Motan Colortronic

What Motan Colortronic does

Motan Colortronic Ltd is a UK-incorporated private limited company headquartered in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, distributing and servicing material handling peripherals for plastics processors across the United Kingdom and Ireland. Founded in 1974 by Erwin Miller as Colortronic LTD and merged with Motan UK in 2010 after the German parent Motan Group acquired Colortronic GmbH, the company operates as the UK and Ireland arm of the Motan Group, serving injection moulding, blow moulding, extrusion, compounding and recycling customers with a portfolio spanning material conveying, drying, dosing and blending, metal separation, temperature control, and process chilling equipment.

The product architecture combines proprietary Motan and Colortronic technologies, including ETA Plus adaptive dryer airflow control, Moisture Minder real-time moisture measurement, Gravicolor loss-in-weight dosing, and the MetroNet central control platform with OPC-UA interfaces for plant-wide MES integration. Beyond its own brands, Motan Colortronic holds exclusive UK and Ireland distribution rights for partner lines including Sesotec metal detection and sorting, Herbold Meckesheim recycling machinery, Regloplas temperature control, Reglochill and Industrial Frigo chilling systems, and Ettlinger and Maag melt filtration and downstream equipment, augmented by a 24/7 online spare-parts portal operational since 2005 and a Tech Centre with a 360-metre conveying test line.

Revenue is generated through direct regional field sales to enterprise plastics manufacturers, supplemented by Ireland coverage through Invotek Polymer Solutions, a digital spare-parts e-commerce channel, and recurring service and maintenance contracts delivered by regionally-based technicians. The business serves industrial accounts such as Wavin UK, Synthotec, John Guest, Plastek UK, Utz Ltd, Fibre Extrusion Technology, CRC Evans, Denroy Group, Boddingtons Plastics and Indigo Environmental, with approximately 30 staff as of 2024 and no external funding or public listing.

Name

Motan Colortronic

Legal name

Motan Colortronic Ltd

Website

https://motan-colortronic.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Motan Colortronic Ltd distributes and services plastics processing peripherals, including conveying, drying, dosing, metal separation, recycling, temperature control and chilling equipment, across the UK and Ireland as part of the German Motan Group.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Chesterfield

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Equipment Sales: Sale of peripheral equipment and systems for plastics processing including material conveying, drying, dosing, temperature control, metal separation, recycling, and chilling equipment
2. Spare Parts: Online part finder system allowing customers to search and order spare parts 24/7; comprehensive stock of parts maintained at Chesterfield facility
3. Service and Maintenance: Technical support, scheduled maintenance, and field service for complete product range delivered by regionally-based service technicians

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Motan Colortronic designs, supplies, and services peripheral equipment and systems for plastics processing manufacturers across the UK and Ireland. Its portfolio covers material conveying, dosing and blending, drying, metal separation, recycling (granulators/shredders), temperature control, and process chilling. The company distributes its own Motan and Colortronic brands alongside exclusive partner brands such as Regloplas, Reglochill, Herbold Meckesheim, Sesotec, and Ettlinger.

Product overview

Motan Colortronic offers a comprehensive modular portfolio of material handling equipment and systems for the plastics processing industry. The product range includes material conveying systems (single units and central systems), dosing and blending solutions (volumetric and gravimetric), drying systems (small and central dryers, crystallizers), recycling equipment (granulators, shredders, washing systems), metal separation technology (magnetic and detector systems), temperature control units (water up to 230°C and oil up to 350°C), and process chillers. The company distributes its own Motan and Colortronic brands alongside exclusive partnerships with Regloplas (temperature control), Reglochill/Industrial Frigo (chillers), Herbold Meckesheim (recycling), Sesotec (metal detection), and represents Ettlinger melt filters. Products serve injection moulding, blow moulding, extrusion, compounding, and recycling applications. The portfolio is unified through the MetroNet control system enabling central monitoring and data integration with customer MES systems.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Material Conveying Systems Single and central conveying systems for transporting plastic granules and materials throughout the manufacturing process, including single conveying units, central systems, and conveying accessories.
• Dosing & Blending Systems Volumetric, loss-in-weight, and batch gravimetric dosing and blending equipment for accurate material proportioning, including digital-disc, gravicolor, and minicolor product lines.
• Drying Systems Small dryers, central dryers, and crystallizers for removing moisture from plastic materials, including Luxor dryers and EMA smart dryers.
• Recycling Equipment Granulators, shredders, pulverisors, plastcompactors/agglomeration equipment, washing/drying systems, and ancillary equipment for plastic recycling under the Herbold Meckesheim brand.
• Metal Separators Metal detection and separation equipment including grid magnets, inline magnets, on-machine combinations, freefall units, and conveyor belt units under the Sesotec brand.
• Temperature Control Units Water and oil temperature control units up to 350°C including Smart series, standard units up to 200°C, pressurised water units, and oil units, distributed under the Regloplas brand.
• Reglochill Chillers Water chillers with air or water condensation, free coolers (DCW/DCG), and energy saving systems (IES) for process cooling.
• Part Finder Online Spare Parts System Internet-based spare parts ordering platform allowing customers to search and order common spare parts 24/7.
• Used Equipment Refurbished and used peripheral plastics processing equipment offered for resale.
• Ettlinger Continuous Melt Filters ERF and ECO continuous melt filters for processing heavily contaminated plastic materials including PE, PP, HDPE, PS, and PET with high contaminant fractions for recycling and sheet extrusion.
• SpectroPlus Gravimetric Dosing & Mixing Unit Synchronous loss in weight gravimetric dosing and mixing unit supporting 2-8 dosing modules for granules, regrind, flake and powders for food and starve fed applications.
• EMA Smart Dryer Fully adaptive smart dryer with mobile single hopper unit available in 60, 100 and 150L capacities, featuring ETA Plus technology with fully automatic air flow control, touch screen control, and heat insulated drying hopper with large cleaning opening.

