The 2 types · side-by-side
Distributor-facing reading. Each row gives best-for, key trade-off, capacity, price band, and how many of SPC's tier slots carry an option at that product type.
Product type
Best for
Key trade-off
Typical capacity
Price band
Brands SPC carries
Rotary Actuator (Pneumatic) Vane or rack-and-pinion · bounded two-position rotation
Bounded angular motion, two positions, simple controls.Indexing tables, clamp rotations, gripper rotations, valve open/close drives, anywhere the cycle is "go to position A, then position B, repeat for a million cycles." SMC vane and rack-and-pinion designs cover 90°, 180°, 270° standard rotations.
Two positions only · no profiled motionEnd-of-rotation only — no mid-stroke stops, no programmable position, no closed-loop feedback. If the cycle needs three positions or profiled motion, this isn't the spec; electric is. End-of-rotation impact needs a cushion or external shock absorber on high-cycle duty.
Torques 0.05–150 Nm · 90° / 180° / 270° standard
vane · rack-and-pinion
vane · rack-and-pinion
$ – $$
1 / 5 · SMC only
Electric Actuator Servo or stepper · ball-screw drive · closed-loop position
Precision positioning + the migration off pneumatics.Three-or-more-position cycles, sub-millimeter positioning, soft-start / soft-stop profiled motion, 24/7 duty cycles where compressed-air cost has become a line item the customer is watching. SMC LEY is the drop-in retrofit (same mounting, same stroke as the original cylinder); LEC controllers run multi-axis builds.
Higher capex · controls + commissioningElectric actuator + controller + power supply runs 3-5x the installed cost of an equivalent-stroke pneumatic cylinder. Pays back on TCO over 18-36 months on multi-shift duty (air leaks, compressor energy, FRL maintenance all disappear); doesn't pay back on light-duty or single-shift work. Controls integration adds commissioning effort that pneumatic doesn't.
Strokes 30–1,500 mm · forces to 6,000 N
ball-screw · belt-drive · rod-style
ball-screw · belt-drive · rod-style
$$$
1 / 5 · SMC only
Reading the brand bench column — the bar shows how many of SPC's tier slots (Industry Leader · Emerging · Economical · adjacent) carry an option at that product type. A deep bench means a price-driven and a spec-driven option both close cleanly; a narrow bench means the available brands map closely to the technical requirements and the comparison stops being a tier choice.