Ergonomic, functional and uniform: the requirements placed on product design at Festo are many and various. Moreover, Clean Design also plays an important role in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Festo's electrical cables NEBV, used to connect pneumatic valve terminals to control components, were selected on 1st July 2013 to receive the "reddot best of the best" award in recognition of their flexibility in applications in all kinds of manufacturing environments.

Karoline von H?fen, Festo's Head of Product Design, explains: "At Festo, Clean Design products stand for hygienic automation. It is very important that these have particularly smooth, easy-to-clean surfaces with large radii. Products must not have sharp edges or recesses in which dirt can collect. Special coatings provide protection against corrosion and withstand frequent cleaning."

Design Makes the Difference

The Festo concept which won the jury over was a black cable for standard applications and a grey cable in Clean Design for use in sensitive production areas. "With the grey cable, we avoided ribbing or other edges in which dirt could accumulate." Yet the plug can be gripped and disconnected easily," says J?rg Peschel, product designer with Festo. Functionality plays an important role with both kinds of cable. "The 45 degree inclination of the cable and the rotatable connector interfaces inside the plug provide four different plug configurations. This means the plug is suitable for a great variety of installation situations," adds Peschel.

Three Further Products that Won an Award

Within a few years, Festo has received a series of international honours for its trailblazing product design, including 77 reddot awards. This year, a further three Festo products were also selected by the reddot jury: the positioning drive EMCA, the pneumatic rotary drive DRRD and the manual on/off valve HE DB mini.

Altogether, 1,865 participants from 54 countries submitted 4,662 products to this competition; and of these the international jury selected 1,410 to receive an award.