Festo Delivers Industrial Training And Smart Automation To Asian Carmaker

German automation specialist Festo worked with Vietnamese auto manufacturer VinFast to set up world-class training labs and factory systems.

When Vietnam’s first volume automaker VinFast unveiled its initial two car models in the 2018 Paris Motor Show, it set a bold release schedule of mid-2019 amidst a vow that it would only take half the usual time to develop a new car. To make this happen, the automaker partnered with automation technology provider Festo.

VinFast tapped Festo to set up several labs capable of providing training that meets the DIHK standard in Germany. Nguyen Tien Dong, Head of VinFast Training Centre, said Festo was chosen because it provides holistic training solutions in all fields of technology for industrial automation. These solutions are available in 40 languages and have benefitted over 42,000 clients worldwide.

As part of the partnership, Festo provided not only training equipment, but also lab designing and training for VinFast trainers. “What Festo can provide are closely matched with what the VinFast Training Centre needs,” said Dong, noting that there are currently eight labs which house Festo solutions, including basic and advanced pneumatics, basic and advanced hydraulics, controller-sensor-fieldbus, MPS, PA and the cyber-physical learning and research platform CP Lab.

The VinFast Training Centre is critical in developing highly skilled workers for the carmaker’s newly built 335-hectare production complex on Cat Hai Island near Hai Phong. The training centre will ensure the factory, designed to be one of the most advanced in the world, operates smoothly despite its complex web of systems, data collection and managements systems, and interconnected sensors and cloud servers.