Festo Holdings Group is a worldwide automation giant which was founded in 1925. Although it had been operating in South Africa through a distributor before 1973, Dr Wilfried Stoll (General Manager of the Festo Holdings Group GmbH) identified significant opportunities for automation development during a visit to the country. In March 1973, Festo South Africa was established as the Group’s 16th international subsidiary. The business quickly gained traction due to its premium quality products and .