Canadian PROCESS EQUIPMENT & CONTROL NEWS
Recognizing that North America is at the forefront of the global life sciences market, Festo has made Boston the site for its first development centre for innovations for that sector. The newly opened Boston Technical Engineering Centre (TEC) will develop advanced products by partnering with renowned medical and laboratory equipment manufacturers, many of which are located in and around that city.
The EFSD electric stopper from Festo is said to provide exceptional stop-and-release functionality in the movement of product from station to station in assembly and transfer systems. With benefits such as a lower installation cost, faster commissioning and operational energy savings, it is the suitable choice in stop-and-release wherever an electric actuator is preferred to a pneumatic option.
The Festo Motion Control Package (FMCP) is said to give machine and system designers the best of two worlds: a complete, optimized motion control kit for running a Festo handling system – and easy integration and setup of that robot through the user’s PLC, whatever the brand.
Festo has acquired Fabco-Air of Gainesville, FL, a manufacturer of pneumatic automation components. The acquisition is the latest in a series of investments to support sales growth in North America. Fabco-Air’s NPT pneumatic cylinders are used on new machinery and systems and as replacement components.
The Festo PTFEN line of FDA-compliant pneumatic tubing is said to deliver excellent high pressure, heat, corrosion and hydrolysis resistance required for harsh operating environments in many process industries.
Festo Group based in Esslingen, Germany, has appointed Oliver Jung as the family-owned global automation company’s new Chairman of the Management Board, effective Nov 1. Jung brings to Festo a wealth of experience from major internationally operating family-owned companies.
Festo’s newest bionic innovation – the BionicFinWave underwater robot – borrows on Nature’s ideal propulsion system for certain types of movement. Festo’s Bionic Learning Network team was inspired by the undulating fin movements executed by marine animals such as the polyclad, cuttlefish or Nile perch.
The MPA-C valve terminal from Festo is the centrepiece of its Clean Design series of products for hygienically critical food production systems that get frequent, rigorous cleaning, often with corrosive agents. With a IP69K and CRC4 class rating the unit doesn’t have to be housed in a control cabinet, instead it can be located near the food handling area of the machine.
Festo has added the ELGC/EGSC drive series to its portfolio of electric handling systems. The series includes ELGC spindle axes and toothed belt axes, EGSC mini-slides as well as axial and parallel kits of ideally paired servo and stepper motors.
Festo Canada of Mississauga, ON, has joined the advanced manufacturing supercluster called Next Generation Manufacturing Canada as a founding technology partner.Read More
