What Motan Group does

Motan Group is a privately held, family-owned manufacturer of peripheral equipment and integrated systems for the plastics processing industry, headquartered in Constance (Konstanz), Germany, and tracing its origins to 1947 in Überlingen. The company sells granule dryers, dosing and mixing units, and conveying systems through two product brands — motan and swift — operating under the unified Motan Group umbrella. Production occurs at three sites in Germany (Isny), China (Taicang) and India (Chennai), while commercial coverage is provided through 14 wholly-owned sales subsidiaries and franchise agents in more than 80 countries. Approximately 630 employees support operations across 19 locations globally.

The technology stack rests on a portfolio of granted patents and proprietary control platforms. Key patented technologies include UNICOLOR dosing and mixing (1979), ATN automatic throughput monitoring (1989), ETA-process heat recovery (1994) and METROCONNECT RFID-based coupling. These feed into CONTROLnet and LINKnet 2 control and visualization platforms, plus the ALARMcollector remote-monitoring module, enabling centralized monitoring of drying, conveying, dosing and mixing. The product range covers end-use processes from raw material reception through recycled granule, flake and powder handling, with GMP/FDA-compliant variants serving cleanroom pharmaceutical manufacturing as demonstrated at Boehringer Ingelheim microParts.

Revenue is generated through three streams: industrial equipment sales (hardware), customized system solutions including Tech Centre-based project planning and energy consulting (professional services), and ongoing service via the Supportnet customer portal (managed services). Go-to-market is sales-led with a decentralized franchise structure — direct enterprise sales through 14 subsidiaries are complemented by regional channel partners serving mid-market customers in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania and South America. Customers are predominantly plastics manufacturers and processors, with named enterprise logos spanning pharmaceutical manufacturing (Boehringer Ingelheim), gardening equipment (Gardena) and plastics processing (Bergmann Spritzguß).

Name

Motan Group

Legal name

Motan Holding GmbH

Website

https://motan-group.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1947

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Motan Group is a German family-owned manufacturer of material handling equipment — granule dryers, dosing and mixing units, and conveying systems — for the plastics processing industry, serving customers in over 80 countries through 14 sales subsidiaries and three production sites in Germany, China and India.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Konstanz

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Industrial Equipment Sales: Sale of granule dryers, dosing and mixing units, conveying systems, and peripheral equipment for plastics processing industry. Equipment ranges from standard units to customized solutions.
2. Customized System Solutions: Project planning, energy consulting, and customer-specific test environments in Tech Centres. Turnkey material handling system installations.
3. Service and Support: Technical support, training, and ongoing service for installed systems through Supportnet customer portal.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Motan Group manufactures and supplies peripheral equipment and system solutions for the plastics processing industry, operating through two product brands (motan and swift). Its portfolio covers the complete material handling chain: granule drying, conveying, dosing, mixing and storing for plastics manufacturers and processors. Sales are supported by regional Tech Centres for customer-specific testing and an aftermarket service network spanning 80+ countries.

Product overview

Motan Group is a provider of peripheral equipment and system design for the plastics manufacturing and processing industry. The company operates two product brands: motan (primary) and swift (secondary), both under the motan group umbrella. The product portfolio centers on material handling equipment including granule dryers (MD driers, LUXOR CA, LUXOR EM A/E A series), conveying systems (METRO G, METROFLOW, METROLINK, METROCONNECT), and dosing/mixing units (SPECTROFLEX, SPECTROPLUS, MINICOLOR, MINIBLEND V, UNICOLOR). Supporting infrastructure includes control platforms (CONTROLnet, LINKnet 2) and monitoring systems (ALARMcollector). Key technologies include the patented ETA-process heat recovery system and ATN automatic throughput monitoring. Products are designed to handle both raw materials and recycled granules, flakes or powder. The company maintains three production sites in Germany, China, and India serving customers in approximately 80 countries worldwide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• motan: Primary product brand for peripheral equipment and system design for companies that manufacture or process plastics
• swift

Products and services

• motan (sub-brand) Primary product brand of the motan group offering the full peripheral equipment and system design portfolio for plastics manufacturers and processors.
• swift (sub-brand) Secondary product brand of the motan group operating under the motan group umbrella, offering plastics processing peripheral equipment.
• UNICOLOR Dosing and Mixing Unit Patented dosing and mixing unit that combines powders, pellets and liquid additives handling in a single unit, for plastics processors requiring precise multi-material dosing.
• MD driers Key industrial drying technology products for drying plastic granules in plastics processing operations.
• LUXOR CA Compressed Air Dryers Compressed air dryers that depressurize ultrapure compressed air to produce dry process air with low dew point for material drying in clean room production environments, suitable for GMP/FDA-compliant medical and pharmaceutical manufacturing.
• LUXOR EM A and LUXOR E A Dryer Series Mobile dry air driers offering smart drying in compact spaces, with options for dewpoint-controlled regeneration or ETA plus energy saving technology.
• METRO G Material Loaders Flexible material loader range for granules with modular building block design combining colortronic and motan technologies.
• METROFLOW Gravimetric Hopper Loader Gravimetric hopper loader that enables cost-effective and efficient material flow monitoring for plastic processors using precise weighing technology.
• METROLINK Material Handling System Material handling system from silo to machine, providing modular conveyor components for flexible configuration of granulate transport lines.
• METROCONNECT U/C Coupling System Coupling system with extremely wear resistant pipe modules, featuring RFID-technology for coded material assignment in conveying lines.
• SPECTROFLEX Dosing System Dosing system combining volumetric or gravimetric dosing on a single unit platform, with exchangeable modules for flexible configuration.
• SPECTROPLUS Dosing System Dosing system for extrusion and compounding tasks, handling granules, regrind, powder or liquid with easily adaptable dosing modules.
• MINICOLOR V and G Screw & Disc Dosing Units Screw and disc dosing units for handling powders and granules; first integrated product line combining colortronic and motan technologies post-acquisition.
• MINIBLEND V Dosing and Mixing Unit Dosing and mixing unit combining colortronic Colorblend mechanics with modern motan controls, delivering excellent recipe accuracy and dosing stability.
• Service and Support (Supportnet) Technical support, training, and ongoing service for installed material handling systems, delivered through the Supportnet customer portal and regional service teams.
• Customized System Solutions and Tech Centre Services Project planning, energy consulting, and customer-specific testing in regional Tech Centres, delivered as turnkey material handling system installations for enterprise plastics processors.

