Festo

Festo is a German multinational industrial control and automation company based in Esslingen am Neckar, Germany. Festo is an engineering-driven company, producing and selling pneumatic and electrical control and drive technology for factory or process automation. Festo Didactic is a world market leader in industrial education and consultancy and is a Founding Sponsor Partner of the WorldSkills Mechatronics Competitions. Sales subsidiaries, distribution centers and factories are located in 61 countries worldwide.

Festo was founded in 1925 by Albert Fezer and Gottlieb Stoll. Initially, the company manufactured wood cutting tools and later diversified into the automation industry. A noteworthy early product was the first portable, gasoline-powered chainsaw. In 2000, its portable power tool activities were spun off into an independent company, Festool. In 2002, Festo went to the United States Supreme Court to defend a change to a patent application in Festo Corp. v. Shoketsu Kinzoku Kogyo Kabushiki Co...