Festo has acquired Fabco-Air, a manufacturer of pneumatic automation components

Fabco-Air, acquired by Festo, was the original developer of the pancake style of pneumatic air cylinders.

Festo Group has enlarged its already expansive product lineup with its recent acquisition of Fabco-Air, an international leader in the production of pneumatic automation components. Based in Gainesville, FL, Fabco-Air is renowned as the home of the Original Pancake compact air cylinder, just one of its many simple solutions for difficult applications.

With this development, Festo and its Canadian affiliate, Festo Canada, are making their inventory even more diverse. This acquisition is the latest of a series of investments that are supporting Festo’s sales growth in North America.

Sixty years of great products

Fabco-Air recently celebrated its 60th anniversary as a major producer of pneumatic automation components, including NPT pneumatic cylinders that are used on new machinery and systems and as replacement components. Similar to Festo, Fabco-Air offers custom solutions to bring machines and systems to market more quickly with less of the engineering that equipment manufacturers require. Both companies are also family-owned and come from a similar culture.

The company was founded in Cleveland by Alfred W. Schmidt, who designed the Original Pancake compact air cylinder in 1958. Fabco-Air moved to Gainesville in 1970 and eventually expanded its facility there to more than 61,000 square feet. This plant houses all facts of the business, including engineering, technical support, client service, production, and assembly. Today, Fabco-Air is still the leader in the market for compact air cylinders, with 85 employees dedicated to high quality and top service.

Following the Festo acquisition, Fabco-Air will remain at its Gainesville location and operate independently. Implementation teams from Festo and Fabco-Air are currently collaborating on integration strategies for sales channels and product catalogues.

This union with Fabco-Air is expected not only to broaden Festo’s product line with pneumatic automation components, but also to provide Fabco-Air with the resources to grow larger and more quickly than before. Both companies now have an opportunity to reach more customers and fulfill a wider range of needs and applications.

As the world’s leading supplier of automation technology and technical education, Festo can now reach more industrial customers than ever before, with Fabco-Air products.

For more information, contact Festo.

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