At Motek, SKF Motion Technologies became Ewellix. Under the new brand, the transformation from product supplier to provider of customer-specific solutions is to be driven forward. How are things going?

SKF Motion Technologies was a business unit of SKF that was carved out as a closed unit and now operates independently under Ewellix. There was hardly any fluctuation; apart from our new CFO, the management level and also the executives have remained. We still have three important product lines: Linear guides, ball and roller screws and actuators. We develop and manufacture these ourselves and also have the corresponding application know-how. The SKF Group invested in technology and resources at an early stage, and we are now benefiting greatly from this. This means that our product expertise and in particular our application know-how has grown over the years, and today Ewellix has around 1,400 employees worldwide.

What are your priorities now as Ewellix?

We are concentrating on the segments of automation technology, production technology, mobile machinery and, in parallel, medical technology. Automation technology in particular is an area in which we will continue to grow. In order to be able to offer our users good support worldwide, we also work together with sales representatives, whom we will continue to support intensively in the future.

We have a high level of product and application expertise and focus on certain segments, which certainly makes us strong. There is also a high level of dynamism due to flat hierarchies in the decision-making processes. This puts us in a position to implement things quickly and at a high frequency, which is great fun! But it also means that we can put our horsepower on the road in an even more targeted manner.

Which markets have grown well?

In the German market, medical and automation technology is clearly a growth area with many interesting projects, although a distinction must be made between general automation technology and everything related to the automotive industry. The latter tends to stagnate, as important investment decisions are currently not being implemented. We are also well positioned in the mobile machinery sector.

What role does robotics play in the field of automation technology?

Robotics and cobots in particular are an interesting market. We offer new products in the form of lift and slide kits for cobots, enabling us to increase the range of movement of collaborative robots in several axes. The kits are plug & play solutions, which means that we work closely with cobot manufacturers to implement our control software in their control technology.

Cobots and industrial robotics are interesting markets, but there are also high expectations. There will be a market for cobots and one for industrial robotics, which will overlap in certain areas. The question is therefore in which areas they will replace or complement each other in the future. With our product solutions, we are ideally positioned for both areas and are therefore very excited to see how robotics will ultimately develop.