From automation to warehouse logistics, machine tools to medical equipment, many global industries operate premium applications where efficiency is crucial, and the cost of failure is high. With the recent addition of Nadella to its family of brands, Timken expands its leading linear motion portfolio to support the evolving needs of forward-focused customers.

Timken first entered the linear motion market in 2018 when it acquired Rollon, a specialist in linear guides, telescopic rails, and linear actuators for challenging industries like robotics and aerospace. Three years later, Timken expanded its linear motion portfolio again with the acquisition of Intelligent Machine Solutions, a manufacturer of seventh-axis robotic transfer units (RTUs) and gantry systems for industrial robotics.

Adding Nadella products to the portfolio reinforces the position of strength Rollon — and by extension, Timken — already has as a world-leading provider of customized linear motion solutions. It diversifies the product line to more fully serve global customers’ industrial motion needs.

Nadella is a growing business with 450 employees across Europe, Asia, and North America. Its commitment to solving very demanding niche applications and collaborating closely with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) during their design processes has yielded an impressive list of the world’s top industrial innovators.

Like Rollon, Nadella specializes in linear guides, telescopic rails, actuators and systems, and other specialized industrial motion solutions. However, the overlap in product specifications and markets is limited.

“Nadella is strong in rolled ball screws and linear guides used in machine tools, and in linear guides for packaging,” said Rudi Knevels, CEO Rollon Group. “Rollon is stronger in linear actuators, system solutions, and telescopic rails for railway, factory automation, aerospace, and logistics.”

Nadella also designs and manufacturers motion drive solutions not traditionally offered by Timken or Rollon, like precision ball screws. These extremely efficient mechanical devices translate rotational motion into linear motion in applications like computerized CNC machine tools and semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

“Many Rollon customers use ball screws as a drive system for their linear actuators,” Knevels said. “Now we are a single source for both.”

Historically, Timken acquisitions have strengthened either the company’s Industrial Motion portfolio or its Engineered Bearings offering. It’s rare when a newly acquired company does both. Nadella, which was originally founded 90+ years ago as a needle bearing manufacturer, still specializes in precision needle roller bearings and other rotational motion solutions, like rod ends and clevises.

Needle roller bearings are a standard element of many rotational motion systems in automotive and robotics applications. They act as precision articulating joints where a compact design envelope, high load capacity, and high precision are required. Clevises and closely related ball and axial joints connect control components in mechanical applications where pivoting or rotating motion occurs.

“They fit very well into the Timken product range,” Knevels said.