RS, a high-service global product and service solutions provider for industrial customers, offers the products, services, and expertise needed to build smarter, more integrated motion control systems optimized for discrete and process manufacturing, material handling and packaging, logistics, and utility applications.

The stakes of motion control

Precise coordination between motors, drives, and feedback devices is necessary for connected, data-driven Industry 4.0 operations proven to improve efficiency, quality, and reliability and reduce unplanned downtime. When systems lack this integration, the impact is immediate:

• Operational risk: Open-loop systems execute commands blindly, without feedback, increasing the risk of drift, variability, and inefficiency. Additionally, motors and drives with mismatched combinations of power ratings, signal types, or electrical characteristics can diminish system performance, waste energy, reduce efficiency, and lead to bearing and equipment failures.
• Resource strain: Maintenance managers must balance rising system complexity and uptime demands with limited staffing, which creates an endless cycle of reactive work and operational risk.
• Diagnostic gaps: Without real-time data from encoders, maintainers are forced to troubleshoot issues and failures without the insights that quickly reveal root causes.

Smart closed-loop motion control systems with integrated motors and encoders are one of the most economical and impactful ways for small- and medium-sized manufacturers to avoid these pitfalls.

Smart solutions for integrated systems

RS offers an extensive selection of high-quality motion components designed to support data-driven control architectures that enhance system visibility, strengthen equipment reliability, and maximize uptime in applications including robotic systems, CNC machines, and pick-and-place assembly lines. Essential solutions include:

• Servomotors, like Festo EMMT-AS servomotors. Designed for dynamic, high-precision applications, like robotics and assembly equipment, these brushless, synchronous AC motors feature a unique, space-saving one-cable plug design, which consolidates power and encoder signals and simplifies installation. They also feature IP67-rated housings, integrated temperature sensors and absolute encoders, and optional holding brakes and exhibit excellent controllability, reliability, precision, and path fidelity in addition to low cogging torque for superior tracking accuracy, even at low speeds. And when combined with Festo’s broader portfolio of electromechanical actuators, motors, drive controllers, and control systems, they create cohesive motion control platforms optimized for demanding, dynamic positioning applications.
• AC motors like ABB Baldor‑Reliance V*S Master AC motors. Especially engineered for inverter- and vector-duty applications, these motors feature Class F insulation that exceeds NEMA requirements, reliably protects against corona discharge, voltage stress, and high-temperature operation, and ensures long lifetime performance in variable‑speed applications. They also feature standard NEMA frames in sizes 56C to L449T and provisions for encoder mounting, support both open- and closed-loop control, as well as up to 500hp and 200% overload torque, and provide precise 1,000:1 continuous torque from zero to base speed, which makes them ideal for demanding processes like extruders, winders, and conveyors.
• AC drives like Lenze i550 cabinet frequency inverters. Designed for versatility, reliability, scalability, efficiency, and ease of use, these drives feature small, IP20 form factors optimized for crowded control cabinets in conveyor, hoist, winder, extruder, pump, fan, and packaging applications. They meet the Ecodesign Energy Efficiency for Power Drive standard, offer SIL 3 Safe Torque Off functionality, and support an extensive range of compatible communication protocols — including CANopen, EtherCAT, EtherNet/IP, IO‑Link, Modbus RTU, Modbus TCP, POWERLINK, PROFIBUS, and PROFINET — which makes them easy to integrate into a variety of different automation architectures. They’re also available as complete devices or as separate power, control, and safety unit components, which further increases their flexibility.
• I/O systems like Phoenix Contact’s Axioline F remote I/O system. Designed to transmit I/O signals from devices like motors and encoders to a central PLC, the Axioline F system features a rugged, compact, modular design with push-in connections for rapid installation, bus couplers compatible with all common Ethernet systems, and PROFINET redundancy for failsafe performance. It supports a wide range of I/O modules with digital and analog inputs and outputs and a variety of functions and applications, including safety applications, and supports fast signal acquisition and integration with edge PLC systems, which increases machine output and enables real-time process visibility, predictive maintenance, early fault detection, and faster troubleshooting. It also reliably withstands up to 5g vibration, 10g continuous shock, and 30g intermittent shock and operating temperatures extending from -40°C and +70°C.

About RS

RS is a high-service global product and service solutions provider for industrial customers, enabling them to operate efficiently and sustainably. We operate in 36 markets, stock over 830,000 industrial and specialist products, and list an additional five million relevant for our industrial customers, sourced from over 2,500 suppliers. This extensive range supports our customers across the industrial lifecycle of designing, building, and maintaining equipment and operations. We enhance their experience through a tailored service model, leveraging our efficient physical, digital, and process infrastructure sustainably. We combine a technically led and digitally enabled approach with an exceptional team of experts; ultimately, it’s our people that make the difference. Our purpose, making amazing happen for a better world, reflects our focus on delivering results for people, planet, and profit.

About RS in the Americas

In the Americas region, RS stocks more than 250,000 industrial and electronic products from more than 700 trusted suppliers. These solutions cover categories extending from automation and control equipment to interconnect, passive, active, and electromechanical components and include more than 90,000 high-quality, competitively priced RS PRO products.