Press release
Resource efficiency in production:
the choice of technology depends on the application
Festo at Motek 2012
Plant operators who want to make their production facilities energy-efficient are forced
to answer the question as to what technology is appropriate. Festo, the automation
specialist, will be making a presentation at Motek, the international trade fair for
assembly and handling technology, describing the measures, products, and services
which have crucial influence on the efficient use of energy. Visitors will find Festo in
Hall 3, Stand 3303 from 8 to 11 October 2012.
The answer to the question of which technology is appropriate lies in the requirements of
the production facility which is to be optimized or newly designed. Knowing these
requirements helps users to decide whether pneumatic, electric or hybrid drive solutions
should be installed.
Fully exploiting the benefits of technological diversity
"Every production facility is designed in response to individual requirements and should
fully exploit the advantages of all the available technologies," explains Dr. Peter Post,
Head of Research at Festo AG & Co KG. He advises against one-size-fits-all solutions.
"Users should be suspicious of suggested solutions which favour one specific drive
technology but which are not based on a knowledge of all the requirements of the
process in question. These kind of solutions exclude the possible benefits of other
technologies." An evaluation should always be conducted of the operations within a
production facility before a decision is taken as to whether to install pneumatic or electric
drives. "In the consumer goods sector, appliances are assigned to efficiency classes in
order to make it transparent to buyers how much power is consumed, for example, by a
washing machine. However, conditions in production operations are significantly
different and much more diverse. A labelling system would not work as a guide to
selecting an appropriate drive technology", explains Post. He recommends that plant
operators use simulation tools that calculate energy consumption and take advice from
suppliers who have an overview of the requirements of the entire system.
Number
CC/37/12_2
Date
8 October 2012
Our reference
CC-T/DUJU
Legal form:
Limited partnership
Registered office: Esslingen a. N.
Register court Stuttgart
COR 211583
Value added tax id. number:
DE 145 339 206
General partner:
Festo Management
Aktiengesellschaft
Registered office: Vienna/Austria
Commercial register court:
Commercial court Vienna
COR FN 303027 d
Board of Director:
Dipl.-Kfm. Alfred Goll
Dr. Claus Jessen
Dr. Ansgar Kriwet
Dipl.-Kfm. Michael Mölleken
Dr. Eberhard Veit (Chairman)
Chairman of the Supervisory Board:
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Joachim Milberg
Festo AG & Co. KG
P. O. Box
Clarity regarding energy consumption, right from the project engineering phase
Apart from the choice of technology, further factors also have a crucial influence on
savings of costs and carbon dioxide in production operations. Users can generate
concrete results with a model computer from Festo. For example, a company with threeshift operations and a compressor rated at 160 kW could able to reduce its operating
73726 Esslingen
Phone +49 711 347-4078
[email protected]
www.festo.com
Ruiter Straße 82
73734 Esslingen
costs by 16 percent simply by installing vacuum generators (working on the venturi
principle) with integrated air-saving circuits. Engineering software also helps with system
dimensioning, allowing smaller components to be used and avoiding an accumulation of
safety factors. Festo offers support for the implementation of these measures or the
introduction of leakage management in the form of its Energy Efficiency Service. This
modular range of services helps pneumatics users in particular to identify and exploit
savings potentials at all points from the generation of compressed air through to the
application.
Learn more: energy efficiency workshops during the fair
Festo experts will demonstrate in two workshops at the fair on 8 and 9 October how the
choice of an appropriate technology, optimal maintenance of production equipment and
the implementation of the results of the latest research can reduce energy consumption
in production operations. These automation specialists will present the examples of a
customer from the food industry and the current research project "Green Car Body
Technologies" to illustrate how these ideas can be put successfully into practice.
Festo at a glance
Festo is a world leader in automation technology and the world market leader in technical
education and training. Pneumatic and electric drive technology from Festo stands for
innovation in factory and process automation - from single products to ready-to-install
solutions. Innovations to give customers the highest possible productivity, a global
presence and close system partnership with customers are the trademarks of Festo.
Worldwide Festo has 15,500 staff in 59 companies. Its turnover for the fiscal year 2011
was EUR 2.1 billion.
For more information see:
www.festo.com
www.festo.com/research
For more information about the project “Green Car Body Technologies“ see:
www.greencarbody.de/
Your contact for questions
Festo AG & Co. KG
Pamela Berner, Technical Corporate Communication
Tel.: 0711-347-2812, Mobil: 0172-7580238
E-mail: [email protected]
Picture material:
Festo CC_37_12_Motek_1.jpg
Caption:
Energy Saving Services from Festo – recording and evaluation
of measured data from a compressor station in order to
analyze the efficiency of this
Picture material:
Festo CC_37_12_Motek_2.jpg
Caption:
Engineering software helps with the dimensioning of systems.