Interview with Festo Didactic GmbH & Co. KG

iMOVE interview with Dr. Nader Imani, Head of Region Europe and Direct Markets, November, 2009.

iMOVE: What is the name and background of your organisation?

Dr. Nader Imani: Festo Didactic GmbH & Co. KG is a member of the Festo Group of companies which is world leader in the field of industrial automation systems. It has been established more than 40 years ago. Festo Didactic develops solutions to promote successful learning in every sector of manufacturing and process automation.

iMOVE: Which services in the field of vocational education and training do you offer?

Imani: Festo Didactic is dedicated to human resource qualification and capacity building in technical education. We develop, produce and sell training materials and courses as well as related consultancy services for different educational centres which range from professional and technical schools to universities. We offer curricula development in mechatronics, planning and equipping of training centres and classrooms, customised training systems as well as competency-based training concepts and train-the-trainer schemes.

iMOVE: What is your international business experience?

Imani: Festo Didactic cooperates with its own subsidiaries in 57 countries worldwide and with a network of dealers in another 27 countries. We offer excellence in education and qualification in more than 20 languages. Our customers include industrial companies, vocational schools, colleges, technical schools, technical colleges, universities, intercompany training institutes, and ministries (of education, of industry, of labour).

iMOVE: Which key service do you have on offer for a successful cooperation with international partners?

Imani: Let me give you an example from the Middle East, which was very well received by our customers. Only a couple of months ago we have established a sophisticated automation lab within the premises of Damascus University and provided training for the whole team of Syrian instructors at our Festo Academy in Germany.These instructors not only use the lab’s infrastructure with their students, but also offer continuing education seminars for the Syrian industry. In terms of efficient use by various target groups, this is one of our most successful lab projects worldwide.