Festo, global manufacturer of pneumatic and electromechanical systems, components and controls for industrial automation, has appointed Barr and Paatz as system integrator for its electrical drives.
Under the arrangement, Festo will provide Barr and Paatz with pre-sales support and technical backing across a fast-expanding range of servo, stepper and linear drives, motor controllers, electro-mechanical axes, gantry and tripod robots, vacuum and mechanical grippers, handling modules and vision systems.
Barr and Paatz will target applications for Festo's modular electrical drive technology in such markets as food and packaging, process industries, the transport sector, electronic handling and life sciences, as well as education and research.
With an annual turnover in excess of EUR1.4bn and facilities in 178 countries across the world, Festo operates an aggressive research and development programme, holds over 2,800 worldwide patents and introduced around 100 products to the marketplace this year.
In the Electric Drives division alone, Festo has launched a family of electromechanical axes, offering exceptional feed force, speed, acceleration and torque resistance characteristics; an improved range of high-performance servo motors and controllers, which set standards for ease and speed of setup - and announced an upcoming delta robot that will cut costs and handle heavier payloads.
'I understand that Festo invests around 72 per cent of turnover on research and development, so it is always introducing plenty of innovative ideas and technology.
Stirling Paatz says: 'Having direct access to thousands of automation components also means we can support the most complex application requirements and achieve shorter system build times, to the obvious benefit of customers.'
