Salient Motion to Establish U.S. Production Capacity of 50,000 Precision Ball Screws Annually

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 28, U.S. motion control systems company Salient Motion announced the formation of Saginaw Precision to establish precision ball screw and roller screw manufacturing operations in Saginaw, Michigan, with products targeting aerospace, robotics, and other high-performance electromechanical actuators. The first manufacturing facility has been named SP-1, and the company plans to increase its annual ball screw production capacity to approximately 50,000 units by 2027.

Saginaw Precision will integrate precision screw machining directly into Salient Motion's existing electromechanical actuator manufacturing system. Its manufacturing process combines specialized ball screw machining expertise, software systems, conventional machine tools, retrofitted equipment, and thread grinding capabilities to produce high-precision ball screws and roller screws. SP-1 also serves as a validation facility for subsequent manufacturing processes, and Salient Motion plans to replicate the manufacturing processes and intellectual property developed at this plant in future facilities.

According to company disclosures, precision ball screws are core transmission components in its electromechanical actuators, used to convert rotary motion into high-precision linear motion. Salient Motion previously relied on external precision screw supply chains. By internalizing ball screw production, the company can now co-develop motor control, power electronics, software, and mechanical transmission components for its actuators within the same manufacturing system. The company states that its custom actuator prototype development cycle has been shortened from what previously took years to approximately 8 weeks.

The production system adopted at SP-1 does not rely entirely on traditional specialized ball screw production equipment. The company combines existing machine tools, retrofitted equipment, and specialized thread grinding processes, and introduces software-controlled machining workflows to expand high-precision screw production capacity. The facility team covers grinding, machining, and inspection, among other areas. The person in charge, Garrett O'Brien, previously worked at a company that received Northrop Grumman's 2024 Supplier Recognition for precision ball screw production.

Salient Motion was founded in 2022 and is headquartered in Hawthorne, California, focusing on electromechanical actuation, power electronics, and motion control for the aerospace sector. Saginaw Precision is adding upstream precision mechanical transmission component manufacturing capabilities. At this stage, the SP-1 facility, product categories, manufacturing process direction, and 2027 production capacity target have been clearly defined. The company also plans to continue investing capital in the Saginaw plant and expanding its local manufacturing team.