Photo: Heiko Landsberg, Ansgar Kriwet, Albert Castellanos, Lluís Juncà, Xavier Segura and Viktor Nordstrom. The German company Festo has inaugurated its first Digital Sales Hub in the world, in its facilities of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, after one year from its start-up. This project has had the help of Acció, agency for the competitiveness of the company of the Department of Business and Competitiveness of the Generalitat de Catalunya.
The event was attended by Albert Castellanos, Secretary of Business and Competitiveness of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Lluís Juncà, General Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Dr. Ansgar Kriwet, member of the Sales Administration Council of Festo, Heiko Landsberg, Head of Digital Business at Festo, Xavier Segura, Managing Director of Festo Spain and Portugal, and Viktor Nordstrom, Director of the Digital Sales Hub.
During the event, Dr. Kriwet was in charge of presenting the project, carried out at the Festo Spain facilities, and explained the reasons that led the German multinational to bet on Barcelona among the more than 250 delegations that the company has all over the world.
In the digital environment, developments are very dynamic and heavily influenced by startups, so quickly recognizing and applying digital trends is key to business success. In addition to the leading technology localization of San Francisco, London, Berlin and Barcelona have established themselves in Europe as innovative and dynamic metropolises for digital trends. In this sense, Festo has created a Digital Sales Hub and has installed it in one of the nerve centers of trends, such as Barcelona, since this "will allow us to take advantage of the digital talent present in Barcelona, as well as its startup ecosystem" , has underlined Heiko Landsberg.
In this context, Albert Castellanos, stressed that "it is great news that Festo decides to grow from Barcelona for the whole world with the opening of this hub."
“Currently, three-quarters of B2B buyers in Europe shop online and would like to use this channel much more. From Festo we foresee that in 2025, almost 40% of our sales will be generated digitally ”, he pointed out. Dr Kriwet.
In today's digital world, innovation, speed and change have become critical factors for business success. For this reason, "the Digital Sales Hub has the talent of 20 professionals, of more than 9 different nationalities, with high skills and a growth of 50% of the workforce is expected by 2022", he explained Xavier Segura. Festo has invested more than 2,6 million euros for the start-up of the Digital Sales Hub, of which 84% corresponds to personnel, and divides its activity into four functional areas: Data Analyst, programming, Customer Care and Innovation. The HUB's activity is directly connected to the company's headquarters in Germany, which supports the more than 250 delegations that Festo has around the world.
