SEW-Eurodrive partners with Schaeffler to expand digital services
17 April 2025 
The German drive and automation specialist SEW-Eurodrive has formed a strategic partnership with the motion technology company Schaeffler to expand their digital services. They expect maintenance teams, in particular, to benefit from the partnership.
The two companies see the partnership as a digital extension of the close integration that already exists in the mechanical design of SEW-Eurodrive motors and other products that use Schaeffler rolling bearings.
For example, SEW-Eurodrive will use Schaeffler’s Optime wireless condition monitoring system to provide customers with detailed information on the health of their machines and bearings. Data will be collected via wireless vibration sensors which transmit data securely to a gateway via a mesh network. This information is sent to the Optime cloud, where it is analysed automatically and converted into values and alarms. The data can then be used by SEW’s DriveRadar APPredict digital platform to provide vital information on temperatures, oil condition, and other key equipment parameters.
Users will be given recommendations for action and alarms, based on Schaeffler’s expertise in rolling bearings and machine dynamics, combined with SEW’s experience of drive technologies.
“The integration of our Optime solutions into the DriveRadar APPredict solution from SEW-Eurodrive significantly expands the possibilities of predictive maintenance,” explains Schaeffler’s Head of Predictive Maintenance Industrial Lifetime Solutions, Dr Philipp Jussen. “Combining our shared digital skills with SEW-Eurodrive’s service expertise gives customers more precise and comprehensive information that helps prevent unplanned downtimes. This helps to reduce maintenance costs and improve system availability.”
“Schaeffler is the ideal partner for us, as we operate in the same industry and complement each other perfectly in terms of our expertise,” adds Tobias Nittel, head of SEW-Eurodrive’s Corporate Solution Center for electronics. “This collaboration allows us to provide innovative digital solutions that optimise production processes and increase maintenance efficiency. By combining our drive technology with Schaeffler’s predictive maintenance solutions, we create sustainable added value for our customers.”
