Leading Precision Drive Selection and Expertise

In the last decade, the world has seen dramatic changes in every industry as services have become automated and digitized. Today, even the most conventional markets rely on software to run machinery and automate processes.

As information technology migrated from computers to the physical world of gears and motors, machinery had to evolve as well. “If you’re using a robot to manufacture semiconductors, the positioning has to be exact,” says Kurt Gamelin, president of Cone Drive by Timken. “Most applications today require high-precision technologies.”

Kurt Gamelin, president of Cone Drive by Timken.


“Together, the three brands constitute a portfolio that’s a one-stop-shop for customers, giving them options for how they develop their products — and the flexibility to work with any or all of our businesses on engineered solutions.”

Kurt Gamelin
President, Cone Drive by Timken

vertical space added

Timken responded to this trend by investing in precision drives, bringing Cone Drive under the Timken umbrella in 2018 and SPINEA in 2022. In 2024, the company announced that CGI Inc. would constitute a third addition.

“CGI rounded out the portfolio,” says Gamelin. “No other company today offers the breadth of technologies that we’ve put together here.”

SPINEA, Cone Drive and CGI products work together to cover the six axes of a robot, which each carry different torque and precision requirements. Rollon’s linear motion products add a seventh axis, expanding the range of the robot.

 

CGI Precision Gearing Robotic Wrist

 

Cone Drive® Harmonic
Gearing & Timken® Encoders

 

Cone Drive® Harmonic
Gearing & Timken® Encoders

 

Cone Drive® Harmonic
Gearing & Timken® Encoders

 

SPINEA® Cycloidal Reduction
Gears & Timken® Encoders

 

SPINEA® Cycloidal Reduction
Gears & Timken® Encoders

 

Rollon® Robotic Transfer Unit

Complementary products. Complementary expertise.

The three businesses are remarkably similar, with cultures built on strong pride in ownership and a market strategy that includes standard product lines coupled with engineered solutions. “They each have commercial and technical relationships with their customers, and that makes for a strong business,” says Gamelin.

CGI has roots in outer space, having supported NASA’s Apollo program, repairs on the Hubble Space Telescope, and other projects.  But today, the company is known for its work in surgical robotics. CGI engineers helped make joint replacements commonplace in the 1970s, and today, CGI’s precision gearing products power most of the minimally invasive surgeries that take place in the world.

SPINEA, based in Slovakia, is the only European producer of precision cycloidal gearing and actuators. In a business focused on power, precision and longevity, SPINEA’s cycloidal gearing offers the highest ratings, giving global robotics customers access to solutions for mid-range industrial robots. It is one of only two suppliers that can cover all six axes of small-, low- and medium-payload robots.

Cone Drive has a diversified market portfolio with thousands of customers serving dozens of markets. Its flagship product, the double-enveloping worm gear, plays a role in industrial applications, such as conveyor drives and crushers. Its worm-driven slewing bearings lead the solar tracking market, and its strain-wave gearing is used in satellite communications, food and beverage processing, robotics and other applications.

“Together, the three brands constitute a portfolio that’s a one-stop-shop for customers, giving them options for how they develop their products — and the flexibility to work with any or all of our businesses on engineered solutions,” says Gamelin.

A global strategy of letting customers take the lead

Engineered solutions comprise a large portion of the businesses’ work, which means customers value their technical knowledge, flexibility and ability to collaborate. “Our engineered products run the range from derivatives of standard products to completely new designs,” says Gamelin. “In the case of CGI and the medical gear heads market, the product line is really a suite of engineered solutions, driven by specific customer applications.”

Today, Gamelin is focused on expanding Timken’s precision drive business around the globe. With Cone Drive China in Asia, SPINEA in Europe, and Cone Drive and CGI in North America, customers now have many options when it comes to engineering and commercial support, logistics and inventory stocking locations.

For now, Gamelin enjoys the challenge of growing the business globally. “It’s exciting,” he says. “We’re leveraging the range of knowledge, perspectives and experience that everyone brings to the table and creating a powerful, cohesive team that can support global customers flawlessly, in whatever ways they need to be supported.”


By supplying DriveSpin® actuators for EDAG CityBots, SPINEA is helping to shape the future of the world’s cities. Read more.