Summit Strengthens Community and Innovative Spirit in the PLCnext Technology Ecosystem
October 6, 2025
PLCnext Community Summit at Festo: Exchange of successful use cases spurs on new ideas
After the successful conclusion of the PLCnext Community Summit, which took place this year from 30 September to 1 October at the automation specialist Festo in Esslingen, the organisers draw a thoroughly positive conclusion. Phoenix Contact, Festo and Yaskawa had invited to this event. The summit gathered developers, partner companies and technology enthusiasts. In an open and lively atmosphere, around 90 participants came together to make innovations visible, set new impulses for industrial automation and jointly shape the future of open, networked automation solutions.
The Community Summit focused on technological innovations and practical insights. The participants received up-to-date information on new features in the PLCnext Store and Release 25.0, discussed the effects of the Cyber Resilience Act on industrial applications and exchanged views on integration solutions with technologies from Festo and Yaskawa.
Partnership accelerates innovation cycles
“Our growing partnership with Phoenix Contact and PLCnext Technology enables us to accelerate innovation cycles. As a manufacturer of automation technology, we have enormous innovation potential, especially when it comes to software: It allows our customers to integrate different automation components faster and easier as well as to commission and program machines and systems more quickly. The open architecture of PLCnext Technology is exactly the right basis for such innovations,” explained Gerhard Borho, Member of the Management Board Information Technology and Digitalisation at Festo.
Festo is currently launching one of these innovations on the market: the CEPE Edge Controller. It is based on the open operating system PLCnext Technology and goes beyond the limits of a traditional PLC: CEPE enables flexible app integration, seamless interoperability with third-party components and secure cloud connectivity.
Exchange at Mini-Expo and in the Open Space
A special highlight was the Mini-Expo: community members presented their innovative devices, apps and services. The direct exchange with developers and sales teams enabled a lively dialogue in which ideas, feedback and visions took centre stage.
In the concluding Open Space, the most important findings of the event were summarized and concrete ways were shown how each individual can actively shape the ecosystem. With a clear commitment to openness and collaborative progress, the entire community was invited to continue to get involved and play a key role in shaping development.
Empowering the community
The feedback from the participants and the topics discussed make it clear that the PLCnext Community Summit was not only a successful event, but also a decisive step towards further strengthening the community spirit and the willingness to innovate in the PLCnext Technology Ecosystem.
About Festo
Festo is a global player and an independent family-owned company with headquarters in Esslingen am Neckar, Germany. Festo has set standards in industrial automation technology and technical education ever since its establishment, thereby making a contribution to sustainable development of the environment, the economy and society. The company supplies pneumatic and electrical automation technology to 300,000 customers of factory and process automation in over 35 industries.
Digitalization, AI and the LifeTech sector with medical technology and laboratory automation are becoming increasingly important. The products and services are available in 176 countries. With about 20,600 employees in over 250 branch offices in around 60 countries worldwide, Festo achieved a turnover of around €3.45 billion in 2024. More than 8% of this turnover is invested in research and development. In this learning company, 1.5 % of turnover is invested in basic and further training. Festo Didactic SE is a leading provider of technical education and training and offers its customers worldwide comprehensive digital and physical learning solutions in the industrial environment.
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