Achstron Motion Control

What Achstron Motion Control does

ACHSTRON Motion Control GmbH is a privately held German B2B systems integrator specializing in direct drive technology, headquartered in Rottweil, Baden-Württemberg. The company designs, develops, and integrates motion control components including frameless kit motors, axial flux motors, linear motors (including Airex/Allient-branded ironless and iron-core variants), torque motors, voice coil actuators, air bearings (round, rectangular, bushing, radial, roller, cone, and vacuum variants), digital motion controllers (Galil-based DMC family with PCI, standalone, and single-axis form factors), servo drives with block and sine commutation, and optical/absolute encoders (Netzer hollow-shaft, chip encoder, and incremental series). ACHSTRON differentiates through application-specific custom winding adaptation, optimized magnet selection per motion profile, and direct-drive architectures that eliminate gear backlash, friction losses, and noise.

The business model is direct B2B sales with engineering consultation, custom motor adaptation, and small-series production targeting industrial customers in semiconductor wafer handling, medical technology (heart-lung machines, surgical robots, FDA-approved systems), robotics and warehouse automation, precision optics and fiber alignment, scientific research (Thirty Meter Telescope observatory), and laboratory automation. Revenue is generated through hardware sales plus system engineering services (consulting, design, assembly, commissioning), with quote-based pricing and framework orders available from 50 units over a 12-month term. Distribution is exclusively direct via a regional sales engineering team (covering Bavaria and Eastern Germany), the company website inquiry channel, and event-based lead generation through the SPS Nuremberg trade fair. The company is ISO 9001:2015 certified and complies with CE, RoHS, and REACH where applicable.

The company traces its origins to a 1984 Kollmorgen subsidiary (IMI GmbH) in Rottweil; a 1990 management buyout by Dieter van Spankeren and Eric Green established ime GmbH, which was rebranded to ACHSTRON Motion Control GmbH in 2019 and registered the ACHSTRON® EUIPO word mark. Leadership has been stable under Matthias van Spankeren (CEO since 2005/2006). The company has 11-50 employees and operates without external venture capital or private equity backing.

Name

Achstron Motion Control

Legal name

ACHSTRON Motion Control GmbH

Website

https://achstron.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ACHSTRON Motion Control GmbH is a German B2B systems integrator in Rottweil specializing in direct drive technology, frameless motors, motion controllers, encoders, and air bearings for semiconductor, medical technology, robotics, precision optics, and scientific research customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Motion Control & Drive Technology

NAICS

Relay and Industrial Control Manufacturing (335314)

SIC

Electronic Coils, Transformers & Other Inductors (3677)

akta.pro primary industry

Motion Control Components (Servos, Drives, Motors, Encoders) (IMAHAHAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Motion Control Electronics & Controls (Controllers, Drivers, Feedback Interfaces) (IMAHAGAJ), Motion Control Controllers & CNC/Robot Drives (Motion Controllers, Multi-axis) (IMAGACAH), Linear Motion & Actuation (Linear Motors, Electric Cylinders, Actuators) (IMAGACAG)

Keywords

• Motion control systems
• Direct drive technology
• Industrial automation drives
• Frameless servo motors
• Precision positioning systems

Headquarters

HQ city

Rottweil

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Drive Technology Components and Systems: ACHSTRON generates revenue through the sale of motion control components and systems, including frameless motors, linear motors, torque motors, voice coil actuators, motion controllers, servo drives, encoders, and air bearings. The company also offers custom adaptations and small-series production. Revenue is generated through direct B2B sales with consultation-intensive sales processes. Framework orders starting at 50 pieces with 12-month duration provide planning certainty for customers.
2. System Integration and Commissioning Services: ACHSTRON provides system engineering services including consulting, design, assembly, and commissioning of drive systems. These services complement their product sales and provide additional revenue streams.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

ACHSTRON Motion Control is a system integrator (Systemhaus) for drive technology that designs, develops, customizes, and distributes motion control components and complete drive solutions. Their portfolio includes frameless kit motors, axial flux motors, linear motors, torque motors, voice coil actuators, air bearings, digital motion controllers, servo drives, encoders, and EtherCAT products, with specialization in direct drive technology (gearbox-free). They offer custom winding adaptations tailored to specific application motion profiles and provide system engineering, assembly, and commissioning services.

