6^th FEBURARY 2018 - Festo is an engineering-driven company which has been producing and selling pneumatic and electrical control as well as driving technology for factory and process automation since 1925. Sony has played a key role in an extensive update of their Experience Centre training lab in the Netherlands, with a solution that puts the personalised user experience at the heart of Festo’s motion Solutions. At its core lies TEOS Manage, Sony’s new offering that ensures content across a range of connected BRAVIA Professional Displays and projectors can be updated quickly and easily across the site.

BACKGROUND

Festo is a German industrial control and automation company with over 150 offices worldwide. As an engineering-driven company, producing and selling pneumatic and electrical control, as well as drive technology for factory and process automation, it is crucial the team’s facilities showcase the cutting-edge technology on offer to customers.

In order to modernise its innovative facilities, and remain at the forefront of automation within the Experience Centre training lab – also referred to as the “Theatre of Technology” – Festo Netherlands commemorated its 50^th Anniversary with a complete technology overhaul in September 2017.

CHALLENGES

The Experience Centre is Festo’s central hub, and an integral part of the customer and sales pipeline, however, due to Festo’s growth, the company found the building could no longer support its needs. In particular, the existing facility was not capable of supporting personalised content individually tailored for each visitor and was slow to update between visitors.

It was clear to Festo that it required a more streamlined and innovative AV experience in order to adequately display and demonstrate its products. Festo also wanted to showcase the extent of what is possible and the sheer level of interactive entertainment it could provide through automation.

SONY SOLUTION

By working with Sony and Moodmedia, Festo is now able to showcase the future of (entertainment) technology through the latest in AV technology.

Festo first met with Sony at ISE 2017, where the team was particularly impressed with the collaborative working capabilities of Vision Exchange as it suited their needs for the training lab they were looking to create in their Dutch office.

Vision Exchange is a collaboration solution that is now facilitating an active learning style for visitors to Festo’s training lab. ​ By bringing together students, trainers and presenters in a dynamic workgroup-based environment, the aim is being met to inspire knowledge exchange, creative dialogue and higher order thinking.

The opportunity has grown into supporting the company with the wider didactic experience. The full solution begins with Vision Presenter and Sony BRAVIA displays at the entrance that work in conjunction with a third party QR/NFC code software to personally greet prospects and customers. From there, visitors can travel down a ‘technology experience’ with their robotic tour guide.

During the tour, digital signage is displayed on Sony’s XE8 series of BRAVIA 4K Professional Displays and a VPL-FHZ65 projector with dynamic projection head which showcases personalised content and products personally selected for each group. Powering this solution is Sony’s TEOS Manage software which enables the team to quickly update the displays and projectors in a way that is powerful, flexible and user-intuitive.

Upon reaching the ‘experience centre’, there is a Vision Exchange solution comprised of four pods which are set up for teaching, and are integrated into Festo’s hydraulic robotic arms holding the BRAVIA displays. These robotic arms can intelligently communicate with each other and move the displays from top to bottom for the optimum viewing experience. The room also has two VPL-FHZ65 projectors which enable Festo to show Vision Exchange as main screens. Also, the displays can be used as room booking tools for individual training purposes and as white boards.

There is a secondary mobile learning space called the Technoferium which, in partnership with AVEX, is planned to tour around the Benelux region. This will feature Sony’s Vision Presenter and further BRAVIA displays as well as signage controlled by TEOS Manage.

RESULTS

Since installing Sony’s product solutions in September, large groups are now easier to accommodate and interactive sessions are not only possible, but easy and intuitive. Furthermore, Festo is able to create personalised presentations and displays for every customer through TEOS Manage allowing Festo to switch content quickly and easily. This complete control of displaying content has enabled to Festo to efficiently manage and schedule meetings throughout the door with little downtime between tours.

Since installation, they have seen a surge in customers visiting the Experience Centre, with almost 400 customers seeing the new solution and offering positive feedback around the personalised experience since launch.

WHY SONY?

Approaching its 50^th Anniversary, Festo Netherlands was looking to the future of customer interaction, and Sony’s innovative solutions offered the only viable solution to future-proof the organisation.

Sony delivered the only creative proposal, and were able to offer more than one product to support the innovative experience they were looking to create in Festo’s new building.

“At Festo, we are looking into the future of the way we communicate with our customers. Working together with Sony, we can excel into the market of entertainment industry where I think we have big opportunities. Our knowledge and expertise in motion, combined with the visual possibilities with Sony, creates a platform for customer experiences where I think the near future of the world is going to go”, says Bob Van Der Ree, Group Leader Engineer at Festo.

SOLUTION SET UP

Entrance

Didactic Area

Tech Alley

Experience Centre

Technoferium

Service products