Dear reader,
“That’sonesmall step forman, onegiant leap formankind.”
Thesewere thewordsspokenbyNeilArmstrongwhenhebecame
thefirstman tostepon themoonon21 July1969.Hiswonderful
playonwordsshowsushowsmall andbigare relative concepts.
In this issueyou’ll findouthow thebigand thesmall interactwith
oneanother. Increasingly compact systemsareachievinghigher
outputs than thehugemachinesof thepast.Wherevast produc-
tionhallsoncestood, a fewsquaremetresof space isoftenall that
isneeded today for greater productivity.
At thesame time,miniaturisation ispaving theway for newsolu-
tions.Asmall, high-precision test system formobiledevices– the
firstof itskind– is replacing laboriousmanual testingprocedures.
Akeyelementof this testplatform is theminiplanar surfacegantry
EXCM (page34). Laboratoryautomation isalsobenefiting from
this trend,with increased throughput andmore reliable results.
Our SupraMotion3.0exhibits canmove large loadsusingsmall
forces. TheSupraCycleshowshow this technology could revo-
lutionise theway inwhichwework in the comingyears.Quiet,
compactandextremelyefficient, thesesolutionsare thebestproof
of thestrengthof Festoasan innovative company.
Withoutwanting todetract from thehistorical significanceof
themoon landing,webelieveweshareone thing incommonwith
theheroeswho completed thismission–apassion for newde-
velopment, and for future topicssuchas Industry4.0or Internet
of Things.
I hopeyouenjoy reading this issue.
Ansgar Kriwet
Smallworld, big ideas
Dr. AnsgarKriwet,
Member of theManagementBoard, Sales
