Movigear units for new bottling line
September 2018
Motion Control & Drives
SEW-Eurodrive South Africa has delivered 67 Movigear mechatronic integrated drive units to a major glass-manufacturing facility in the Western Cape in a record turnaround time of six weeks. Components were sourced from Germany, while the units were assembled in Cape Town. “The order for the Western Cape facility follows on from work that the company undertook for its customer in Gauteng about six years ago,” explains sales engineer Sean Tibbott.
The fact that the original bottling line has been running successfully on Movigear units to date means that the technology is tried-and-tested. “That essentially paved the way for the Western Cape expansion, in keeping with the general industry trend of energy-efficiency and cost-saving,” highlights Tibbott. The project is a good benchmark for mechatronics in general, and Movigear in particular.”
“Industry has tended to shy away from this technology in the past, mainly due to a lack of understanding on its part,” reveals sales manager, Clive O’Reilly. “However, major customers such as this have not only assisted us make inroads into important markets such as food and beverage, but have raised the profile of mechatronics in general.”
A challenge for SEW-Eurodrive South Africa is to educate the engineering community about the benefits of mechatronics, and in particular, its contribution to the lowest total cost of ownership. “Our practical approach to the issue of raising awareness and providing fact-based figures is to install a Movigear unit for a trial period, and then to measure and compare the power consumption. The energy saving is dramatic, which has a significant impact on the investment decision.”
SEW-Eurodrive South Africa is fast establishing itself as a mechatronics leader in the country due to its local manufacturing capability and its technical support. “If you look at some of our competitors, none of their units are even repaired locally, whereas we not only have the spares stockholding and necessary expertise, but we offer a 24/7 aftermarket service as well,” says Tibbott.
Another factor giving Movigeaer an edge in the local market is that it is available in four variants, increasing its adaptability to different plant layouts. “This extends our flexibility considerably to respond to customers’ diverse requirements and applications. In addition, the Movigear units are ideal for corrosive environments or those where strict hygiene standards are applicable,” Tibbott concludes.
For more information contact Jana Klut, SEW-Eurodrive, +27 11 248 7000, [email protected], www.sew-eurodrive.co.za
Further reading:
Smarter motor technology for high-performance industrial automation
Adroit Technologies
Motion Control & Drives
Adroit Technologies is bringing Mitsubishi Electric’s EM-A series permanent magnet motors to Africa, offering servo-like speed and position control at a lower cost by combining patented sensorless control with the FR-E800 inverter to eliminate encoders while achieving IE5 efficiency.
Read more...
A smarter approach to simplifying motion architecture
Motion Control & Drives
n motion system design, the wiring and drive placement between motor and drive are often decided by default, yet they shape a machine’s cost, footprint and adaptability. Kollmorgen sets out how single-cable and decentralised architectures simplify the cabinet.
Read more...
Robotic case packer achieves 99% uptime
Rockwell Automation
Motion Control & Drives
DCC Automation designed a new robotic case packer for a nutrition supplement manufacturer using delta robots and a unified Rockwell Automation control platform, cutting changeover time from 45 minutes to 5 minutes, and achieving 99 to 99,5% uptime against the previous 10% per-shift downtime.
Read more...
igus puts 3D-printed wear materials to the test
igus
Motion Control & Drives
A new igus white paper compares its tribological iglidur 3D-printing materials directly with conventional POM, reporting lower wear, more stable friction and up to ten times longer service life in gear testing for customised, low-volume and replacement components.
Read more...
SEW-EURODRIVE’s expanded local engineering capability
SEW-EURODRIVE
Editor's Choice Motion Control & Drives
At Electra Mining Africa, SEW-EURODRIVE demonstrated how its expanded local engineering capability, digital technologies and lifecycle support strategy help customers improve reliability, energy efficiency and total cost of ownership across the full life of their drive assets.
Read more...
Latest Danfoss automation drive
Bearing Man Group t/a BMG
Motion Control & Drives
BMG has launched the Danfoss iC7-Automation enclosed variable speed drive range in South Africa, backed by significant local stockholding of 400 V models up to 710 kW, approved warranty workshops, and DrivePro digital asset management support.
Read more...
Severe-duty workhorses powering mining
Motion Control & Drives
Mining machines such as rock crushers, pumps and conveyors need motors that combine high torque with robust enclosures, seals and cooling. WEG Africa explains how severe-duty motors deliver more than a decade of reliable performance in harsh conditions while meeting modern energy-efficiency standards.
Read more...
Looking beyond the spec sheet when choosing motion architecture
Motion Control & Drives
When machine builders focus only on torque, speed and price, engineering time, integration effort and long-term maintainability get overlooked. Kollmorgen explains how thinking at the system level, not the component level, leads to better motion architecture choices.
Read more...
Economy drive system closes the drive gap in the entry-level segment
Beckhoff Automation
Editor's Choice Motion Control & Drives
Beckhoff has launched an economy drive system pairing its new AX1000 servo drive and AM1000 servomotor with the AF1000 dual-axis variable frequency drive on a shared EtherCAT platform, targeting series machines and price-sensitive markets without sacrificing TwinCAT integration or functional safety.
Read more...
SEW-EURODRIVE showcases modernisation and lifecycle support at Electra Mining Africa 2026
SEW-EURODRIVE
Motion Control & Drives
At Electra Mining Africa 2026, SEW-EURODRIVE showed how it has expanded beyond equipment supply into integrated engineering solutions, plant modernisation and long-term lifecycle support for mining and industrial operators across Africa.
Read more...
printer friendly version