NORD Drivesystems Stretches Its Motor-Control Drive Family Up to 200 Horsepower
Four new frame sizes bring the NORDAC PRO series to ten total, covering everything from small conveyor belts to heavy industrial machinery, all in a slim, side-by-side cabinet design.
Key points
- NORD Drivesystems has added four frame sizes to its NORDAC PRO SK 500P VFD series, bringing the total to ten sizes covering 0.33 to 200 horsepower.
- The expanded range targets industries including airport baggage handling, packaging, and bulk material handling.
- Advanced versions (SK 510P and above) include built-in safety functions designed to shut down machinery safely before someone gets hurt.
- Free NORDCON software and a Bluetooth accessory allow engineers to configure and diagnose drives without physically connecting a laptop.
German industrial manufacturer NORD Drivesystems has expanded its NORDAC PRO SK 500P line of variable frequency drives, or VFDs. A VFD is an electronic controller that adjusts how fast an electric motor spins, which saves energy and gives machines precise speed control.
The addition of four new, larger frame sizes stretches the product line's power range from a modest 0.33 horsepower all the way to 200 horsepower. That upper limit covers heavy equipment like large conveyor systems and industrial bulk-material movers, not just small workshop machines.
What does the new hardware actually do?
All ten sizes share a flat, book-shaped enclosure that can be mounted in a row inside a control cabinet without leaving gaps between units. That tight fit reduces the overall cabinet footprint, which cuts both installation space and cost.
The entry-level SK 500P variants give factory engineers a built-in PLC, short for programmable logic controller, the small onboard computer that runs automated sequences. They also include four switchable parameter sets (pre-saved settings an operator can flip between on the fly), a positioning control function, and energy-saving modes.
Step up to the advanced versions and the drives gain extra input/output ports, a multi-protocol Ethernet interface (a single network socket that speaks several industrial communication languages at once), a USB port for programming even when the main power is off, and a microSD card slot for copying settings from one drive to another.
| Model tier | Key addition |
|---|---|
| SK 500P | Basic PLC, CANopen network, brake chopper |
| SK 510P+ | Functional safety: STO and SS1 shutdown modes |
| SK 530P | New larger frame size |
| SK 540P | New larger frame size |
| SK 550P | New larger frame size, full module support |
The safety functions on SK 510P and above are worth noting. STO (Safe Torque Off) and SS1 (Safe Stop 1) are standard industrial safety modes that cut motor power in a controlled way if a guard door opens or an emergency stop is pressed, protecting workers from moving machinery.
Should engineers in the field care about the software side?
Yes, and it costs nothing. NORD's NORDCON tool, first reported by The Robot Report, is free software that connects to any NORDAC PRO drive and shows a dashboard of live readings. It includes a built-in oscilloscope function, so a technician can watch motor behaviour as a graph rather than guessing from raw numbers.
For wireless work, an optional Bluetooth stick plugs into the drive and pairs with a phone or tablet. A maintenance engineer walking the factory floor can then pull up operating history or tweak a setting without carrying a laptop or finding a cable.
The drives work with both standard three-phase induction motors and the newer IE5+ permanent magnet motors, which run more efficiently at partial loads.
Common questions
Who actually uses variable frequency drives?
Anyone running motorised equipment at variable speeds: airport baggage belts, packaging lines, warehouse conveyors, grain elevators. If a machine needs to speed up, slow down, or stop safely, a VFD is usually involved.
Does a bigger power range mean the same product works everywhere?
Broadly yes. The ten frame sizes share the same software, wiring approach, and safety architecture, so an engineer trained on a small SK 500P unit can work on a large SK 550P without relearning the system from scratch.
