Festo recently hosted its second highly successful series of Automation Expo seminars and exhibitions that focused on higher productivity through digitalisation in automation. They were held at venues across the country, the Johannesburg one being in a packed conference centre ballrooom at the Sandton Convention Centre. These prestigious expos attracted industry leaders, engineering professionals, senior executives and technology enthusiasts. They showcased Festo’s latest smart and intuitive solutions, which are aimed at increasing productivity, maximising competitiveness and simplifying life in the workplace.
With the theme of ‘Introduction to Industry 4.0: Core elements and business opportunities’, the aim was to educate industry professionals on how Industry 4.0 can enhance productivity in the workplace and improve efficiency. In addition, customers that attended this course were accredited with 0,5 CPD points and awarded a certificate of attendance.
Nico Landman, who heads up Festo Didactic, entertained delegates by taking them on a fun and interactive digital journey, which brought home the sort of changes we can expect in the very near future and the societal and technological upheavals resulting from digitalisation. Festo’s industry specialists covered the company’s four pillars of digitalisation: Learn, Build, Operate and Inspire. Landman introduced the concept of Qualification 4.0. He explained how Industry 4.0 will affect business models and how Festo Didactic can help prepare us for digital automation in a rapidly changing work environment – the Learn. Business unit manager of process automation, Russell Schwulst then explained the Build process and how easy it is to jumpstart digitalisation with the free Festo Software engineering tools. Business development manager, Skye Prato covered the Operate angle, including the Motion Terminal VTEM and IIoT dashboard, which is the world’s first pneumatic automation platform controlled by apps, all in one smart package that can replace over 50 individual components. This is set to catapult pneumatics into the age of industry 4.0 and revolutionise automation technology.
National sales manager, Adrian Bromfield was then able to Inspire the room with his account of Festo’s highly innovative Bionic Learning Network and explained how Festo gets its inspiration from nature. The Festo CP factory is another smart solution that was showcased. This holistic learning factory solution can be used to qualify personnel in the operation of a production process or in a specific field of work, such as production technology.
And what better way to end such a successful day than through a German-themed cocktail function – a great platform for networking with industry specialists.
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