Product overview

ACHSTRON Motion Control is a system integrator (Systemhaus) for drive technology offering a comprehensive portfolio of motion control components. The core product lines include: (1) Drives - kit motors (Bausatzmotor QB), axial flux motors (SA series), linear motors (C/P series including Airex), torque motors (MF series), and direct drives (HT); (2) Actuators - voice coil actuators (linear and rotary) and shaft motors; (3) Air Bearings - round, rectangular, bushing, radial, roller, cone, vacuum variants plus guides; (4) Motion Controllers - standalone DMC, PCI cards, single-axis controllers; (5) PLC/RIO systems for remote I/O; (6) Servo Drives with block and sine commutation; (7) Encoders - chip encoders (Aura P), hollow shaft rotary encoders (S21 series), encoder kits (VLX, VLP); (8) EtherCAT products including Master, DMC, amplifiers, and I/O modules; plus accessories (cables, power supplies) and software. The company specializes in direct drive technology without gearboxes and offers custom windings and system design services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Bausatzmotor QB (Kit Motor QB) Brushless servo motor kit without housing, shaft, or bearings, with customizable winding and magnet selection for optimized drive solutions in space-constrained applications.
• Axial Flux Motor SA Very flat brushless servo motor without housing, shaft, or bearings, optimized for applications requiring minimal installation depth.
• Linear Motor C-Series / P-Series (including Airex/Allient) Electric linear motor, essentially an unwound servo motor, with ironless (C-Series) and iron-core (P-Series) variants for high-dynamics linear motion applications.
• Torque Motor MF High-torque rotary servo drive for precise rotational movements with high dynamics and torque, available in flat, tubular, or frameless configurations, typically designed as direct drive without gearbox.
• Direct Drive HT Direct drive system eliminating gearbox, spindle, and bearings as disturbance sources, with custom motor adaptation to motion profile.
• Voice Coil Actuator (Linear and Rotary) Actuator consisting of coil on carrier and cylinder with permanent magnets, available in linear (LA) and rotary (RA) configurations, offering high force density and very high acceleration values.
• Shaft Motor Mechatronic unit for precise and efficient linear movements, excellent for high-dynamic and force-demanding tasks, capable of replacing hydraulics and conventional spindle drives.
• Air Bearings Air bearings replacing conventional mechanical bearings, offering extremely long service life and reduced friction losses for higher dynamics, available in round, rectangular, and bushing configurations.
• Digital Motion Controller (DMC) - Standalone Digital motion controller for position control of multiple axes using RISC processors, coordinating axes for interpolation, PVT, event handling, and other motion modes. Standalone devices with Ethernet, EtherCAT, USB, or RS-232 communication.
• PCI Motion Controller PCI/PCIe plug-in card motion controller for operation within a PC, available with up to 8 axes, requiring external servo drives.
• 1-Axis Motion Controller DMC Single-axis digital motion controller for placement near the axis to be controlled, reducing wiring effort, with Ethernet communication and switch function, available with integrated servo drives or stepper motor drivers.
• RIO PLC / SPS Programmable logic controller (PLC) for remote extension of motion controllers (RIO - remote IO), communicating via Ethernet, available in RIO-471xx, RIO-472xx, and RIO-47300 variants.
• Servo Drives (Block and Sine Commutated) Servo amplifiers/drivers converting analog signals to PWM signals for servo motors, with block commutation (4-quadrant control) and sine commutation variants, integrated into motion controllers to save space and reduce wiring.
• Absolute Encoder Kit VLX Absolute hollow shaft encoder kit with compact construction and flat design, up to 21-bit resolution, accuracy up to ±0.01°, SSi and BiSS output signals, operating temperature -40 to 85°C.
• Robust Encoder Kit VLP Robust absolute hollow shaft encoder kit for harsh environments and aerospace/defense applications, MIL-STD-810 tested, immune to magnetic fields, accuracy from ±0.006 to ±0.01°.
• Rotary Encoder S21 (Absolute, SSI) Cost-effective optical rotary encoder with hollow shaft, in S21B (SSI binary), S21G (SSI Gray code), and S21P (parallel) variants, up to 16-bit resolution, max 10,000 rpm, IP40 protection class.
• Incremental Rotary Encoder S21 Incremental hollow shaft rotary encoders in S21D (digital), S21H (high-resolution digital), S21W (with commutation), and S21C (BiSS C) variants, up to 2,048,000 pulses per revolution.
• Analog Rotary Encoder S21A Analog hollow shaft rotary encoder with 1 Vpp sin/cos output signal, resolution of 1,000, 1,024, or 4,096, max 10,000 rpm.
• Chip Encoder Aura P High-resolution absolute chip encoder for direct PCB mounting, resolution up to 22 bits, rotary accuracy ±0.005 to ±0.01°, linear accuracy ±2.0 µm, BiSS-C output, SMT package.
• EtherCAT Products EtherCAT product family including EtherCAT Master, EtherCAT DMC, EtherCAT Regler (amplifier), and EtherCAT IO modules for EtherCAT fieldbus communication.

