Schaeffler

Manufacturer information and published contact details

Schaeffler contact details

Head office

Industriestraße 1-3
91074 Herzogenaurach
Germany

Telephone +49 9132 82-0

Email info.de@schaeffler.com

Website schaeffler.com

UK (Schaeffler (UK) Limited)

Unit 308, Fort Dunlop, Fort Parkway
Birmingham B24 9FD
United Kingdom

Telephone +44 121 313 5830

Email info.uk@schaeffler.com

Web schaeffler.co.uk/en/meta/legal-notice

Direct drives (INA - Drives & Mechatronics, IDAM)

Mittelbergstrasse 2
98527 Suhl
Germany

Web schaeffler.com/remotemedien/media/_shared_media/08_media_library/01_publications/idam_1/brochures/downloads_32/idam_ddt_de_en.pdf

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Contact details as published by Schaeffler AG, checked 2026-10-30. Specify Motion is not affiliated with Schaeffler AG.

Schaeffler product lines

Who Schaeffler is

Schaeffler AG is a German group headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria. It is best known for rolling bearings under the INA and FAG brands and for automotive components. Its data and facts page gives about 110,000 employees, more than 250 sites in 55 countries and revenue of roughly €23.5 billion for 2025. It is organised into four divisions: E-Mobility, Powertrain & Chassis, Vehicle Lifetime Solutions, and Bearings & Industrial Solutions.

For motion engineers, the relevant part of Schaeffler is smaller and more specialised. INA – Drives & Mechatronics AG & Co. KG (IDAM), based in Suhl, Thuringia, designs and builds direct drives: frameless torque motors, linear motors and rotary tables. Schaeffler also supplies INA linear modules, and it owns Ewellix, the former SKF linear actuator business, which it agreed to buy in 2022.

History and ownership

Brothers Dr. Wilhelm Schaeffler and Dr.-Ing. E.h. Georg Schaeffler founded Industrie GmbH in Herzogenaurach in 1946, the forerunner of today’s group. In 1950 Georg Schaeffler developed the cage-guided needle roller bearing, which made INA an international business. The group later brought together three firms that had operated independently: INA, LuK and FAG. Schaeffler’s UK history page records that INA Schaeffler KG took over FAG Kugelfischer AG in 2000 and 2001.

Schaeffler AG listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on 9 October 2015. Vitesco Technologies merged into the group in 2024. The Schaeffler family remains the majority owner through IHO Holding.

IDAM’s brochures describe it as “a member of the Schaeffler Group” and say its teams have developed and built direct drives for more than 20 years. They serve machine tools, automation, semiconductor equipment, measuring technology and medical engineering.

Direct drives from IDAM

Torque motors

• The RKI is IDAM’s high-speed frameless torque motor, with water cooling as standard. It comes in seven sizes from 168 to 920 mm air-gap diameter, with continuous torque (water-cooled) from about 35 to 11,864 Nm and peak torque up to 17,670 Nm. Maximum speed runs from 364 to 3,000 rpm depending on size and winding. IDAM lists rotary tables for turning and milling, swivel axes, workpiece spindles, presses and printing and packaging machines as typical uses.
• The RIB is a slotted internal-rotor torque motor with diameters up to 1,030 mm and peak torque up to 40,000 Nm. It is designed for liquid-jacket cooling on a typical 600 V DC link.

Schaeffler’s catalogue notes that liquid cooling can raise continuous torque by up to 300% over uncooled operation. That is why water-cooled torque motors dominate machine tool rotary tables. It also means a cooling failure must trigger a current limit, not just a warning. Our frameless motor sizing guide covers continuous torque, RMS duty and thermal margins.

Linear motors

• The L1 is a slotted iron-core linear motor in 35 standard types across the L1A, L1B and L1C sizes. Peak force reaches 5,171 N, and continuous force reaches 3,259 N on the water-cooled L1C (up to 1,399 N uncooled). Limit speeds at 600 V DC run from about 2 to 27 m/s depending on the variant.
• The ULIM is an ironless U-channel motor in six models with up to 1,932 N peak and 669 N continuous force. IDAM recommends it for pick-and-place above 2 m/s and 20 m/s² and for work that needs very high path accuracy or constant speed.

IDAM also lists the smaller UPL ironless motor, the double-sided L2U with up to 12,000 N peak, and special short-stroke moving-coil and moving-magnet drives.

The choice between iron-core and ironless is the usual one. Iron-core gives more force per unit volume but brings cogging and a large magnetic attraction force on the guides. Ironless is smooth and attraction-free, but its continuous force is limited by heat in the coil.

Linear modules and actuators

Schaeffler’s UK site lists INA linear modules with ball screw, toothed belt or linear motor drive, built on KUVE and KUSE profile rail guides or LF track roller guidance. Linear tables and multi-axis positioning systems are also offered. Electromechanical rod actuators and lifting columns come through EWELLIX.

Industries served

Through IDAM and INA, Schaeffler’s motion products serve machine tools, semiconductor and electronics production, measuring and test equipment, precision laser machining, packaging and printing, and medical engineering.

Global and UK presence

Schaeffler (UK) Limited is registered in England (company 556493), with its registered office at Unit 308, Fort Dunlop, Fort Parkway, Birmingham B24 9FD. It lists +44 121 313 5830 and info.uk@schaeffler.com, plus a Sheffield number, +44 1909 510 500. The UK company dates from 1955, when it began trading as INA Needle Bearing Company in London. Its registered office moved from Sutton Coldfield to Sheffield in 2019, and new offices opened at Fort Dunlop, Birmingham, in 2020.

Specify Motion and Schaeffler

Specify Motion is independent of Schaeffler and is not affiliated with it. We can help source IDAM direct drives or propose frameless torque motors and linear motors from our supply network that meet the same published torque, force and diameter figures, confirmed by an engineer. Use find a replacement or our frameless torque motors hub.

Schaeffler history: key dates

1. 1946Wilhelm and Georg Schaeffler found Industrie GmbH in Herzogenaurach
2. 1950Georg Schaeffler develops the cage-guided needle roller bearing
3. 1955UK company incorporated, trading as INA Needle Bearing Company
4. 2001INA Schaeffler KG completes its takeover of FAG Kugelfischer
5. 2015Schaeffler AG listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (9 October)
6. 2020UK office moves to Fort Dunlop, Birmingham
7. 2024Vitesco Technologies merged into the Schaeffler Group

Schaeffler direct-drive and torque motors

Frameless torque motor

RKI torque motors (IDAM)

Water-cooled high-speed frameless torque motors from Schaeffler's IDAM unit in seven sizes (168 to 920 mm air-gap diameter), with series maxima of about 11,864 Nm continuous, 17,670 Nm peak and up to 3,000 rpm.

Frameless torque motor

RIB torque motors (IDAM)

Slotted internal-rotor frameless torque motors with diameters up to 1,030 mm and peak torque up to 40,000 Nm, designed for water-jacket cooling at a 600 V DC link.

Schaeffler linear motors

Iron-core linear motor

L1 linear motors (IDAM)

Slotted iron-core linear motors in 35 standard types (L1A, L1B, L1C) with up to 5,171 N peak force and up to 3,259 N continuous when the L1C is water-cooled, on a 600 V DC link.

Ironless linear motor

ULIM ironless linear motors (IDAM)

Ironless U-channel linear motors in six models with up to 1,932 N peak and 669 N continuous force and limit speeds up to 24.2 m/s, for highly dynamic, cog-free motion.