Munich The rolling bearing specialist Schaeffler has big plans in robotics. The Herzogenaurach group announced the takeover of Melior Motion GmbH on Monday. “We have identified robotics as a global growth market,” said Schaeffler Industry Board Member Stefan Spindler to the Handelsblatt.
After its own initial developments in the area of small, collaborating robots (cobots), which will be launched this year, Schaeffler now wants to enter the segment of components for heavy industrial robots with Melior Motion. “It’s the perfect match.”
This year they want to achieve 50 million sales as a robotics supplier in the combination, said Spindler. “By025 it should already be 150 million euros.” In the field of gearboxes for robots, that would correspond to a market share of 15 percent.
As an automotive supplier, Schaeffler is still heavily dependent on the combustion engine. Therefore, the listed company wants to expand electromobility. In addition, the industrial business is to be further strengthened. For example, Schaeffler supplies components and systems for wind turbines, aviation and industrial automation.
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The group is now working its way into robotics. Schaeffler itself has developed a harmonic drive with an electric motor and sensors for cobots. With the takeover of Melior Motion, the portfolio has now been expanded to include more powerful gears for higher payloads. In addition, Schaeffler is gaining access to new customers, especially in China and Europe.
Melior Motion recently had a turnover of 23 million with a good 100 employees. The growth rates were in the high double-digit percentage range. “We want to invest heavily and maintain the pace of growth,” said Spindler.
Industrial division grows faster than the group as a whole
Melior Motion is headquartered in Hamelin. The plan was to build a plant in China. However, a Schaeffler plant in Nanjing can now be used here, in which the cobot activities are also set up.
In previous years there had always been speculation that Schaeffler could part with the temporarily weak industrial division. But the broader base turned out to be an advantage when the auto industry faltered. “We’re glad that we have this second mainstay,” said Spindler.
This has also been shown at times in the past two years, when Corona and the lack of chips caused problems for car manufacturers. For 2021, Schaeffler most recently expected growth of eleven to 13 percent in the industrial division. That is significantly more than in the group as a whole.
The specialist from Hamelin is to ensure further growth in Schaeffler’s industrial division.
In the first nine months, the division had increased revenues by 14 percent to 2.65 billion euros. The operating margin (EBIT) before special items was a good 12.1 percent.
With robotics, a new sales field is now to be developed. Among other things, Melior Motion has developed a new type of planetary gear for industrial robots that is said to be particularly powerful. Kuka in particular could be won as a customer.
With the support of Schaeffler, the business is now to be rolled out widely. One can benefit from the new owner’s global positioning, sales structure, manufacturing expertise and ability to scale, said Melior Motion Managing Director Christopher Morrell. One wants to initiate an “accelerated growth phase”.
China has some catching up to do when it comes to industrial robots
The robotics industry has been on a growth course worldwide for years, interrupted only by a brief slump at the beginning of the corona crisis. For 2021, the industry association International Federation of Robotics (IFR) recently expected an increase in sales of around 13 percent to 435,000 robots sold. This would exceed the record level of 2018.
The long-term prospects are also good. The IFR predicts half a million robots sold for the first time in 2024.
The market is driven by China. The country is already by far the most important sales market for providers such as ABB, Kuka, Yaskawa and Fanuc. But there is still a lot of catching up to do when it comes to automation.
This is shown by a look at the so-called robot density. In China, there are 246 robots for every 10,000 employees. In South Korea there are 932, in Germany 371 units. In the catching-up process, China wants to strengthen domestic suppliers in particular and play a leading role on the world market in a few years.
Accordingly, Melior Motion also sees growth opportunities, especially in China. The intention is to significantly increase production capacity there, said Managing Director Morrell. “This can now be done much faster within Schaeffler’s existing infrastructure.”
Spindler wants to expand the robotics division over the next few years. Further acquisitions are also possible. “Our M&A radar is wide open.” But now we also have a strong starting position for further in-house developments.
Perhaps the new robotics activities will also give Schaeffler shares a little boost. So far, the family company has not been able to write a success story on the stock exchange. The share was launched a good six years ago at an issue price of EUR 12.50. The price is currently around seven euros.
More: China wants to play a leading role in robotics