Machine builders and OEMs are keener than ever to leave the component
side of things to specialist suppliers. In this article, Nigel Dawson
explains how Festo's approach to electric drives has been influenced by
the trends in customer needs as well as its wide experience of the
pneumatics market
It's fair to say that, traditionally, Festo would not be at the top of
the list of suppliers in the electrical drives market. Our home is
clearly in pneumatics, but we have in fact been supplying electrical
drive products to customers for more than ten years. There are many
specialist suppliers of, drives, motors and linear axes, and you might
well ask what a supplier like Festo could bring to an already established
market. In fact that was exactly what we asked a number of OEMs before we
started to expand our electrical drive range a few years ago.
One of the key trends in the pneumatics market place in the last ten
years has been a need for OEMs to reduce the time take to design, build,
test and install pneumatic systems. When we asked customers about
electrical drives, unsurprisingly we found that the same needs existed
but were largely unfulfilled as there were very few companies that could
offer a complete package of electrical and mechanical components.
Our research and experience indicates that most customers don't want to
source components such as drives, motors and linear axes from specialist
suppliers. Taking such an approach means having to invest significant
time in system design, locating the components, manufacturing flanges and
mountings and then building and testing the system. in order to do this,
OEMs need to develop and maintain expensive teams with the skills and
knowledge to carry out the tasks. Furthermore, getting different
manufacturers' components to work together can be difficult, and if the
system doesn't perform as expected, the responsibility ultimately lies
with the OEM. When things do go wrong, as they inevitably do, it can be
very expensive.
Whilst some OEMs feel they must have these skills in house, many are
increasingly aware that to compete in the global market they need to
focus on core competencies. These include understanding customer needs,
machine design innovation, service and support as well as reducing costs
and time to market. Today's OEMs do not want to get involved in the
selection and manufacture of each and every component on their machines.
Specialist component suppliers will thus always be important, but
suppliers that are able to offer integrated, modular products can bring
real benefits to customers.
This trend in the requirements of OEMs has driven the development of our
range in two ways. Firstly, our stepper and servo drives and motors have
been designed and harmonised to work together. To support the customer we
freely supply simulation software to help select the right components to
meet their performance criteria. What is more, we guarantee that the
chosen solution will perform as intended. We have also developed a wide
range of axes that are supplied with flanges and mountings that
facilitate easy motor connection. Customers can either purchase
components and assemble the system themselves or decide to have it built,
tested, delivered and commissioned by Festo.
To improve the flexibility and speed of their machines, many OEMs are
looking to use electrically driven axes, often in combination with
pneumatically driven axes. Both electrical and pneumatics axes are
available from Festo's modular handling and positioning range and feature
standard interfaces to simplify integration. Further harmonisation and
integration of electrical drive technologies is a clear and strong trend
and Festo has concentrated much of its research and development effort on
developing new products that give OEMs clear advantages in their
marketplaces.
Nigel Dawson is electrical