A pre-aligner for pre-aligning a wafer having a notch. The pre-aligner includes a wafer platform having a wafer receiving surface, and a drive device. A detector is provided to detect the notch, and a memory is provided to store a notch window defining a range of angles in which the notch is predicted to be located in relation to a start position. A controller performs a pre-alignment operation where the wafer is rotated from the start position to an alignment location. The controller performs the operation such that the wafer is rotated at maximum acceleration/deceleration values from the start position to a notch location detected by the detector: where the operation is limited to a maximum velocity for rotation of the wafer from the start position to a notch window; and where the operation is limited to a scanning velocity within the notch window until the notch location is detected.