Application Scenarios

A packaging line in a German consumer goods plant was retrofitting an existing eight-axis cut-to-length machine. The original motion controller had been discontinued, and the system’s separate power supply and axis modules occupied half a 2-meter rack. The engineering team switched to the S403M-PB as the system master—one drive handles the mains connection, the internal CANopen bus links the other seven extension axes, and the PROFIBUS interface talks directly to the Siemens S7-1500 PLC. Total wiring reduction? One power line, one enable circuit, one PC connection for the whole system.

This multi-axis architecture is the SERVOSTAR 400’s signature design. A single 403M-P master module can feed up to seven additional axis modules (e.g., 406A-PB, 403A-PB), all sharing the same DC bus and communication backbone. The master module does the heavy lifting—mains rectification, braking energy handling, and system-level communication. The slave axis modules are simplified, lower-cost units that don’t need their own power supply components. For machine builders, this means fewer cables, smaller cabinets, and lower total system cost.

Common applications for the Kollmorgen 403M-P include:

• Semiconductor manufacturing – wafer handling and precision positioning systems
• Surface mount technology (SMT) – pick-and-place machines and screen printers
• Packaging equipment – cut-to-length, wrapping, and labeling machinery
• Printing presses – web tension control and register correction
• Machine tools – axis control for mills, lathes, and grinders
• Industrial robotics – single-axis articulated arm control

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