Performance, costs, design and development effort are in a close relationship for machine manufacturers today. At the same time, the demands on flexibility, precision and output of modern packaging machines are increasing. At interpack 2026, Lenze demonstrated how modern servo drives address precisely this issue and become the central adjusting screw for high-performance packaging machines.
Fast set-up and a wide range of precise, adapted movements of all critical machine axes are becoming key decision-making factors in the market. At the same time, the focus is shifting towards compact machine design in order to make efficient use of the limited space in production halls. Machine builders are required to select the most suitable automation components, quickly adapt machine designs to individual customer requirements and open up further performance limits with precise synchronous movements.
“The increasing regulatory and economic requirements can only be mastered if machines are designed to be significantly more flexible and compact,” says Marian Köller, Global Industry Manager Fast Moving Consumer Goods. “Our servo drives are a decisive enabler for this because they combine motion intelligence, performance and compactness in one solution.” As a specialist in drive and automation technology, Lenze combines decades of application experience with powerful servo and drive technology to offer application-specific motion control solutions for every machine architecture in packaging technology.
Experience servo drives live: the Jonglator
To show how how efficiently Lenze’s servo drives work in practice, the company demonstrated with a juggling machine. The powerful motion control system clearly showed how precise servo drives can solve complex motion requirements while remaining more compact than purely mechanically based solutions.
The precise horizontal and vertical drive control ensures a reliable juggling show and makes the performance of the electronic cam in the servo drive immediately tangible.
Modern servo controllers, such as the i950 from Lenze, enable highly dynamic, precise movements with reduced installation space and thus make a significant contribution to higher machine throughput and consistently high packaging quality. Particularly in applications with high cycle rates, such as carton erectors, optimized servo controls in combination with highly dynamic motors create the basis for high performance. For the customer, this means more output per area and reliable process stability.
A significant added value lies in the integrated motion intelligence directly in the servo drive. Based on prepared technology applications, the i950 can be easily integrated into modular machine solutions. Complex motion profiles such as cam movements can be implemented directly in the drive. This option replaces mechanical motion guides, which simplifies the machine design and makes it significantly more compact.
Synchronous axis movements for maximum machine performance
Lenze servo drives also show their strengths in synchronous movements across several axes. High-end packaging machines only achieve their high output because many movements run simultaneously and are precisely coordinated. Solutions such as cost-efficient double axes with One Cable Technology enable high repeat accuracy with maximum dynamics. For machine builders, this reduces the amount of cabling required, while for operators it increases the speed and reliability of the system.
The i750 cabinet servo drive is designed to meet these requirements and offers everything for precise and dynamic motion control in complex multi-axis applications. Intelligent data-based functions and IIoT capabilities also enable innovative motion control concepts. As a single or double axis, the i750 cabinet can be seamlessly integrated into the Lenze automation system with a suitable supply unit. It demonstrates its strengths in particular in combination with Lenze controllers and the FAST Application Software Toolbox, even in complex robotics applications such as high-speed pick-and-place cells.
In addition, Lenze servo drives support modular machine concepts. Thanks to open architecture and consistent functions and interfaces across controllers, HMI and I/Os, motion, logic and HMI functions can be executed in parallel and reliably, even with increasing machine complexity.
“Fast machine design and rapid set-up are increasingly becoming a competitive factor,” says Köller. “Our servo drives are designed to enable precisely this speed.”
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