Four decades of engineering expertise, sustained local investment and close customer partnerships have positioned SEW-EURODRIVE South Africa as a significant drive technology and lifecycle solutions provider to industry across Africa.

SEW-EURODRIVE South Africa is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2026, marking four decades of continuous investment in the engineering capability, infrastructure, skills and technologies needed to support an increasingly sophisticated industrial market.

Established in South Africa in 1986, the company has evolved from its original geared motor offering into a comprehensive drive technology business encompassing industrial gear units, motors, electronics, automation, mechatronics, condition monitoring, application engineering and lifecycle services.

For Raymond Obermeyer, Managing Director of SEW-EURODRIVE South Africa, the significance of the milestone lies less in longevity than in the capability accumulated over that time.

“Forty years gives us a substantial heritage, but heritage only has value when it translates into something meaningful for our customers,” Obermeyer SAYS. “What we have built over four decades is a depth of engineering knowledge, local infrastructure and application experience that enables us to understand industrial challenges and take greater responsibility for the performance of a customer’s drivetrain throughout its lifecycle.”

This engineering philosophy was evident relatively early in the company’s local development. By the beginning of the 1990s, its engineers were moving beyond conventional product selection and considering factors such as torque requirements, load spectra, starting characteristics, duty cycles and environmental conditions when configuring solutions.

As customer applications became more demanding, SEW-EURODRIVE progressively expanded its technical capability. Its successful entry into large industrial gear units opened opportunities in heavy-duty mining and materials handling, while the introduction of mechatronics, variable speed drives and increasingly sophisticated automation technologies broadened its role beyond purely mechanical drive systems.

Today, platforms such as MOVI-C® integrate motion, control and automation, while DriveRadar® condition monitoring provides greater visibility into drivetrain condition by monitoring parameters including vibration, temperature, oil condition and gearbox performance.

According to Obermeyer, these developments reflect a fundamental shift in industrial engineering.

“A modern drivetrain cannot be considered as isolated components,” he says. “Mechanical equipment, motors, electronics, automation, energy consumption and operating conditions all influence performance. Increasingly, our value lies in understanding how that complete system works together and how it can be made more reliable, efficient and productive.”

This capability is underpinned by significant investment in South Africa. SEW-EURODRIVE’s approximately 26 000 m² Aeroton headquarters, fully operational since 2022, consolidates engineering, assembly, stockholding, testing and project execution capability. Its substantial local inventory allows modular components to be configured around specific customer requirements, supporting faster response and reducing reliance on importing complete finished units.

The company has subsequently extended this investment into lifecycle support through its new Service and Repair Centre at Aeroton. The facility expands local capability in inspection, repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing, machining, motor repairs, coupling refurbishment, reverse engineering and drivetrain testing.

Importantly, this expertise extends beyond SEW-EURODRIVE equipment, allowing the company to support ageing and legacy drivetrain assets from other manufacturers.

“For customers operating capital-intensive plants, replacing equipment is not automatically the best engineering or commercial solution,” Obermeyer says. “The ability to understand why an asset has failed, repair or improve it where appropriate and extend its productive life can deliver significant value.”

Skills development remains equally important. Established in 2011, the SEW-EURODRIVE DriveAcademy® develops the technical competencies needed to support increasingly complex mechanical, electronic and automation technologies.

The scale of the South African operation also reflects its expanding regional role. By 2026, it supports activities across 24 African countries, with South Africa providing engineering, assembly, stockholding, service and project execution capability to customers across the continent.

Obermeyer believes this depth of local competence will become even more important as African mining, manufacturing, infrastructure, energy and processing industries develop.

“Our 40th anniversary is an opportunity to recognise what has been built, but it is equally about where we go next,” he concludes. “Industry will continue to demand higher availability, greater efficiency, more intelligence and stronger lifecycle support.”

“The real value of our 40 years is the engineering knowledge we can now apply