As industrial automation enters a new era driven by AI and software-defined manufacturing, motion control is evolving beyond standalone products toward integrated, application-oriented solutions.

 

In a recent interview with CMCIA, one of China's leading industrial automation media platforms, Ding Xinzhong, General Manager of STEP Motion Control Business, shared his insights on the future of motion control and intelligent manufacturing.

 

From Component Supplier to Solution Partner

 

With more than 30 years of expertise in control technologies and over two decades of experience in motion control, STEP has built a comprehensive technology portfolio covering control, drives, execution and integrated systems.

Following its integration into the Haier ecosystem, STEP Motion Control has entered a new stage of development. To better serve rapidly evolving industries, the business has introduced its "431 Strategy":

● Four strategic industries

● Three core product platforms

● One customer-centric approach focused on industry leaders

The strategy reflects STEP's transition from supplying motion control components to delivering complete, application-oriented solutions that create greater value for customers.

 

Focusing on High-Growth Industries

 

STEP Motion Control is concentrating its resources on four rapidly expanding industries where precision, efficiency and intelligent automation are becoming increasingly important:

● New Energy Battery Manufacturing

● Semiconductor Equipment

● 3C Electronics

● Embodied Intelligence

Rather than providing individual hardware products, STEP works closely with customers to develop motion control solutions tailored to specific manufacturing scenarios.

In battery manufacturing, STEP provides integrated motion solutions covering key production processes including winding, stacking, testing, PACK assembly and intelligent material handling.

For semiconductor manufacturing, STEP offers highly integrated motion and vision-control solutions designed to meet demanding requirements for ultra-high precision, reliability and cleanroom environments.

In 3C electronics, the company focuses on high-performance automation solutions for applications such as dispensing, polishing and precision assembly.

Meanwhile, STEP is actively expanding into the emerging field of embodied intelligence with lightweight robot joint modules that integrate frameless motors, drives, encoders and reducers into compact, high-performance solutions.

 

Building the Next Generation of Motion Control

 

As industrial automation continues to evolve, software is becoming the foundation of modern manufacturing.

According to Ding Xinzhong, hardware products are becoming increasingly standardized, while software-defined automation, virtualization technologies and AI are reshaping industrial control systems.

To address these trends, STEP is focusing its R&D efforts on three major technology platforms:

● Vision-Motion-Control Integrated Platform

● Direct Drive Servo Systems

● Robot Joint Modules

Among these innovations, the upcoming Vision-Motion-Control Integrated Platform combines machine vision, HMI, motion controller and servo drives into a unified architecture. Built on multi-core processors, Hypervisor virtualization and container technologies, the platform enables greater computing efficiency, flexible deployment and scalable application development.

Based on the IEC 61499 distributed control standard, the platform also incorporates STEP's extensive motion control algorithms and application libraries accumulated over more than 20 years, helping customers accelerate engineering development while improving system flexibility.

The platform has already completed validation within STEP's own manufacturing facilities and selected customer projects.

Meanwhile, STEP continues to strengthen its servo portfolio. Following the successful Ω6 Series, the company plans to introduce the new Ω7 Servo System, further enhancing both rotary servo and direct drive technologies while targeting higher performance, improved reliability and international functional safety standards.

 

Co-Creating Value with Industry Leaders

A key element of STEP's strategy is close collaboration with leading manufacturers.

Rather than simply supplying products, STEP works together with customers to understand real production challenges and jointly develop customized solutions for specific industrial applications.

One example is STEP's integrated magnetic drive solution, developed to support high-speed, high-precision manufacturing scenarios including battery production, semiconductor wafer transportation and precision assembly.

By integrating motion control, robotics, CNC, vision systems and other manufacturing technologies into unified production systems, STEP helps customers improve productivity, flexibility and manufacturing efficiency.

 

Looking Ahead

As AI continues to transform industrial automation, STEP believes the future of motion control lies in deeper integration between software intelligence and deterministic control technologies.

Looking ahead, STEP will continue investing in AI-powered industrial automation, including vertical AI models for factory automation, intelligent process optimization, vision calibration, trajectory planning, equipment monitoring and predictive maintenance.

"Industrial automation is entering a new phase where software, AI and motion control are becoming increasingly integrated," said Ding Xinzhong. "Our goal is to transform advanced technologies into practical, application-oriented solutions that help customers accelerate intelligent manufacturing."

By combining decades of motion control expertise with continuous innovation, STEP remains committed to delivering smarter, more flexible and more efficient automation solutions for the factories of tomorrow.

Email:
market@stepelectric.com

Address:
No. 1560, Siyi Road, Jiading District, Shanghai Municipality