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Company profile

SEW-EURODRIVE

SEW-EURODRIVE is a family-run German drive technology company founded in 1931 and headquartered at Ernst-Blickle-Strasse 42, 76646 Bruchsal, telephone +49 7251 75-0. Its UK company, SEW-EURODRIVE Ltd., has its head office at Trident Park, Normanton, West Yorkshire, telephone +44 1924 893855, email info@sew-eurodrive.co.uk.

SEW-EURODRIVE at a glance
Legal nameSEW-EURODRIVE GmbH & Co KG
Founded1931
FounderChristian Pähr
Owner / parentSEW-EURODRIVE GmbH & Co KG
Headquarters76646 Bruchsal, Germany
Employeesaround 22,700 (group, as published in 2026)
Websitesew-eurodrive.com

SEW-EURODRIVE contact details

Head office

Ernst-Blickle-Strasse 42
76646 Bruchsal
Germany

Telephone +49 7251 75-0

Website sew-eurodrive.com

SEW-EURODRIVE Ltd. UK head office (Drive Technology Center Normanton)

DeVilliers Way, Trident Park
Normanton, West Yorkshire WF6 1GX
United Kingdom

Telephone +44 1924 893855

Email info@sew-eurodrive.co.uk

Web sew-eurodrive.co.uk/company/our_drive/on_site_at_sew-eurodrive/locations_in_the_uk/united_kingdom.html

Midlands Regional Sales and Service Centre

5 Sugar Brook Court, Aston Road
Bromsgrove, Worcestershire B60 3EX
United Kingdom

Telephone +44 1527 877319

Email info@sew-eurodrive.co.uk

Web sew-eurodrive.co.uk/company/our_drive/on_site_at_sew-eurodrive/locations_in_the_uk/united_kingdom.html

Southern Regional Sales and Service Centre

Unit 41, Easter Park, Benyon Road
Silchester, Reading, Berkshire RG7 2PQ
United Kingdom

Telephone +44 1189 701699

Email info@sew-eurodrive.co.uk

Web sew-eurodrive.co.uk/company/our_drive/on_site_at_sew-eurodrive/locations_in_the_uk/united_kingdom.html

Scottish Regional Office and Service Centre

133-135 Deerdykes View
Cumbernauld, Glasgow G68 9HF
United Kingdom

Telephone +44 1786 478730

Email info@sew-eurodrive.co.uk

Web sew-eurodrive.co.uk/company/our_drive/on_site_at_sew-eurodrive/locations_in_the_uk/united_kingdom.html

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Contact details as published by SEW-EURODRIVE GmbH & Co KG, checked 2026-10-30. Specify Motion is not affiliated with SEW-EURODRIVE GmbH & Co KG.

SEW-EURODRIVE product lines

PxG (P5.G, P6.G, P7.G)Low-backlash planetary servo gear units
CMP and CM3CSynchronous AC servomotors
MOVIDRIVE modular, system and technologyMulti-axis and single-axis servo and application inverters
MOVI-C CONTROLLERMotion and logic controllers for the MOVI-C automation system
CMSB / CMSServo electric cylinders with ball or planetary roller screws
Standard gearmotorsHelical, parallel-shaft, helical-bevel and other gearmotors
MOVIGEARMechatronic drive units combining gear unit, motor and electronics
Industrial gear unitsLarge gear units for heavy industry

Who SEW-EURODRIVE is

SEW-EURODRIVE is a German drive technology company headquartered in Bruchsal, Baden-Württemberg. Most engineers know it first for gearmotors, but the range now runs from small servo gear units to complete automation systems: planetary servo gearboxes, synchronous servomotors, servo inverters, motion controllers, software and electric cylinders. SEW-EURODRIVE, MOVI-C, MOVIDRIVE and MOVIGEAR are trademarks of their owner.

The company describes itself as an owner-operated family business. Its corporate site gives around 22,700 employees, sales of over €4.2 billion in 2024, a presence in 57 countries, and 18 production plants with 92 assembly plants. The scale matters to a machine builder: SEW-EURODRIVE assembles drives locally in many countries, which affects lead times and service.

History and ownership

The roots go back to 1913, when Albert Obermoser opened a repair workshop in Bruchsal. His gearmotor, combining an electric motor and gear unit in one housing, was patented in 1928. After Obermoser’s business ran into difficulty during the Depression, banker Christian Pähr founded Süddeutsche Elektromotorenwerke (SEW) on 13 June 1931.