Quantifiable outcome

• Energy optimization through LED lighting conversion and solar module installation generating approximately 50% of required electrical energy
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• Invotek Polymer SolutionsmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 29 November 2024Dublin-based agent for Ireland territory providing solutions for Motan Colortronic, Regloplas, Reglochill, Sesotec and Herbold Meckesheim products. Led by Andrew Hitchcox with 23 years plastics industry experience.
• SesoteccoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 July 2021Distribution partnership expanded to include Sesotec sorting machines for recycling industry customers in Great Britain. Motan Colortronic already distributed Sesotec metal detectors; partnership extended to include full sorting equipment range.
• Ettlinger Kunststoffmaschinen GmbHmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2015Sales and service agreement for UK & Ireland covering Ettlinger ERF and ECO continuous melt filters since 2015. Products filter polymer feedstock with high contamination levels for recycling and sheet extrusion applications.
• Sesotec (Metal Detection)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 November 2014Exclusive sales and service agent for Sesotec brand range of metal detectors, metal separators and magnet systems for UK and Ireland since November 2014. Expanded from product inspection focus for food applications to plastics and non-food side.
• Fibre Extrusion Technology (FET)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2012Long-standing partnership as system supplier and developer for peripheral equipment. Motan Colortronic supplies dry air dryers, dosing systems, conveyor systems and components. Collaboration since 2012 on ground-breaking biomedical materials processing using resorbable polymers for sutures and medical devices.
• Herbold Meckesheim GmbHcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExclusive representation of Herbold recycling machinery specialist for plastic recycling industry in UK & Ireland. Products include granulators, shredders, pulverisers and complete recycling systems.
• Regloplas AGcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExclusive representation of Regloplas temperature control systems for water and oil applications in UK & Ireland. Products include water units up to 230°C and oil units up to 350°C.
• ReglochillcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorJoint venture with Industrial Frigo for stand-alone and central chilling and cooling plants. Products include standalone chillers 4-1440 kW, IES energy saving systems, and propane environmentally friendly chillers (R290).
• Maag GroupmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRepresentation of Maag Group downstream equipment including Automatik, Gala, Ettlinger, Reduction Engineering Scheer for gear pumps, pelletizing, and filtration systems in UK & Ireland.
• Industrial FrigomajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartnership through Reglochill joint venture for industrial chilling and cooling solutions including stand-alone chillers, energy saving integrated systems, and special designs.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Wittmann Group: Wittmann is the largest global supplier of plastics auxiliaries — drying, conveying, dosing, granulators, robots, and temperature control — and competes head-on with Motan Colortronic's core product portfolio across every primary use case (injection moulding, blow moulding, extrusion).
• Piovan Group: Piovan is a direct competitor headquartered in Italy with overlapping offerings in drying, conveying, dosing, storage, and chillers for plastics processors, including the same target segments (injection, extrusion, blow moulding, recycling).
• Moretto S.p.A. Moretto is a leading European competitor specialising in dehumidifying dryers, gravimetric dosing, granulators, and centralised conveying — directly comparable equipment categories to Motan Colortronic's Luxor, Gravicolor, Minicolor and central conveying lines.
• Conair Group: Conair is a US-based plastics auxiliary equipment manufacturer (drying, conveying, dosing, blending, recycling) serving the same injection moulding, blow moulding, and extrusion customer base as Motan Colortronic.
• Maguire Products: Maguire is a long-established US competitor best known for gravimetric blenders and material handling systems used by injection moulders and extruders — overlapping directly with Motan Colortronic's Gravicolor / SpectroPlus dosing and blending lines.
• AEC (Applied Equipment Company): AEC supplies plastics-process drying, conveying, granulating and mould-temperature control equipment serving the same processors; its product scope closely mirrors Motan Colortronic's drying, conveying and temperature control units.
• Movacolor: Movacolor (Netherlands) specialises in gravimetric loss-in-weight and gain-in-weight dosing equipment for plastics compounding — a direct head-to-head with Motan Colortronic's gravimetric dosing line (Gravicolor, Minicolor, SpectroPlus).
• Labotek: Labotek (Denmark) is a European competitor focused on plastics dryers, crystallizers and central conveying — directly comparable to Motan Colortronic's Luxor / EMA smart dryers and central conveying systems.
• Pelletron: Pelletron (Germany) specialises in pneumatic conveying, dedusting, and drying for plastics and other bulk-materials industries — directly comparable to Motan Colortronic's material conveying and drying product lines.

Broad incumbents

• Coperion: Coperion is a broad incumbent in bulk material handling, feeding (K-Tron), compounding and extrusion systems for plastics and beyond; overlaps with Motan Colortronic on dosing/feeding and downstream extrusion equipment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MotanC
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 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 Colortronic