Festo’s “Incredible Machine” at Hannover Messe Highlights Festo’s Innovative Strength
April 1, 2025
During a tour of the Festo stand at Hannover Messe on March 31, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz congratulated the company on its 100-year success story. In this its anniversary year, Festo welcomed Scholz, accompanied by Stéphane Dion, Special Envoy of Canada, this year’s partner country for Hannover Messe, to a special exhibit, the “Festo Incredible Machine”.
The dignitaries were enthusiastic about the innovative strength of the company – summed up by the “Incredible Machine”. It shows the fascinating world of movement, set in motion by an eMotion Butterfly.
Based on the principle of a Rube Goldberg machine, the “Incredible Machine” does not produce a specific product, but tells the story of the movement in automation technology that has had a significant influence on the family-owned company Festo. “The machine demonstrates Festo’s diverse competencies and comprehensive expertise in automation technology, because inventiveness has been part of the company’s DNA from the very beginning,” explained Thomas Böck, CEO of Festo.
Innovations can solve specific problems and have the potential to transform entire industries and create new industries.
The journey through the individual stations of the “Incredible Machine” touches on applications ranging from battery production for electric cars, laboratory automation in the life sciences, to intralogistics and the semiconductor industry. It dives into the company’s history and ends with insights into the actuators of the future. At the end of the day, the message is: Festo is represented in almost all industries, constantly delivers innovations and the impetus continues!
Thomas Böck gave the political representatives the following advice: “Festo is optimistic about the current financial year and the next 100 years. In doing so, we continue to focus on innovation and invest an above-average amount in research and development. This was and is the recipe for success in our successful company history.”
About Festo
Festo, one of the world’s leading suppliers of automation technology and technical education, is deploying its products and services to meet the challenges of digitization and smart production. Founded in 1925, the family-owned company based in Esslingen, Germany supports a wide range of needs for advanced solutions in factory and process automation. In Canada, they have been supporting Canadian industry for 50 years, continuously elevating the state of manufacturing in this country with innovative products, optimized motion control solutions and unrivalled support.
Globally, some 300,000 customers put their trust in the company’s pneumatic and electric drive products and technology. In addition, Festo Didactic provides state-of-the-art training equipment and educational programs for industrial companies and educational institutions – about 56,000 customers worldwide. The Festo Group registered sales of €3.45 billion in the 2024 financial year and is represented worldwide at 250 locations with about 20,600 employees. About 8.8% of its annual turnover is invested in research and development.
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Festo: Optimistic Start for 100th Anniversary Year
The Festo Group achieved a positive result in the financial year 2024, on par with the previous year, as announced by the Chairman of the Management Board, Thomas Böck, at a press conference held during the Hannover Messe. The innovation leader significantly expanded its portfolio in electric and pneumatic automation, particularly in the areas of control technology and digital solutions, software and AI. The company will continue to invest heavily in innovations in the future. This enables the company, as a partner in motion, to offer integrated and seamless drive technologies from a single source –– complemented by a comprehensive range of technical training and education solutions.
