Indramat? Rexroth Indramat? Bosch?

Indramat> Rexroth >Bosch

Posted by Rebecca Haden

We often hear from engineers who have tracked down a problem and opened a cabinet only to find the mysterious word “Indramat” on a pice of equipment. Or maybe “Rexroth Indramat.” They start looking for help and sometimes they find Bosch Rexroth. The whole thing seems complicated.

Don’t worry. It just seems complicated.

Indramat, Rexroth, and Bosch are all connected through a series of acquisitions.

Indramat

Indramat is also known as “Gesellschaft zur INDustrialisierung-RAtionalisierung und AutoMATisierung“ which translates to Association for Industrialization, Rationalization, and Automation. They pulled out some of the letters in the name — the ones we’ve capitalized — to create a modern, space-age kind of name, very trendy at the time. Founded in 1958, Indramat was an independent company specializing in industrial motion control. They produced servo drives, motors, and controls for use in various machines like machine tools, printing presses, and assembly lines.

Indramat was known back then as the place to go when you wanted both power and precision. There equipment was also incredibly reliable. So much so that many printing presses, machine tools, and assembly lines continue to operate with Indramat drive and control systems.

Rexroth

In 1965, Rexroth, another German company known for hydraulics, acquired Indramat. The Rexroth company started in 1795 as a water-powered hammer mill, so it’s no surprise that they were known for hydraulics. Their acquisition of Indramat gave Rexroth expertise in the field of electric motion control. Indramat continued to operate under its own brand but became part of Rexroth.

Throughout the 20th century, Rexroth Indramat became a powerhouse in digital technologies as well.

Bosch

In 2001, Robert Bosch GmbH, a large German engineering and technology company, acquired Rexroth, which included Indramat. Rexroth and Indramat were then merged to form the Electric Drives and Controls Technology Group under Bosch Rexroth.

Together, this international conglomerate became the most important producer of motion control technology in the world. Possibly in the universe.

While Indramat is no longer a separate company, the Bosch Rexroth brand still acknowledges the Indramat legacy. The IndraDrive series of electric drives from Bosch Rexroth pays homage to the pioneering work of Indramat in this field. Bosch Rexroth also continues to support existing Indramat products for customers who have them installed.

The image displays three corporate logos in a vertical alignment. The top logo is for "Indramat" featuring a dark blue square with a white circle inside, to the left of the word "Indramat" in blue lettering. The middle logo reads "Rexroth Indramat" with "Rexroth" in blue above "Indramat" in gray. The bottom logo is stylized in lowercase letters, "rexroth" in red followed by "A Bosch Company" in gray underneath. All three logos have a similar blue square and white circle graphic element.

The timeline

Depending on the time depth of your Indramat or IndraDrive components, you might see any of the logos or names above on your machinery.

Here’s a simplified timeline to visualize the relationship:

  • 1958: Indramat is founded.
  • 1965: Rexroth acquires Indramat.
  • 2001: Bosch acquires Rexroth (including Indramat).
  • Present: Indramat is no longer a separate company, but its legacy lives on through Bosch Rexroth’s IndraDrive series and continued support for existing Indramat products.

Here’s the best news of all: no matter which name you see on your components, you can call us at (479) 422-0390 for repair and reman, service and support. As Indramat specialists, we are ready to help with all the iterations. We’ll get you back up and running fact.