Quantifiable outcome

• Energy savings through ETA-process heat recovery system and ETA plus technology
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature12 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SKZ - The Plastics CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Long-term cooperation through motan campus training program. Membership enables top positions within a network, access to excellent contacts and information in plastics field, and promotion of plastics-specific interests and research projects.
• IKV - Institute of Plastics Processing at RWTH AachencoreStrategic or Co-development Partnermotan supports many research projects with loan units and receives advice and support from IKV when realizing new ideas. IKV provides extensive know-how and experience in all areas of plastics technology.
• LIT - Linz Institute of Technology at JKU LinzcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCooperation in the LIT Factory project - intelligent Industry 4.0 research plant. motan-colortronic contributes to plastics engineering and cooperates with the Institute for Polymer Extrusion and Compounding.
• VDMA - German Engineering FederationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWith more than 3,200 members, VDMA is the largest network organization for mechanical engineering in Europe. motan-colortronic has been member since 2013. Sandra Füllsack serves on the Executive Board of the Sector Association since 2015.
• HTWG Konstanz - University of Applied SciencesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerActive dialogue on materials handling with the plastics technology laboratory. Joint projects and exchange between universities and industry in plastics technology.
• Blue Competence Sustainability InitiativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInitiative of VDMA to promote sustainability in mechanical and plant engineering. motan commits to twelve sustainability principles based on UN Sustainable Development Goals.
• everwaveminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAachen-based start-up working to free rivers from plastic and protect the sea. Companies can offset plastic footprint by letting everwave retrieve trash from waters. motan participates to make visible contribution to trash-free waters worldwide.
• WILDPLASTICminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCompany manufactures bin bags from collected plastic waste supporting both environmental and social causes. motan uses these bags for CleanUp Days campaigns supporting circular economy efforts.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Wittmann Battenfeld: Austrian/German supplier of plastics processing equipment including robots, auxiliaries (drying, conveying, dosing, mixing), and injection molding machines. Strongest head-to-head competitor to motan in European plastics peripherals.
• Maguire Products: US manufacturer of gravimetric blenders, dryers, feeders, and material handling systems for plastics processing. Direct competitor in dosing/mixing and conveying for plastics converters.
• Conair Group: US-based manufacturer of auxiliary equipment for plastics processors — drying, conveying, blending, dosing, and heat-transfer products. Direct functional overlap with motan and swift product lines for North American plastics converters.
• AZO GmbH + Co. KG: German specialist in automated material handling systems for plastics, chemicals, food, and powder processing. Direct overlap with motan on silo storage, conveying, and dosing for plastics processors.
• Piovan Group: Italian-headquartered manufacturer of auxiliary equipment for plastics processing including drying, conveying, dosing, and temperature control. Direct competitor to motan across the same peripheral-equipment categories with similar global distribution.
• Movacolor: Dutch manufacturer of gravimetric dosing and mixing equipment for the plastics industry. Closely comparable to motan's UNICOLOR, SPECTROPLUS, and MINICOLOR dosing/mixing portfolio.

Broad incumbents

• Coperion (Hillenbrand): Global leader in compounding, extrusion, and material handling equipment for plastics and specialty chemicals. Competes with motan in feeding/dosing for compounding lines but operates a much broader processing-equipment portfolio.
• Nordson Corporation: Diversified US industrial precision technology company whose Polymer Processing Systems division sells melting, filtration, and dosing equipment to plastics processors. Adjacent competitor with a much larger corporate portfolio.
• Schenck Process: German-headquartered global supplier of material handling, weighing, feeding, and pneumatic conveying systems. Overlaps with motan's conveying and dosing offerings but serves many industries beyond plastics.

Emerging players

• Plastore GmbH: European plastics auxiliary equipment specialist offering drying, conveying, and dosing solutions. Smaller-scale direct competitor to motan in the European mid-market segment.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/Motancolortronic_group
• Facebookfacebook.com/Motan-Colortronic-ltd-108954035864042

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries8 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 Motan Group