Kia Slovakia boosts production line resilience, uptime, and digital capabilities through motion solution modernization

Important equipment upgrade streamlines programing, component changeovers, software migration, and version management using the latest Kinetix servo technology from Rockwell Automation

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia, July 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE: ROK), the world's largest company dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation, today announced that KiaSlovakia is to upgrade elements of its body shop through the deployment of the latest servo technologies from Rockwell Automation.

The body shop lifters use servo motors and drives to elevate and orient primary car body components during the manufacture of Kia's Ceed and Sportage models. The lifter's existing servo solution was identified by Kia engineers as approaching end-of-life, so the system will undergo replacement over the summer shutdown. Through this modernization program, the body shop not only benefits from greater uptime-related resilience, but also the added capabilities delivered by modern digitalized hardware running contemporary communication networks.

"End-of-life and obsolete components elevate risk levels and the possibility of downtime in any manufacturing operation," said Mark Bottomley, regional vice president, strategic accounts and sales specialists, EMEA at Rockwell Automation. "But in lean, just-in-time environments, such as automotive, this downtime can have a significant and costly impact on the critical path. Users of legacy equipment also miss out on the many benefits delivered by digitally capable hardware. For this reason, we offer a comprehensive modernization program that helps companies leverage the benefits of digital transformation."

Kia's deployment of Allen-Bradley® Kinetix® 5700 servo drives and MPL servo motors will also streamline much of what goes on behind the scenes, with Rockwell Automation PLCs handling software migration, adaptations and upgrades.

"This is an important part of the production process, so our primary requirement, in addition to accuracy, is reliability," said Peter Holubčík, assistant manager, maintenance body at Kia Slovakia. "When downtime is required, such as when we reconfigure the lifters, we need to do this as quickly as possible, something that the new, tightly integrated PLC, servo and network architecture will allow us to do."

About Rockwell Automation
Rockwell Automation, Inc (NYSE: ROK), is a global leader in industrial automation and digital transformation. We connect the imaginations of people with the potential of technology to expand what is humanly possible, making the world more productive and more sustainable. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Rockwell Automation employs approximately 27,000 problem solvers dedicated to our customers in more than 100 countries as of fiscal year end 2024. To learn more about how we are bringing the Connected Enterprise to life across industrial enterprises, visit www.rockwellautomation.com.

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