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 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 let engineers 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, saving energy and giving machines precise speed control.
Four new, larger frame sizes stretch the power range from 0.33 horsepower to 200 horsepower. That upper limit covers heavy equipment like large conveyor systems and industrial bulk-material movers.
What does the new hardware actually do?
All ten sizes share a flat, book-shaped enclosure that mounts in a row inside a control cabinet without gaps between units. Tighter packing cuts installation space and cost.
The entry-level SK 500P variants give factory engineers a built-in PLC (a programmable logic controller, the small onboard computer that runs automated sequences), four switchable parameter sets, 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 without mains power, and a microSD card slot for copying settings between drives.
| 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 |
STO (Safe Torque Off) and SS1 (Safe Stop 1), available on SK 510P and above, are standard industrial safety modes that cut motor power in a controlled way when a guard door opens or an emergency stop is pressed. They protect workers from moving machinery, and they're now standard on the four new frame sizes rather than an optional add-on.
Should engineers in the field care about the software side?
Yes, and it costs nothing. NORDCON, the free configuration tool that The Robot Report noted in its coverage of the launch, connects to any NORDAC PRO drive and displays live readings on a dashboard. Its built-in oscilloscope function lets a technician 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 can then pull up operating history or adjust a setting from anywhere on the factory floor, no cable needed.
The drives work with both standard three-phase induction motors and the newer IE5+ permanent magnet motors, which run more efficiently at partial loads. This is NORD's first appearance in our coverage, reported 27 July 2026, so there's no long track record here yet, but the company's decision to unify ten frame sizes under one software and safety architecture is the detail that'll matter most to engineers buying for a multi-site rollout.
Common questions
Who actually uses variable frequency drives?
Anyone running motorised equipment at variable speeds: airport baggage belts, packaging lines, grain elevators. If a machine needs to start 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 and safety architecture, so an engineer trained on a small SK 500P can work on a large SK 550P without relearning the system.
