Festo

Manufacturer information and published contact details

Festo contact details

Headquarters

Esslingen am Neckar
Germany

Website festo.com

UK office (Festo Ltd)

Applied Automation Centre, Caswell Road
Brackmills, Northampton NN4 7PY
United Kingdom

Telephone +44 800 626 422

Email info.gb@festo.com

Web festo.com/gb/en/e/legal-information/-id_3741

Show Festo headquarters on the map Open in Google Maps →

Contact details as published by Festo SE & Co. KG, checked 2026-10-30. Specify Motion is not affiliated with Festo SE & Co. KG.

Festo product lines

Who Festo is

Festo is a German automation company headquartered in Esslingen am Neckar. It is best known for pneumatics: cylinders, valves and valve terminals. Alongside them it now offers a full electric automation range. For OEM engineers that means one supplier can provide electric cylinders, linear axes, servo motors, servo drives and the software to size and commission them. Festo Didactic, its education arm, is also widely used in engineering training.

Festo says it employs about 20,600 people, has companies in more than 60 countries and serves around 300,000 customers. Its centenary release gives turnover of about €3.33 billion and says more than 8% of turnover goes into research and development.

History and ownership

Albert Fezer and Gottlieb Stoll founded the company in Esslingen in 1925 as Fezer & Stoll, making woodworking machines. The Festo name comes from the founders’ surnames. Fezer left soon afterwards, and the Stoll family has led the company since.

Festo’s history credits Kurt Stoll with bringing pneumatics to the company after seeing it at a trade fair in Chicago in 1950. A pneumatics division followed in the mid-1950s. The first pneumatics catalogue appeared in 1956 with 166 items, the same year the first foreign subsidiary opened in Italy. Festo Didactic was founded in 1965. In 1989 Festo launched what it describes as the first valve terminal on the market.

The company became an incorporated company in 1997. In 2000 the power tool business was split off as Festool, a separate company. Festo describes itself today as independent and family-owned, and its legal form is Festo SE & Co. KG.

Electric motion portfolio

Electric cylinders

The ESBF electric cylinder is built on ISO 15552 dimensions, so it can often replace a pneumatic cylinder in the same mounting. It comes in six sizes from 32 to 100, with ball screws on all sizes and lead screws on the smaller three. The series reaches 17 kN on size 100, up to 1.35 m/s and up to 1,500 mm stroke. Repeatability is ±0.01 mm on most ball screw sizes, with IP40 as standard and IP65 as an option.

Linear axes

For gantries and Cartesian handling, the EGC-TB-KF toothed belt axis offers up to 5 m/s, 50 m/s² and working strokes up to 8,500 mm, with up to 2,500 N feed force on size 185. The EGC-BS-KF ball screw axis trades speed for stiffness: up to 3,000 N, 2 m/s and ±0.02 mm repeatability at 100% duty. Festo also offers the compact, lower-cost ELGC axes for small-parts handling and the ELGS axis units, which integrate the motor and servo drive and can be controlled over IO-Link or digital I/O.

Servo motors and drives

The EMMT servo motors span flange sizes from 40 to 190 mm, up to 183.3 Nm peak torque and about 8.6 kW rated power. A battery-free multi-turn absolute encoder is available, along with a one-cable connection. The CMMT-AS servo drive runs from 350 W on single-phase supplies to 12 kW on three-phase. It supports EtherCAT, PROFINET, EtherNet/IP and Modbus TCP, and offers STO and SBC up to SIL3 / PL e. Its advanced variant adds speed and stop monitoring functions with PROFIsafe.

Choosing between Festo’s electric types

The published figures point to a simple split. Use the ESBF where the load is already guided and the job is pushing or pulling, as with a pneumatic cylinder. It offers the highest force in the range, at 17 kN. Use the EGC-TB-KF where stroke and speed matter most, up to 8,500 mm and 5 m/s, and accept ±0.08 mm repeatability. Use the EGC-BS-KF where the axis carries the load and must hold position under process forces, at ±0.02 mm and 100% duty. Expect to trade some of its 2 m/s top speed on long strokes.

Technologies and standards

Festo designs its electric range around pneumatic conventions where it can. ISO 15552 mounting dimensions on the ESBF are an example, and they make it easier to swap pneumatic cylinders for electric ones on existing machine frames. Safety integration in the CMMT drive follows EN ISO 13849 and IEC 61508 terminology (PL e, SIL3). Before making that swap, our linear actuator sizing guide explains how to check force, duty and life. Our servo vs stepper guide covers motor selection.

Industries served

Festo’s centenary material says it serves customers in more than 35 industries. It highlights factory automation and process automation, and names LifeTech (medical technology and laboratory automation) as a growing area. Electric axes from Festo are common in assembly, handling, packaging and electronics production.

Global and UK presence

Festo Ltd, the UK company, has its registered office at the Applied Automation Centre on Caswell Road, Brackmills, Northampton (company number 926749). It publishes a freephone number, 0800 626 422, and info.gb@festo.com. UK engineers can buy through the Festo online shop, which carries configurable product codes and CAD data, or through Festo’s sales engineers. Festo states that its products are available in 176 countries through more than 250 branch offices.

Specify Motion and Festo

Specify Motion is independent of Festo and is not affiliated with it. We can help source Festo electric axes, motors and drives, or propose equivalents from our supply network that meet the same published figures. An engineer confirms the match. Use find a replacement with your current part number, or start from our linear actuators hub.

Festo history: key dates

1. 1925Albert Fezer and Gottlieb Stoll found Fezer & Stoll in Esslingen, making woodworking machines
2. 1956First pneumatics catalogue and first foreign subsidiary, in Italy
3. 1965Festo Didactic founded
4. 1989Festo launches the first valve terminal on the market
5. 1997Festo becomes an incorporated company
6. 2000Festo and the power tool business Festool split into two companies
7. 201516-storey AutomationCenter added to the Esslingen headquarters

Festo linear actuators

Rod actuator

ESBF

ISO 15552-based electric cylinder in six sizes (32 to 100) with ball or lead screw; series maximum 17 kN, 1.35 m/s and 1,500 mm stroke, IP40 standard or IP65 option.

Rodless belt actuator

EGC-TB-KF

Toothed belt axis with recirculating ball bearing guide in five sizes; series maximum 2,500 N feed force, 5 m/s, 50 m/s2 and 8,500 mm working stroke.

Rodless screw actuator

EGC-BS-KF

Ball screw axis with recirculating ball bearing guide in four sizes; series maximum 3,000 N feed force, 2 m/s and 3,000 mm stroke, repeatability +/-0.02 mm at 100% duty.

Festo servo motors

AC servo motor

EMMT-AS / EMMT-EC

Festo's servo motor range in 40 to 190 mm flanges, matched to the CMMT drives with one-cable connection; series maximum 183.3 Nm peak torque, 8.6 kW rated power and battery-free multi-turn absolute encoders.

Festo servo drives

AC servo drive

CMMT-AS

Servo drive for EMMT motors and Festo electric axes, from 350 W single-phase to 12 kW three-phase, with EtherCAT, PROFINET, EtherNet/IP and Modbus TCP and STO/SBC up to SIL3 PL e.