What CSB System International does

CSB-System International, legally CSB-System SE, is a family-owned German enterprise-software vendor headquartered in Geilenkirchen that builds process ERP systems for the food, meat, trade-and-logistics, chemical, pharma, and cosmetics industries. The platform is delivered in three tiers — CSB BASIC ERP, CSB INDUSTRY ERP, and CSB FACTORY ERP — and is extended with a broad vertical feature set including production planning, traceability (iPAZ), mobile ERP, digital twin, and browser-based workflows (CSB Web Solutions), plus a proprietary hardware line (CSB Rack) and in-house data-center hosting (CSB Rechenzentrum). The company has been operating in its domain for more than 45 years, employs over 550 people, and reports activity in 50 countries, with subsidiaries in Switzerland and Austria and a certified Systempartner channel for international implementation.

The technology stack increasingly bundles AI and automation: the April 2026 launch of Cesy, an NLP-based AI assistant, and CSB Vision, a computer-vision offering, are layered onto the ERP, alongside a robotics portfolio (Traypacker, Palletizer, Order Picker) that ties shop-floor execution to the software layer. Partnerships with Microsoft, Citrix, Veeam, Oracle, and HPE anchor the underlying infrastructure, virtualization, backup, database, and hardware layers.

The business model is a mix of recurring software licensing (minimum five-year rental/subscription contracts on the core ERP), professional services for implementation and customization, software maintenance, proprietary hardware sales, and cloud or data-center hosting. Named reference customers span dairy (Molkerei Berchtesgadener Land), cheese (Strähl Käse AG), meat (Conestoga Meats, Edeka Südwest Fleisch, Bell), bakery (Rischart), and cosmetics (Babor), with the company reporting approximately €80 million in annual revenue.

Name

CSB System International

Legal name

CSB-System SE

Website

https://csb.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

CSB-System International is a family-owned German vendor of process ERP software serving the food, meat, chemical, pharma, and cosmetics industries across 50 countries, with bundled hardware, AI, and robotics modules under long-term subscription contracts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Process Industry ERP Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (51321)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Manufacturing ERP (Discrete, Process, Batch) (HDAEAEAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

ERP Implementation & Systems Integration Services (BPAEAGAA), Distribution & Wholesale ERP (Inventory, Order, Warehouse) (HDAEAEAC)

Keywords

• Process industry ERP
• Food manufacturing software
• Meat processing ERP
• Manufacturing execution systems
• Industry-specific ERP

Headquarters

HQ city

Willowbrook

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Software Licensing: Rental-based software licensing (mietweise überlassene Software) with non-exclusive, non-transferable usage rights. Can be one-time rental fee or monthly rental. Software remains property of CSB. Minimum contract term of 5 years.
2. Professional Services: Implementation, consulting, project realization, factory planning, and 24/7 support services. Installation work, training, and custom development billed separately.
3. Hardware Sales: Sale of industry hardware including CSB Rack and other industry-specific equipment.
4. Cloud/Rechenzentrum Services: Data center services including IT infrastructure hosting, ASP services, database maintenance, monitoring, and SLA services. Monthly billing based on concurrent users and named users.
5. Software Maintenance: Annual software maintenance contracts with updates, upgrades, and hotline support. Price adjustments annually based on German consumer price index, minimum 2%.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

CSB-System International develops and sells industry-specific ERP software for process industries (food, beverages, meat, dairy, chemicals, pharma, cosmetics, and trade/logistics). The portfolio includes three core ERP tiers — CSB BASIC ERP, CSB INDUSTRY ERP, and CSB FACTORY ERP — augmented by AI (Cesy assistant, CSB Vision), robotics (Traypacker, Palletizer, Order Picker), MES modules, traceability, production planning, and consulting services delivered alongside its own data center hosting.

Product overview

CSB-System SE offers a comprehensive platform-plus-modules ERP ecosystem for process industries (food & beverages, meat, chemicals, pharma, cosmetics) and trade. The portfolio consists of three core ERP tiers: CSB BASIC ERP (turnkey industry solution for quick implementation), CSB INDUSTRY ERP (full modular ERP with integrated MES for complete value chain coverage), and CSB FACTORY ERP (shop floor ERP with seamless Group ERP integration). These are augmented by specialized AI & Vision modules (Cesy AI assistant, CSB Vision), Robotics solutions (Traypacker, Palletizer, Order Picker), Automation & MES systems (production planning, integrated pricing/labeling, warehouse management, traceability), and consulting/services including their own data center. The company serves over 550 employees across 50 countries with €80 million revenue and 45+ years of experience.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CSB BASIC ERP: Turnkey industry solution for quick entry into central business processes
• CSB INDUSTRY ERP
• CSB FACTORY ERP
• Cesy
• CSB Vision
• CSB Traypacker
• CSB Palletizer
• CSB Order Picker

