Aligning a motor shaft in a fan assembly is described. Aligning a centerline of a motor shaft in a direct drive fan assembly includes selecting a motor from among a plurality of motors and matching a motor-plate from among a plurality of motor plates to the motor, the matched motor plate is based on the selected motor.Aligning the centerline further includes creating, from the selected motor and the matching motor plate, a motor-plate assembly that has a resulting height, where the resulting height of the motor-plate assembly corresponds to a particular height of a direct drive fan assembly, and aligning the centerline of a motor shaft of the motor-plate assembly to the direct drive fan assembly, where the particular height of the direct drive fan assembly is constant.