"Supported by an excellent global economic situation, we have not only grown in our home market of Europe, but have also made strong gains in our strategic growth markets in Asia and America in particular," said Alfred Goll, Spokesman of the Festo Management Board. The core markets, such as automotive and food, contributed to growth, as did new business areas. In particular, the company benefited from the rapidly growing electronics industry market.

At 21%, the Asia region saw the strongest growth compared to the previous year, followed by America with 13% (USA 15%) and Europe with 10%. In its home market of Germany (+10%), the company also recorded record sales and further extended its market leadership. With an increase of 32%, China was the most important growth market worldwide.

Festo created a new Digital Business division in 2017. "Digitalization is a key component of our corporate strategy. We are pursuing four goals with digitalization: We want to increase the productivity of ourselves and our customers, sell value-added services, secure growth and expand our innovation leadership," emphasized Alfred Goll.

Outlook for 2018

The company intends to continue its growth trajectory in 2018. "The mood in the global economy remains positive. We therefore expect above-average growth again this year," said Alfred Goll, looking optimistically to the future.

Festo invests in artificial intelligence

Dr. Frank Melzer (Festo): "The topic of analytics and artificial intelligence will have a huge impact on our product portfolio, for example by enabling AI algorithms to be integrated both into the cloud and directly into Festo components."

© Festo

It was also announced that Resolto Informatik will become part of the Festo Group. "With Resolto, we have gained a leading company in the field of artificial intelligence for industrial applications," says Dr. Frank Melzer, Festo's Chief Product and Technology Management Officer. Founded in 2003, the IT company offers solutions that include artificial intelligence for real-time applications in industrial companies. The aim: energy savings, shorter cycle times and, above all, fewer machine failures and less waste from production.

The Prognos software solution is of particular interest to Festo: it knows the healthy state of a system and detects any anomalies by analyzing the system's sensor data in real time. Tanja Krüger, Managing Director of Resolto Informatik, comments: "Prognos provides early and precise forecasts, makes diagnoses and makes recommendations for action. The system's knowledge base is constantly growing thanks to the permanent collection of data. This enables more efficient production."

Following the takeover, Resolto will remain an independent company under the umbrella of the Festo Group. Resolto will continue to serve its customer base as before.