Products and services

• CSB BASIC ERP Turnkey industry-specific ERP providing fast entry into core enterprise processes with pre-configured industry functionality and short implementation times. Designed for process manufacturers in food, beverages, meat, chemicals, pharma, and cosmetics.
• CSB INDUSTRY ERP Complete modular ERP solution covering the entire value chain with integrated MES for shopfloor transparency, seamless connectivity of equipment, machines, and robotics. Scalable for enterprise process manufacturers.
• CSB FACTORY ERP Shopfloor-focused ERP with seamless integration to superior Group ERP systems, enabling end-to-end processes from shopfloor through finance to central reporting. Scalable for international corporate structures.
• CSB KI-Assistent Cesy AI-powered conversational assistant for ERP evaluations and context-based knowledge search, enabling natural language queries against ERP data and knowledge bases. Available as an add-on to CSB ERP systems.
• CSB Vision AI-powered computer vision system for automated visual inspection and quality control in food processing and manufacturing environments.
• CSB Traypacker Robotic tray packing system for automated packaging operations in food processing facilities.
• CSB Palletizer Robotic palletizing system for automated pallet building and layer forming in warehouse operations.
• CSB Order Picker Robotic order picking system for automated warehouse order fulfillment operations.
• CSB Traceability Automated traceability solution providing security and transparency for all product flows, reducing costs and protecting brand integrity in process industries.
• CSB Produktionsplanung Production planning module that synchronizes demand, material availability, and capacities to optimize production operations in food and process manufacturing.
• CSB Rack Industry-specific rack hardware for food processing and manufacturing environments.
• CSB Rechenzentrum Own data center services providing cloud hosting, ASP services, infrastructure management, database maintenance, monitoring, encrypted access, and 24/7 support from Geilenkirchen, Germany with 95% availability SLA.
• Digitaler Zwilling (Digital Twin) Digital twin simulation technology for virtual representation and optimization of production processes and factory operations.
• CSB Web Solutions Mobile web-based solutions enabling ERP data to be accessible anywhere, allowing management and teams to stay informed and act flexibly.

Quantifiable outcome

• 80 million EUR turnover demonstrates market presence in process industries

Named customers8 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

AI capability8 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• MicrosoftcoreTechnology or IntegrationMicrosoft provides cloud infrastructure and services used by CSB. Microsoft products integrated into CSB data center operations and software solutions. GDPR compliance with Microsoft as independent data controller for business activities.
• CitrixcoreTechnology or IntegrationCitrix provides virtualization and remote access solutions. Used for remote support and maintenance services. Data processing agreements in place for international data transfers using EU Standard Contractual Clauses.
• VeeamcoreTechnology or IntegrationVeeam provides backup and data recovery solutions. Used for customer data backup services in CSB data center. GDPR and CCPA compliant data processing.
• OraclecoreTechnology or IntegrationOracle provides database technology. Referenced in data protection documentation as third-party software provider for CSB operations.
• HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise)coreTechnology or IntegrationHPE provides server and networking technology. Used for CSB data center infrastructure. GDPR compliant data processing with global operations.
• HubSpotminorGTM or Marketing PartnerHubSpot provides CRM and marketing automation. Used for contact management, user segmentation, and website analytics. GDPR compliant with Standard Contractual Clauses for US data transfers.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Infor: Infor's CloudSuite Food & Beverage and process-manufacturing ERP directly competes with CSB's vertical ERP for meat, dairy, and bakery customers, offering a similar industry-specialist positioning at larger scale.
• QAD: QAD's Adaptive ERP targets food & beverage, manufacturing, and supply chain verticals, competing head-to-head with CSB's industry-specific ERP across global process manufacturers.
• Plex Systems (Rockwell Automation): Plex (now part of Rockwell Automation) provides cloud-native MES and ERP for discrete and process manufacturers, directly overlapping with CSB's Factory ERP and MES offerings for shop floor execution.
• Aptean: Aptean offers process manufacturing and food & beverage ERP (including legacy CSB-comparable offerings like Aptean Food & Beverage) that target the same mid-market process manufacturers with industry-specific functionality.
• SYSPRO: SYSPRO provides ERP for food, process manufacturing, and distribution verticals, with comparable functionality to CSB's Industry ERP across similar mid-market customer segments.
• Epicor: Epicor's industry-focused ERP (including Epicor Kinetic for manufacturing) competes with CSB's ERP tiers, particularly in mid-market process manufacturing and food industries.

Broad incumbents

• SAP: SAP S/4HANA (including industry extensions for food, chemicals, and pharma) is the dominant broad-incumbent alternative for large process manufacturers that may outgrow CSB, and a frequent replacement target.
• Microsoft Dynamics 365: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain offers a broad-cloud ERP platform with manufacturing extensions; while not as process-specialized as CSB, it competes on integration with the Microsoft stack CSB already relies on.

Emerging players

• Blue Yonder: Blue Yonder's supply chain planning and execution solutions for food & beverage overlap with CSB's production planning and traceability modules, often as a complement-or-replacement for the MES layer.
• ToolsGroup: ToolsGroup provides AI-driven demand and supply planning for process manufacturers, intersecting with CSB's Produktionsplanung module and representing an emerging alternative for the optimization layer.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/CSBSystem
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/csb-system
• Xx.com/csbsystem
• Facebookfacebook.com/csb.system

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CSB System International