Ernst Blickle, who married into the founder’s family, took over management in December 1945. The modular gearmotor system arrived in the mid-1960s, SEW took over Albert Obermoser KG in 1973 and presented the parallel shaft gearbox at Hannover Messe in 1977. Frequency inverters came in the 1980s, and an electronics plant in Bruchsal was completed in 1999. Low-backlash gear units and servomotors joined the range in the 1990s, and MOVIGEAR, a mechatronic drive integrating gear unit, motor and electronics, was presented in 2005.

Ernst Blickle’s sons Rainer and Jürgen Blickle led the company in the next generation; Rainer Blickle left management in 2013, and the company marked its 90th anniversary in 2021. The legal entity is SEW-EURODRIVE GmbH & Co KG, a limited partnership registered in Mannheim, with Jürgen Blickle named as President of the managing partners.

Product portfolio

Servo gear units

The PxG planetary servo gear units come in 17 sizes and three performance classes (P5.G, P6.G and P7.G). Single-stage ratios start at 3:1, three-stage units reach 550:1 (1,000:1 on request), and acceleration torques run up to 6,150 Nm, with backlash from 1 arcmin in the top class. Outputs include smooth and keyed shafts, DIN 5480 splined shafts and flange block shafts, with food-grade lubricant options. Our gearbox hub and harmonic vs planetary vs cycloidal guide cover when planetary gearing is the right fit.

Servomotors

The CMP servomotors are the highly dynamic line: seven sizes from 40 to 112, standstill torques from 0.5 to 95 Nm and dynamic limit torques up to 320 Nm. The CM3C servomotors are a compact line in sizes 63 to 100 with 2.7 to 40 Nm standstill torque, up to 120 Nm peak, resolver feedback and IP65. See our servo and stepper motors hub.

Inverters and controllers

MOVIDRIVE modular is a multi-axis system of supply modules from 10 to 110 kW and axis modules up to 180 A, with 250 % overload. MOVIDRIVE system and technology are single-axis inverters from 0.55 to 315 kW. Both have Safe Torque Off to PL e and SIL 3 built in. The MOVI-C CONTROLLER comes in four performance classes, from 2 to 32 interpolated axes, and acts as the EtherCAT master for the drives. Our servo drives and motion controllers hubs explain the selection steps.

Electric cylinders

The CMSB and CMS electric cylinders combine a servomotor with a ball screw or planetary roller screw, giving continuous feed forces up to 10,000 N, peaks up to 24,000 N and strokes up to 1,200 mm. Our linear actuator hub and ball screw vs roller screw guide help with the screw choice.

Technologies and standards

SEW-EURODRIVE’s distinguishing approach is the single-source system: gear unit, motor, inverter, controller and software from one maker, with MOVISUITE engineering software and MOVIKIT software modules that let many motion functions be parameterised rather than programmed. Functional safety is built into the inverters (STO to EN ISO 13849 PL e and SIL 3) with optional MOVISAFE cards for more than 15 further safety functions, communicating over PROFIsafe or Safety over EtherCAT. On the communication side the controllers act as EtherCAT/SBusPLUS masters and as PROFINET, EtherNet/IP or Modbus TCP devices to a host PLC.

Industries served

SEW-EURODRIVE’s application lists for its servo gear units include machine tool gantries, assembly presses, filling and transfer stars, printing machines, laser cutting machines, delta robots and tool changers. Its wider gearmotor and industrial gear ranges serve conveying, logistics and process industries, so it is common to find SEW drives on both the high-dynamic axes and the plain conveyors of the same production line.

Global and UK presence

SEW-EURODRIVE Ltd. has been based at Normanton in West Yorkshire since 1969. Its head office, the Drive Technology Center Normanton, is at DeVilliers Way, Trident Park, Normanton WF6 1GX, telephone +44 1924 893855, email info@sew-eurodrive.co.uk. Regional sales and service centres are listed in Bromsgrove, Silchester near Reading and Cumbernauld near Glasgow, and Heyn Engineering (NI) Ltd. in Belfast acts as the Northern Ireland sales office. UK engineers can buy direct from SEW-EURODRIVE Ltd. and use its online configurator and replacement-product selector.

What to have ready for an SEW-EURODRIVE enquiry

Take the full type designation and serial number from the nameplate of the gearmotor, servo gear unit or motor; SEW’s codes encode size, ratio, mounting position and options, and the serial number lets the maker trace the original build. For servo axes, add the required output torque and speed, duty cycle, mounting position, shaft or flange output, and the inverter and encoder in use. For inverters, give supply voltage, motor data and the fieldbus the machine uses.

