Festo AX Industrial Intelligence: Turning Consistent Data into Lifelong Value — Reducing Unplanned Downtime by 25% and Waste by 20%

In hundreds of customer applications, solutions from the Festo AX Industrial Intelligence portfolio have reduced unplanned downtimes by up to 25% and cut waste by 20%. From digital twins to efficient circuit diagrams, from design tools to maximum energy savings — Festo supports its customers holistically in every phase of their value creation process. This extends to the circular economy and the product carbon footprint, but also to lifelong learning with digital training tools for both trainees and long-term employees.

Design Phase: Up to 80% Savings Through Digital Tools

Automation engineers can realise great savings potential right from the start of a machine’s design. With appropriate sizing tools, digital twins and efficient circuit diagrams, savings of up to 80% can be achieved by correctly dimensioning the drives, planning downstream AI monitoring of the machine or importing data via digital twins.

Key design tools from Festo include:

• Electric Motion Sizing: for optimal drive and mechanical dimensioning
• Handling Guide Online: for simple multi-axis Cartesian engineering
• FluidDraw: for electrical and pneumatic circuit diagrams

These are just a few examples of the many calculation tools that Festo uses to make planning and design easier for its customers.

Production Phase: Digitalisation and AI Unlock Energy Savings

The digital maintenance tool Festo AX Smartenance and the Festo AX Industrial Intelligence software enable networked production monitored by AI. This empowers customers to save up to 50% of resources through more efficient processes, while reducing unplanned downtimes by up to 25%.

Festo AX Smartenance is a CMMS (Computerised Maintenance Management System) software that combines maintenance, servicing, spare parts management and machine logbook in one solution. The web application for maintenance or production managers and the mobile app for maintenance staff and machine operators ensures that all relevant information about a machine can be called up anytime and anywhere.

AI-Powered Predictive Maintenance and Quality Optimisation

Avoiding unplanned downtimes, ensuring product quality and reducing energy costs — Festo AX Industrial Intelligence makes it all possible. New pre-trained AI apps can even be used by users without extensive AI expertise. This enables companies to record real-time data from production processes and analyse it with the help of AI.

The use of AI delivers the following results:

• Predictive Maintenance: reduces downtimes by up to 25%
• Predictive Quality: optimises product quality assurance and reduces rejects by up to 20%

“AI supports our customers in terms of solution design, energy consumption and preventive maintenance. Festo plays a leading role when it comes to AI in the industrial environment. These are skills that are based on years of expertise and inventiveness at Festo,” explains Gerhard Borho, Member of the Management Board for IT and Digitalisation at Festo.

Full Lifecycle Support: From Circular Economy to Lifelong Learning

Festo’s support extends beyond production. In the area of circular economy and product carbon footprint, Festo provides product lifecycle assessment tools that help customers calculate and optimise the carbon emissions of their equipment. At the same time, Festo supports lifelong learning through digital training tools for both trainees and long-term employees, covering core knowledge in pneumatics, electrical and automation technology, ensuring that the manufacturing workforce’s skills keep pace with Industry 4.0.

Source: industryemea.com, Festo News, 2025