RS Supports Process Control and Factory Automation Customers with an Extensive Portfolio of Festo Electric Automation Products

RS is proud to offer Festo's extensive portfolio of flexible, cost-effective, and user-friendly electric automation products engineered to improve the way people work and companies compete.

FORT WORTH, Texas, Jan. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- RS, a trading brand of RS Group plc (LSE: RS1), a global provider of product and service solutions for industrial customers, offers Festo's extensive portfolio of flexible, cost-effective, and user-friendly electric automation products for process control and factory automation applications.

The Festo product portfolio features one of the industry's most comprehensive selections of electric automation solutions and includes a wide variety of linear and rotary mechanical systems, servo drives and motors, industrial and motor control solutions, automation systems, sensors, and grippers engineered to enable the seamless connectivity essential to Industry 4.0 facilities and automate everything that moves on a single, unified platform. Backed by nearly 100 years of R&D experience and more than 60 years of automation expertise, the entire line is also engineered to simplify installation and commissioning processes, facilitate flexibility, boost productivity, support sustainability efforts, deliver an excellent price-performance ratio, and improve the way people work and companies compete.

These benefits allow users to overcome a wide range of challenges common to process control and factory automation applications in multiple market segments. And while Festo offers more than 1,000 different electric automation solutions designed to adapt to the unique needs of various applications, there are several that exhibit especially broad appeal, including its CMMT-AS servo drives, CMMT-ST servo drives, and CPX-AP-I automation system, which are just a few of the more than 37,000 Festo solutions available at RS.

Festo's CMMT-AS and CMMT-ST servo drives both enable simple and error-free commissioning of rotary and linear movements in just a few steps and a few minutes using the Festo Automation Suite. Contributing features include support for several different bus protocols (EtherCAT, PROFINET, EtherNet/IP, and Modbus) and an auto-tuning function that enables seamless integration into Festo control solutions and direct fieldbus integration into other Ethernet-based automation environments using downloadable, control-specific function blocks compatible with controllers from all major manufacturers, including Siemens, Rockwell, and Beckhoff. The CMMT auto-tuning function also automatically optimizes the rotary and linear motion control behavior of connected servo motors and linear mechanisms. In addition, both servo drives feature integrated safety functions that can be configured without software, including safe torque off (STO) up to SIL3/Cat 3 PL e and safe stop 1 time controlled (SS1-t), when using a suitable external safety relay unit and circuitry.

Festo's state-of-the-art CMMT-AS servo drive is one of the most compact servo drives on the market and an integral component of the Festo automation platform. Designed to enable easy commissioning and highly dynamic and precise point-to-point and interpolating motion, CMMT-AS servo drives deliver precise force, speed, position, and safe brake control capabilities in a range of demanding applications, including assembly, handling, and packaging equipment. Additional features include an energy recovery function that supports sustainable operation, two multi-encoder inputs (one for connected motors and a second for redundant measuring systems in safety-related two-channel solutions), and an integrated operating panel with a touchscreen and USB interface that supports full-text diagnostics, simple on-site data backups, and data transfer between several CMMT-AS servo drives connected in series. These competitively priced servo drives can also be paired with Festo's EMMT-AS servo motors via a single-cable solution to further simplify and reduce installation effort and save even more cabinet space. 

Festo's ultra-compact and extra-low-voltage CMMT-ST servo drive is 50% smaller than the competitively compact CMMT-AS and designed for high-precision positioning tasks and point-to-point and interpolating motion with low continuous power requirements extending from 150–300W, such as stepper motors and brushless direct-current motors. In addition to delivering excellent economic efficiency and maximum space efficiency, CMMT-ST servo drives support primary voltages spanning 24–48VDC and motor currents up to 8A (peak 10A). They also feature an integrated web server that enables quick and easy online diagnostics and transfer and update of firmware and parameters. Additionally, when operating a CMMT-ST on an existing 24VDC network with a maximum continuous power output of 150W, users can ditch the extra power supply to further reduce costs, installation effort, and cooling requirements.

Festo's CPX-AP-I automation system is a flexible, high-performance, low-cost, and user-friendly remote I/O system engineered to support decentralized automation via simple integration into a wide variety of control systems. The system can be comprised of a PROFINET, PROFIBUS, EtherCAT, EtherNet/IP, or ModbusTCP bus interface, up to 80 digital or analog input I/O modules and existing valve manifold connections, and separate M8 or M12 cables for communication and power supply to form voltage zones and ensure stable data transfer. CPX-AP-I automation systems integrate modules into host systems including IO-Link masters; enable end-to-end connectivity with extended diagnostics and remote maintenance capabilities to increase machine availability, uptime, and productivity and improve energy efficiency; and support real-time communication with a 200Mbaud data rate. Its real-time communication capabilities and deterministic system behavior enable cycle times up to 250µs, and its IO-Link master and configuration software make it quick, easy, safe, and economical to integrate, update, and replace IO-Link devices, such as sensors and actuators. In addition, cable lengths of up to 50m between modules enable enormous system dimensions, and future-proof IP65/67 designs support scalability in a wide range of smart factory applications.

For more information about these products and other Festo automation products available at RS, please visit the links embedded here, check out the new Festo Electric Automation RS Expert Advice podcast, or visit the Festo website. For assistance identifying, procuring, deploying, and maintaining Festo automation products engineered to help you build better products, streamline production, improve safety, sustainability, and productivity, and cut costs, please contact your local RS representative at 1.866.433.5722 or reach out to the RS technical support team.

About Festo
Festo is a global player and an independent family-owned company with headquarters in Esslingen am Neckar, Germany. Festo has set standards in industrial automation technology and technical education ever since its establishment, thereby making a contribution to sustainable development of the environment, the economy, and society. The company supplies pneumatic and electrical automation technology to 300,000 customers of factory and process automation in over 35 industries. The LifeTech sector with medical technology and laboratory automation is becoming increasingly important. The products and services are available in 176 countries. With about 20,800 employees in over 250 branch offices in around 60 countries worldwide, Festo achieved a turnover of around €3.81 billion in 2022. Each year, around 7% of this turnover is invested in research and development. In this learning company, 1.5 % of turnover is invested in basic and further training. Festo Didactic SE is a leading provider of technical education and training and offers its customers worldwide comprehensive digital and physical learning solutions in the industrial environment.

About RS in the Americas 
In the Americas region, RS stocks more than 250,000 industrial and electronic products from more than 700 trusted suppliers. These solutions cover categories extending from automation and control equipment to interconnect, passive, active, and electromechanical components and include more than 80,000 high-quality, competitively priced RS PRO products. For more information, please visit https://us.rs-online.com or connect with us via social media on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

About RS Group
RS Group plc provides product and service solutions that help our customers design, build, maintain, repair, and operate industrial equipment and operations, safely and sustainably. We stock more than 750,000 industrial and electronic products, sourced from over 2,500 leading suppliers, and provide a wide range of product and service solutions to 1.1 million customers.

We support customers across the product lifecycle, whether via innovation and technical support at the design phase, improving time to market and productivity at the build phase, or reducing purchasing costs and optimizing inventory in the maintenance, repair, and operation phase. We offer our customers tailored product and service propositions that are essential for the successful operation of their businesses and help them save time and money.

RS Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange with stock ticker RS1 and in the year ended 31 March 2023 reported revenue of £2,982 million.

For more information, please visit https://www.rsgroup.com/ or connect with us on LinkedIn or Twitter.

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Editorial Contact & Media Inquiries:
Erica Goode, RS Director of Marketing – U.S. and Canada
[email protected] 

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