Sourcing SEW-EURODRIVE parts through Specify Motion

Specify Motion is independent of SEW-EURODRIVE and is not affiliated with it. We can help source SEW-EURODRIVE parts for an existing machine, or propose gearboxes, servomotors and drives from our supply network that meet the same published figures. Find a replacement takes a part number and the requirement.

SEW-EURODRIVE history: key dates

  1. 1913Albert Obermoser opens a repair workshop in Bruchsal
  2. 1928Obermoser's gearmotor invention is patented
  3. 1931Christian Pähr founds Süddeutsche Elektromotorenwerke (SEW) on 13 June
  4. 1945Ernst Blickle takes over management in December
  5. 1969SEW-EURODRIVE UK established at Normanton, West Yorkshire
  6. 1977Parallel shaft gearbox presented at Hannover Messe
  7. 1999First electronics plant in Bruchsal completed
  8. 2005MOVIGEAR mechatronic drive presented at Hannover Messe
  9. 202190th anniversary of the company

SEW-EURODRIVE gearboxes

SEW-EURODRIVE servo motors

SEW-EURODRIVE servo drives

SEW-EURODRIVE controllers, plcs and hmis

SEW-EURODRIVE linear actuators

Frequently asked questions

What is the SEW-EURODRIVE website?

The corporate website is sew-eurodrive.com, and the UK company runs sew-eurodrive.co.uk. The UK site covers gearmotors, servo gear units, servomotors, MOVI-C inverters and controllers, an online product configurator and replacement-product selector, and a list of UK sales and service centres.

What is the SEW-EURODRIVE UK phone number and email?

SEW-EURODRIVE Ltd. lists its head office at DeVilliers Way, Trident Park, Normanton, West Yorkshire WF6 1GX, telephone 01924 893855 (+44 1924 893855), email info@sew-eurodrive.co.uk. Regional centres in Bromsgrove, Silchester near Reading and Cumbernauld near Glasgow use the same email address.

Where is SEW-EURODRIVE's headquarters?

SEW-EURODRIVE GmbH & Co KG is headquartered at Ernst-Blickle-Strasse 42, 76646 Bruchsal, Germany, telephone +49 7251 75-0. It is a limited partnership registered at the Mannheim registry court under HRA 230970. The company has been based in Bruchsal since Albert Obermoser opened his workshop there in 1913.

Who owns SEW-EURODRIVE?

SEW-EURODRIVE describes itself as an owner-operated global family business. Management passed from founder Christian Pähr's family to Ernst Blickle in 1945 and then to his sons Rainer and Jürgen Blickle; Jürgen Blickle is listed as President of the managing partners.

Does SEW-EURODRIVE have a UK office?

Yes. SEW-EURODRIVE Ltd. has been based at Normanton in West Yorkshire since 1969 and lists regional sales and service centres in Bromsgrove, Silchester and Cumbernauld, with a Northern Ireland sales office run by Heyn Engineering (NI) Ltd. in Belfast. UK customers can buy direct.

What does SEW-EURODRIVE make?

It makes gearmotors and industrial gear units, PxG planetary servo gear units, CMP and CM3C servomotors, MOVIDRIVE and MOVITRAC inverters, MOVI-C controllers and software, MOVIGEAR mechatronic drives, electric cylinders and linear motors. Many of these are offered as matched systems under the MOVI-C name.

Sources

  1. SEW-EURODRIVE: corporate website and imprint
  2. SEW-EURODRIVE UK: Locations in the UK
  3. SEW-EURODRIVE UK: Driving Germany (Normanton since 1969)
  4. SEW-EURODRIVE: History
  5. SEW-EURODRIVE UK: PxG planetary servo gear unit
  6. SEW-EURODRIVE UK: CMP synchronous servomotors
  7. SEW-EURODRIVE UK: CM3C synchronous servomotor
  8. SEW-EURODRIVE UK: MOVIDRIVE modular
  9. SEW-EURODRIVE UK: MOVI-C CONTROLLER
  10. SEW-EURODRIVE UK: CMS and CMSM electric cylinders

Figures are summarised from the sources above and from manufacturers' published data on the date shown. Always confirm against the current datasheet for your exact part.

Spec builder

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Tell us what you need, whether it is this part, an equivalent or a complete axis built around it. An engineer will review your requirements and reply, normally within one working day.

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  • Like-for-like and better-fit alternatives
  • Standard, modified and custom options

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