Chemical Technology November-December 2016

COVER STORY

Festo gives customers a taste of its Process Automation offering

F esto recently hosted a series of whisky tastings on a na- tional scale. Festo partnered with a professional whis- ky tasting company called The Whisky Rebellion. The specialists imported four types of Scottish single malts for the occasion and supplied whisky experts for themain event. Each event was backed up by a strong Festo team pres- ence. Some of the senior management team from Festo’s head office who were present included Olaf Mayer-Mader (Industry Segment Manager: Process Automation), Steward Mbele (Industry Segment Specialist: Chemicals) and Kershia Beharie (Marketing Product Manager). They were all present at each event as was the majority of the local regional staff.

“The Whisky tastings were a way of reaching our client base in a direct, one-on-one, fashion, while simultaneously providing them with valuable information on process auto- mation and our offerings in that field,” said Steward Mbele. The tastings took place in Port Elizabeth at the presti- gious Radisson Blu hotel on the 6 th October; in Durban at the esteemed Hilton hotel on the 14 th October; Cape Town at the Feathers Boutique hotel on the 21 st October; and lastly in Johannesburg at the Festo Head office on the 28 th October. These events formed part of the company’s Process Au- tomation campaign for the year. Mbele continued: “Festo is traditionally known for its superior pneumatic components product range. However, we also offer that same quality in other fields such as Process Automation. More specifically, we offer automation components for the chemical, mining, water and wastewater, pharmaceutical and food and bever- age industrial segments to name a few. We strongly believe that our products in these sectors have the capability of giving our clients the competitive edge. “We were looking for a fun and unique forum to enhance our customers’ knowledge on our offerings and whisky tast- ing was the perfect platform to do this. There’s a great con- nection between whisky and process automation. Whisky has a unit operation. It undergoes a multitude of processes such as malting, mashing, etc.” In addition to the actual whisky tasting, Festo gave a short presentation on its Process Automation offering and showcased a number of physical products and displays.

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Chemical Technology • November/December 2016