Schaeffler Special Machinery steps up its progression into the external market

Schaeffler's Special Machinery unit will become an independent unit within the company by 2024

The unit's strong order book of over a quarter of a billion euros in the first quarter of 2022 is testament to its superior production excellence

Production systems working in perfect harmony: Special Machinery showcases solutions for future production at the leading trade fair automatica in Munich (Hall A5, Booth 307)

The Schaeffler Group is a leading global bearing supplier to the automotive and industrial sectors.

The Special Machinery unit of automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler is stepping up its progression into the external market and becoming an independent unit. Schaeffler is thus continuing the transformation of its global Special Machinery business announced in April at the 2022 Annual General Meeting. The unit supplies individual and turnkey production systems, not only for Schaeffler plants but also for external customers in areas such as the automotive sector, and including e-mobility, consumer goods and medical technology. The realignment is a key component of Roadmap 2025, which aims to promote Special Machinery to the status of preferred technology partner for its internal and external customers. The high proportion of external customer projects totaling 40 percent in incoming orders in 2022, clearly demonstrates that the unit is already operating successfully in the market.

“Special Machinery at Schaeffler stands for superior manufacturing and innovation excellence, and thus represents Schaeffler’s DNA to a special degree,” says Andreas Schick, Chief Operating Officer responsible for Production, Supply Chain Management and Purchasing at Schaeffler AG. “The formation of Special Machinery as an independent unit is a logical and systematic further development in the reinforcement of Special Machinery, which will continue to contribute to the success of the Schaeffler Group and its customers worldwide.”

Preferred partner for customer-specific solutions
Special Machinery at Schaeffler has enjoyed positive growth since the initial opening of the market in 2019, thus demonstrating its competitive edge. The proportion of external orders, which saw a considerable increase in 2021, is testament to this result. Overall, Special Machinery recorded an order book of 280 million euros at the end of the first quarter of 2022, including internal investments.

Andreas Schick: “Special Machinery at Schaeffler is a success story. In recent years, the unit's highly experienced team has developed innovative and adaptable production systems for its internal and external customers, which offer maximum efficiency and enable rapid adaptability to changed production requirements. Renowned manufacturers in the automotive, consumer goods, and medical technology sectors are already placing their trust in this expertise. Thanks to the expanded range of customers and sectors, Special Machinery will be less dependent on market fluctuations in future and will be able to operate with even greater agility and success overall.”

More than 70 years of production excellence
Since 1960, Schaeffler Special Machinery has been supplying production systems for all Schaeffler plants from 13 international locations and, with around 4,800 projects per year, is the mainstay of the company’s production excellence. Special Machinery manufactures production solutions for assembly, testing, and handling technology across its global network, and combines this with expertise in the conception and implementation of vision and robotics systems as well as internally developed software applications. The innovative and individual production concepts devised by the unit follow the vision of efficient and sustainable future production with smart automation. “Competition in new industries, in some cases with varying demands on technology, quality, and digitalization, will further enhance Special Machinery's ability to create tailor-made solutions for the increasingly agile market environment,” says Bernd Wollenick, Head of Special Machinery for the Schaeffler Group.

At automatica, the leading international trade fair for automation and robotics in Munich, Schaeffler will present its customizable production concepts for the first time. Special Machinery will be exhibiting at automatica from June 21 to 24, 2022, in Hall A5, Booth 307. For further information on our participation in the trade fair, please visit our website.