportunity to deepen some topics that we consider fundamental for the technological development of industrial automation solutions and our customer services.

In this regard, Sergio Forneris, Head of Product Market at Festo Italia, answered some of our questions.

What are the technological innovations in the field of pneumatic and electropneumatic components in the sector from an industry 5.0 perspective?
"Festo's proposal in the 5.0 area essentially goes on three directions:

• Lightweight and high-performance new generation products, made using materials with low environmental impact, techno polymer and recycled aluminium.
• Sensors that monitor energy values, making them usable for analysis and comparison. In order to determine the state of health of the system, to calculate consumption by allocating energy costs and any machine drifts.
• Plug&play solutions for the management of compressed air and vacuum systems.

To complete the process, the Engineering Tools allow you to choose, size and make the best use of the right component, from an energy and functional point of view."

What's new for the I/O world and predictive maintenance?
"The goal is to achieve a significant reduction in downtime and a significant optimization of maintenance. Predictive maintenance solutions, such as the Festo AX 'Motion Insights Pneumatic' platform, based on data analysis and artificial intelligence. This allows us to predict and prevent component failures or malfunctions by using information within the process PLC that, through the AI algorithm, is made available and processed to improve maintenance interventions on both new installations and retrofitting."

What are the evolution forecasts of the sector in the next 5 years?
"If we want to anticipate and respond to technological evolution in the world of industrial automation, it is first and foremost necessary to dedicate a significant portion of investments to research and development, an aspect that has always distinguished Festo. The central themes of our R&D for future products are primarily aimed at improving the OEE of the system, through essential elements as the integration of monitoring functions, performance analysis, and energy consumption. To achieve this, you have to start with the design: the sizing and selection of components, integrating them into control platforms in a few simple steps will become a distinguishing feature of future products. Festo is already offering solutions that facilitate the optimization and integration of products, especially motors, drives, and handling systems."