Smart drive architectures and CRA readiness for machine builders

(See Lenze at Machine Building North, 13 May 2026, on stand 80)

As part of the programme, Lenze will host a 20 minute keynote at 12:00, addressing the impact of the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) on machine design and automation concepts.

Balancing performance, efficiency and engineering effort

Designing machines today means balancing performance, energy efficiency, footprint and engineering effort. Machine builders are under increasing pressure to deliver flexible and scalable solutions - without adding unnecessary complexity to their drive architecture.

At Machine Building North, Lenze addresses this challenge by focusing on drive architecture choices and their impact on machine performance, commissioning effort and lifecycle cost. Rather than highlighting individual components, the emphasis is on system level design decisions that support efficient and future proof machine concepts.

Drive architecture as a design enabler

By combining energy efficient motor drive systems (IE5/IE6) with consistent engineering tools and application software, motion performance can be scaled from single axis applications to compact multi axis concepts. Structured approaches such as decentralised drives or shared DC bus systems help reduce wiring effort, cabinet space and overall system complexity - while keeping machines adaptable to future requirements.

At the Lenze booth, machine builders can discuss how different motion control architectures influence energy use, footprint, commissioning time and long term flexibility, based on real world machine design scenarios.

Cybersecurity and compliance by design

Alongside technical performance, cybersecurity requirements are becoming an integral part of machine design. Regulations such as the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) and the NIS 2 directive introduce mandatory requirements for secure development processes, vulnerability management and lifecycle transparency.

In the keynote "The Cyber Resilience Act - Why Industry Must Act Now (and how Lenze helps)", Noman Khan explains what these regulations mean in practice for OEMs. The session focuses on how cybersecurity can be embedded into automation concepts without disrupting established engineering workflows.

Lenze integrates security functions into its automation products and follows development processes aligned with recognised standards and regulations. This supports machine concepts that can meet CRA and NIS 2 requirements from design through operation - turning compliance into a structured and manageable part of the engineering process.