Quantifiable outcome

• Direct drives eliminate gear backlash, friction losses and noise emissions
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Airex (Allient)coreTechnology or Integration · 12 September 2025Airex (now part of Allient) is a manufacturer of linear motors that ACHSTRON added to their product portfolio in September 2025. The C-series ironless linear motors and P-series linear motors are offered as part of ACHSTRON's drive technology solutions.
• Galil Motion ControlcoreTechnology or IntegrationGalil is a manufacturer of motion controllers and amplifiers whose products are distributed by ACHSTRON. ACHSTRON provides code examples, application support, and system integration for Galil motion controllers including DMC-30012 and other models.
• Netzer Precision Position SensorscoreTechnology or IntegrationNetzer manufactures absolute encoders with hollow shaft design including VLX and VLP series. ACHSTRON distributes these encoder kits offering up to 21-bit resolution and accuracy up to ±0.01°.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Kollmorgen: Large motion-control specialist offering servo motors, drives, and controllers globally; historically the parent (via its IMI subsidiary) that ACHSTRON's founders bought out, making the two directly comparable on direct-drive kit motors and frameless motor technology.
• Beckhoff Automation: German PC-based automation platform vendor whose EtherCAT-based motion controllers and drives compete with the Galil-powered controllers ACHSTRON integrates, and which ACHSTRON already licenses EtherCAT from.
• Bosch Rexroth: Major German industrial automation and drive-technology incumbent whose linear-motion, servo, and motion-controller portfolio overlaps broadly with ACHSTRON across factory automation customers in DACH.

Direct peers

• Maxon Motor: Swiss precision DC and brushless motor manufacturer with deep customization expertise for medical, robotics, and aerospace — directly overlapping with ACHSTRON's kit-motor and motion-control value proposition in Europe.
• Galil Motion Control: US manufacturer of digital motion controllers and servo amplifiers whose products ACHSTRON distributes in DACH; Galil's standalone and PCI motion controllers are the technological backbone that ACHSTRON integrates into custom solutions.
• Faulhaber Group: German manufacturer of miniature servo motors, DC motors, and linear actuators with strong customization capabilities — directly comparable to ACHSTRON's frameless kit motors, voice coil actuators, and medical/robotics customer base.
• LinMot: Swiss manufacturer specializing in linear motors and linear actuators as direct drives — directly comparable to ACHSTRON's linear motor and direct-drive HT offerings for precision industrial automation.
• PI (Physik Instrumente): German market leader in nanopositioning and precision motion control using piezoelectric and direct-drive technologies — overlapping with ACHSTRON in optics, photonics, metrology, and scientific instrumentation.
• ETEL GmbH: Swiss direct-drive torque-motor specialist closely comparable to ACHSTRON — in fact founded in 2001 by ACHSTRON's former co-managing director Eric Green and based in the same Rottweil region.
• Aerotech: US-based manufacturer of precision motion-control components including direct-drive linear and rotary stages, servo amplifiers, and motion controllers — comparable on full system integration for semiconductor, optics, and research customers.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/achstron-motion-control-gmbh

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Achstron Motion Control