Bosch Rexroth is expanding its factory automation business after agreeing to acquire Israel-based motion control specialist Elmo Motion Control.
Elmo develops and produces electrical high-end servo drives and motion controls for industrial automation, which will complement Bosch Rexroth’s product portfolio around the ctrlX Automation platform.
With continuously growing demand for smart automation and Industry 4.0 solutions that increase productivity in factories and conserve resources, head of the Bosch Rexroth Automation & Electrification Solutions Business Unit, Thomas Fechner, says: “We are strengthening our portfolio both organically through the development of innovative products such as ctrlX Automation and through appropriate acquisitions such as Elmo.”
The acquisition promises to combine the innovative strength and dynamics of Elmo with the factory automation expertise of Bosch Rexroth. Bosch’s intentions are to enhance Elmo’s capabilities of developing and manufacturing advanced motion and servo control products. Elmo is planned to remain as an Israeli entity, with local management and retaining the current staff.
“Elmo’s technology enables us to integrate drives the size of a smartphone into robots or autonomous transport vehicles, for example,” adds Mr Fechner. “Elmo technologies thus open up new fields of application that pose special technological challenges, such as autonomous transport vehicles, service robotics, or the decentralised arrangement of drives in machines.
“Here, Elmo products demonstrate their strengths primarily through their motion performance, compactness, energy efficiency, and precision combined with high dynamics.”
Also commenting on the acquisition, founder and owner of Elmo Motion Control Haim Monhait says: “I am very pleased that the Elmo team, our technology and our customers now have a clearer and even more promising path to the future. Elmo joins Bosch Rexroth not only because our products complement each other well – but also because the company pursues a customer-oriented approach in factory automation with convincing growth ambitions.
“Elmo will continue to create innovative, smart and leading motion control solutions to improve machines performance for the benefit of our customers.”