January 2019

SCHAEFFLER HAS ACQUIRED the German motor- making machinery specialist Elmotec Statomat, setting it on course to become a large-scale producer of electric motors, especially for automotive applications. The company wants to reduce its reliance on producing components for combustion engine powertrains, and to tap into the burgeoning market for electric drivetrains. Elmotec is the world’s largest supplier of machines for producing stators for motors and generators. It has a particular expertise in wave- winding technology which increases the packing density of copper windings, thus improving machine efficiencies. In 2017, Elmotec generated sales worth around €40m and it has around 200 employees. It holds more than 50 patents covering winding technologies. Schaeffler plans to combine Elmotec’s expertise with its own technologies, and those of the high- performance drive specialist Compact Dynamics, which it bought from Semikron in 2016, to create a complete portfolio of motor-making capabilities. According to Schaeffler’s CEO, Klaus Rosenfeld, the Elmotec acquisition “will enable us to seamlessly and completely accommodate the industrialisation of electric motor construction within our company”. The acquisition will, he adds, “close the last remaining technology gap in the production of motors and stators”. Schaeffler is expected to start mass- producing electric motors in 2020 or 2021. It will focus on permanent magnet machines, but may also produce asynchronous motors. It will focus on the 50–150kW power range. Schaeffler set up an electric mobility division last year. The business is already worth around €500m and is expected to double in size by 2020, to account for about 10% of Schaeffler’s automotive-related turnover. NEWS 4 January 2019 www.drivesncontrols.com Following its recent sale of 80% of its Power Grids business to Hitachi for $6.4bn, ABB will focus on four reorganised divisions – industrial automation, robotics and discrete automation, motion and electrification – all in global number one or two positions. The previous matrix-based organisational structure will be dropped from 1 April, and there will be a stronger focus on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. The belt manufacturers Ammeraal Beltech and Megadyne who came together in a merger last September, have announced a new corporate name for their joint operation – Ammega . The business, which employs more than 5,000 people and has more than 25 manufacturing sites, spans industrial power transmission belts and lightweight conveyor belts. Ammeraal Beltech and Megadyne will remain as brand names. www.ammega.com The global industrial automation market will expand at a CAGR of 6.6% over the period from 2016 to 2024, according to a new report from Transparency Market Research . In 2015, the market was worth $182bn, and by the end of 2024 it will be worth $352bn, the report predicts. In 2014, Europe had a 51% share of the global market and this dominance is expected to continue. www.transparencymarketresearch.com Emolice , the Bracknell-based manufacturer and distributor of motors, controls and automation products, has been appointed the sole UK and Ireland distributor for the German motion controls, servo and stepper motor, and servodrives manufacturer, Servotronix . The move means that Emolice now offers a full range of integrated PLCs and HMIs, rotary and linear encoders, as well as motors, drives and controls. This is the first time that Servotronix has had a dedicated UK and Ireland distributor. The US motion controls specialist Allied Motion Technologies has acquired TCI , which manufactures active (electronic) and passive (magnetic) products designed to resolve power quality and harmonic issues associated with power conversion technologies, for $64.1m. Its products monitor and improve power quality and extend motor lives by reducing the harmonic distortion associated with VSDs and other power conversion equipment. TCI has around 165 employees and its 2018 revenues were around $45m. Rubix – the business created by the merger of IPH with Brammer in 2017, following the acquisition of Brammer by Advent International – has acquired the independent cutting tools specialist distributor, Matrix . Nottingham-based Matrix offers products, services and engineering expertise for machining complex materials. The company, which has more than 50 employees, will continue to operate under its own name with co-founder Mark Mills remaining as managing director. The other co-founder, Rob Donnelly, is retiring. Driving into motor production: a six-spindle stator- winding machine made by Elmotec Statomat Schaeffler buys Elmotec Statomat to give it a springboard into motor manufacturing REGAL BELOIT IS SELLING its engineered drives and control systems businesses to a private investment firm, Sun Capital Partners. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed. With estimated revenues for 2018 of $131m, Regal Drive Technologies has 450 employees around the world. It designs and manufactures engineered controls, starters and drives, with brands that include Benshaw (which Regal acquired in 2014), Leeson Speedmaster and Unico. The engineered drives business, founded in 1967, develops and manufactures variable-speed drive (VSD) systems and other motor control systems, focusing on application-specific products. The control systems business, founded in 1983, designs and builds low- and medium-voltage starters, VSD systems and motor control products for critical applications in harsh environments. “The acquired motor control solutions platform is a great fit in our portfolio, and in line with Sun Capital’s experience investing in both corporate carve-outs and industrial companies,” says Sun Capital’s co-CEO, Marc Leder. “We see enormous potential in these businesses, and will provide the support and resources needed to grow them into a successful, stand-alone company.” The sale is expected to close in the first quarter of 2019. Regal Beloit's drives portfolio includes the Unico brand, which it acquired in 2010. Regal Beloit sells its drive technologies businesses to Sun Capital