Festo celebrating its 100th anniversary

Festo – a leading global automation supplier and innovator – is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2025. The company has been recognized as a family-owned global business with more than $3.7 billion in revenue and 20,000 employees now.

Carlos Miranda, retiring CEO of the North American business region, commented, “One of the wonderful things about Festo is that as a family-owned company we take a generational view of growth. When I began my career at Festo in 2001, the company had just begun its transformation beyond pneumatic automation. Today, no other company matches Festo as a single source supplier of pneumatic and motion control and I/O automation. We sustained this strategic investment and vision for more than two decades.”

Dr. Wilm Uhlenbecker will become the new CEO for the North American business region on April 1.

Uhlenbecker said: “Looking forward, Festo recognizes the overwhelming need to lower carbon emissions and to become more sustainable. The Festo ‘Blue World’ initiative enables the transformation of our industrial production to become more efficient and climate friendly. Festo pushes the boundaries of basic research by investing approximately 7% of annual revenue in R&D.”

“In this connected world, Festo is creating an infrastructure of cyber security to give customers’ manufacturing operations vital safeguards. And in the important area of training the next generation of technicians, Festo Didactic is actively partnering with community colleges to make sure the skills taught are the ones most needed.”

Festo has said that the key  to its success today  has been in brining forward added value for customers through innovation. The company is a global player and a front runner in automation technology, as well as a world leader in technical education and training. Festo’s anniversary is being celebrated with employees, customers, and partners worldwide throughout the year.

Company founder Gottlieb Stoll had a saying: “Festo is the work of many hands.” Staff still believe it has remained the guiding principle for management and staff worldwide. In 1925, he and Albert Fezer founded the company Fezer & Stoll for woodworking machines in Esslingen am Neckar, Germany. Albert Fezer left the company shortly afterwards, and Gottlieb Stoll continued to run the company on his own.

The second generation of owners laid the foundation for the company as it is today. Dr. h. c. Kurt Stoll brought the idea of pneumatics from the United States to Germany in 1950 and, as a pioneer in his father’s company, developed it further. This marked the start of pneumatics at Festo and paved the way for its use in factory automation.

Internationalization played a vital role in the ongoing development of Festo. Dr. Wilfried Stoll concentrated on developing international markets and establishing national companies.

In 2000, the owners separated the power tools division from the rest of the company and established it as an independent company under the name Festool GmbH.

Anniversary activities will take place throughout the year, both in Germany and in the more than 60 Festo companies worldwide – with “thank you” parties for employees, students, and customers. For representatives of the press and visitors to the Hannover Messe expo in April, Festo will have a special presentation. “The project is still top secret,” said Böck. “What we can say is that it highlights our wide range of skills, our broad expertise, our passion for innovation, and our aspiration to make the impossible possible.”

In the future, Festo executives believe that topics such as digitalization, artificial intelligence, biologization, and the circular economy will give automation a new boost and, in addition, inspire future generations.

More information is posted on www.Festo.com.