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The paper seeks to investigate the question as to how the business benefits of product data management (PDM) can be assessed and realized. In particular, it aims at understanding the means‐end relationship between PDM and product data on the one hand and a company's business goals on the other hand.

The paper uses a case study research approach. The case of Festo is unique and allows for detailed examination of both the business benefits of PDM and of the inter‐dependencies of various business benefit enablers. Due to the limited amount of scientific knowledge with regard to the management of PDM business benefits, the study is exploratory in nature. The conceptual framework used to guide the study combines business engineering concepts and the business dependency network technique.

The findings are threefold. First, the paper explicates and details the understanding of the nature of PDM business benefits. Second, it provides insight into the complexity and interdependency of various “means” – such as data ownership, product data standards, for example – and the “ends” of PDM, namely the contribution to a company's business goals. Third, the paper forms the baseline for a comprehensive method supporting the management of PDM business benefits.

Single‐case studies require further validation of findings. Thus, future research should aim at replicating the findings and at developing a comprehensive method for the management of PDM business benefits.

Companies may take up the results as a “blueprint” for their own PDM activities and may reflect their own business benefits against the case of Festo.

The paper is one of the first contributions focusing on the means‐end relationship between PDM and product data on the one hand and a company's business goals on the other.

The purpose of this paper is to review the latest developments, both in terms of products and manufacturing, of the Festo company.

This paper is a result of a visit made to Festo and also the Motek show in 2010.

Festo is developing new products which will not only enable new applications for automation, but also challenge the traditional approach of applying standard robots or gantries.

The paper provides an overview of the latest Festo developments highlighting their importance.

Describes the new Applied Automation Centre opened in Northampton by Festo, a pneumatic automation systems manufacturer. Claims that new advances in intelligent pneumatics will reduce costs and improve machine flexibility.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a technical review of a new Bernoulli gripper development using computed fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling, and also to outline an appropriate independent testing method for validating and evaluating process capability in terms of automated thin wafer handling. The investigation has been carried out by a collaborative way of Festo and Fraunhofer IPA as a connecting link between applied research and industrial needs.

Following an introduction, the paper first describes the basic development and fundamental principles of a gripper based on Bernoulli's law. The gripper was dimensioned and designed with the aid of CFD methods. The performance of the hardware was tested using extreme parameter settings while gripping thin, fragile workpieces. The performance of the gripper was tested from the aspects of shortest cycle times, positioning accuracy and air consumption and followed a manufacturer-independent design of experiments. A characterization of the gripping force generated during horizontal and vertical tension tests provides conclusive closed loop validation with regard to the gripper's air flow in the initial CFD model.

Photovoltaic (PV) grippers are challenging components since the handling objects, 200-120 μm thin crystalline silicon wafers with an area of 156×156 mm, are one of the most fragile parts as far as required handling speeds and cycle times are concerned.

The paper provides a detailed technical review of a CFD application used in the development of a Bernoulli gripper and also describes a method for testing and evaluating PV grippers for industrial scale applications. The article presents the results of a close cooperation regarding an industrial development (Festo AG & Co. KG) and independent applied research (Fraunhofer IPA) for advanced product benchmarking and validation in a relatively young but dynamic and increasingly-automated PV industry.