GEMÜ and Festo Sign Cooperation Agreement
24 March 2006
Wider spectrum of products and services
On July 4, 2005, Festo AG, Esslingen, signed an agreement with GEMÜ Gebr. Müller Apparatebau GmbH & Co. KG, Ingelfingen, concerning coop-eration in the field of process automation. “We aim to offer a full range of prod-ucts not only for factory automation but also for process automation. In 2005 we can already provide one-stop shopping for standard and sector-specific prod-ucts also for the process industry. The cooperation with GEMÜ – the leading supplier of industrial and process valves – will enable us to offer a joint product range, e.g. also for the biotech/pharma industry,” explains Dr. Eberhard Veit, Director Product and Technology Management and Spokesman of the Man-agement Board of Festo AG. Festo already invested heavily in the expansion of this new business segment in 2004. Technical Engineering Centers are to be expanded and R&D activities intensified in the new segment. The cus-tomer will benefit from receiving a turnkey offer for process and factory automa-tion projects, which is to be carefully co-ordinated with regard to technical, commercial and logistic considerations. “The cooperation with Festo is the next logical step for us. It enables us to take account of the growing integration of factory and process automation,” states Siegfried Hoffmann, Managing Director of GEMÜ. “It also enables us to focus on our core competencies while at the same time tapping into new business fields and applications.”
New products provide competitive advantage and stimulate de-mand
Factory automation and process automation both face similar challenges. Decentralized intelligence and growing miniaturisation and integration call for clear solutions from the manufacturers of automation equipment.
Festo AG and GEMÜ GmbH & Co. KG are among the world’s leading suppliers in their respective core business fields. The cooperation enables both companies to offer customers an even larger and more complete range of products and services.
Festo has reacted to current trends with products featuring diagnostic func-tionality and the possibility of remote maintenance. In the process industry, for example, this would enable the intelligent control of automatic process valves. Even remote plant and valve actuators can be conveniently controlled and monitored – including error diagnosis. Furthermore, the new diagnostic func-tions also enable predictive and preventive maintenance. A reliable system so-lution which ensures uninterrupted continuous operation of systems – a vital requirement of the process industry.
GEMÜ has been developing and producing reliable and hard-wearing valves for the process industry since 1964. With pneumatic and motorized ac-tuators, they can already be easily integrated into modern plant concepts via controllers, position indicators and field bus connections. The company is cur-rently developing new, pioneering actuator concepts for the growing field of process automation. GEMÜ even offers position indicators for the monitoring of hand valves.
In particular, the cooperation between GEMÜ and Festo will facilitate an increasing number of system solutions for OEMs, planners and end-customers. Festo already offers engineering tools which greatly simplify the design and configuration of automation components and thus play a major role in reducing engineering costs and project lead times. In future, these will be complemented by modules for the design and configuration, e.g. of process valves. This also follows the trend toward Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) concepts, which Festo also supports with its cost-saving, pre-mounted solutions and turnkey sub-systems as well as a variety of additional services along the entire value chain of machine building.
GEMÜ GmbH & Co. KG
GEMÜ is one of the world’s leading suppliers of industrial and process valves, serving customers in the field of pharmaceuticals, food and biotech, mi-cro-electronics and other industries. GEMÜ products are to be found in water preparation processes as well as in the chemicals industry, mining and machine building. Its valves control and regulate neutral, aggressive, liquid and gaseous media and vapours. GEMÜ manufactures its products at 6 facilities with over 850 employees and markets them via 12 subsidiaries and a close-knit network of dealers throughout the world.
Festo AG
Innovations for maximum customer productivity, global presence and close systems partnerships with its customers are the hallmarks of Festo’s success. The company has significantly expanded its range of products over the past few years and currently offers 23,000 catalogue products alone in the field of pneumatic and electric automation technology for over 200 sectors, including the automobile, electronics, food, packaging and process industries. In addition, Festo provides numerous services in the field of industrial training and educa-tion. Festo’s customers can choose between pneumatic, servo-pneumatic and electric drives, sub-systems and systems – the optimum application alone is decisive for their choice. At its 250 sites around the globe, some 11,000 em-ployees are the guarantee for first-class consulting, service, delivery quality and reliability in all industrialized regions.
