Former German industrial control firm
Indramat GmbH
, now part of
Bosch Rexroth
, was an industrial control firm founded in 1958, based in
Neuwied
(am Rhein),
Germany
. Its name is a German abbreviation meaning “
Gesellschaft
zur
IND
ustrialisierung-
RA
tionalisierung und Auto
MAT
isierung“ (Association for Industrialization, Rationalization, and Automation).
The
core business
was the production of industrial
servo drives
and
motion controls
for use on
machine tools
,
machine presses
,
printing presses
, food packaging machinery, as well as
assembly lines
and
material handling
equipment.
Indramat was acquired by the
hydraulic
company Rexroth in 1965, for Rexroth to gain competence in machine control. At that time, Indramat was moved to the German town of
Lohr am Main
, Rexroth’s headquarters.
[1]
In 1968 Rexroth, including Indramat GmbH, was taken over by
Mannesmann AG
. In 2001, after the hostile takeover of Mannesmann by
Vodafone
, the industrial portion of Mannesmann was acquired by
Robert Bosch GmbH
, including Rexroth and Indramat.
[2]
The new entity was named
Bosch Rexroth
, and Indramat GmbH became the Electric Drives and Controls Technology Group under Bosch Rexroth. The name Indramat was no longer used,
[3]
however Bosch Rexroth Electric Drives and Controls continues to produce and support products originally marketed under the Indramat brand,
[4]
and newer product families such as the IndraDrive, IndraDyn, and IndraControl are named in recognition of their heritage.
[5]
In 2001 Indramat employed 1,500, with a turnover of 261 million Euro. Exports constituted 52% of the business.
Indramat gained recognition in Germany and Central Europe starting in the 1970s as a supplier of DC servo drives and control systems, especially in the areas of sheet steel processing, and 3-dimensional tracing controls. A key feature of the Indramat servo is the programming module (called a “Personality Module” in the North American market), which contained all variable settings required to match the servo amplifier with a given motor. This feature greatly simplified the commissioning process. In 1979 Indramat released a brushless drive servo system,
[6]
which it branded as an “AC Servo”. This product gained acceptance in
automotive industry
Powertrain
manufacturing, bringing Indramat global recognition.
Indramat is also recognized for distributed
CNCs
for automotive
Powertrain
manufacturing, and electronic line shaft technology for commercial printing presses.
External links
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References
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¹Now integrated into other Bosch divisions or business groupings ²Sold
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