Union Process
Union Process is a privately held Akron, Ohio-based industrial OEM that invented and trademarked Attritor grinding technology. It manufactures wet, dry, and cryogenic attrition mills, horizontal bead mills, and grinding media, serving enterprise customers in chemicals, food, energy, minerals, and pharmaceuticals globally.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1946
- HeadquartersAkron, United States
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Union Process does
Union Process is a privately held, family-controlled industrial equipment manufacturer founded in 1946 by Dr. Andrew Szegvari in Akron, Ohio. The company invented the Attritor — an internally agitated ball mill that uses a rotating shaft with arms to agitate grinding media, producing combined shearing and impact forces for fine particle size reduction and dispersion — and holds 'Attritor' as a registered trademark along with a portfolio of patents accumulated over more than 78 years. Its product portfolio spans wet, dry, and cryogenic attrition mills (including the S, Q, SD, CLS, and HD/HDDM series), horizontal bead mills (DMQX), mixing tanks (5-1,000 gallons), and a complete line of metallic and non-metallic grinding media. Supporting the equipment business, Union Process operates a toll milling/pilot plant, an R&D lab offering particle characterization (laser diffraction, BET surface area), spare parts and refurbishing, and a small line of rubber and vinyl inks for latex products.
The company serves enterprise customers in chemicals, food and agriculture (notably chocolate and confectionery at 20-micron specifications), energy (lithium-ion battery materials, fracking proppants, coal/coke), minerals and metals, coatings, pharmaceuticals, construction, and recycling. Revenue is generated through custom-quoted equipment sales with a 40/30/30 milestone payment schedule, per-pound grinding media sales, contract toll milling, laboratory testing, and spare parts. Go-to-market combines a direct US enterprise field-sales team (Chuck Major, Brian Li, Corrine Seelie) with a global channel network of more than 20 named distributors across 25+ countries and wholly-owned subsidiaries in Qingdao and Shanghai, China. Union Process holds ISO 9001:2015 with Design certification continuously since April 2014 (recertified through 2029) and serves Fortune 500 customers worldwide.
Union Process firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Union Process
- Legal name
- Union Process Inc.
- Website
- https://unionprocess.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1946
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Union Process is a privately held Akron, Ohio-based industrial OEM that invented and trademarked Attritor grinding technology. It manufactures wet, dry, and cryogenic attrition mills, horizontal bead mills, and grinding media, serving enterprise customers in chemicals, food, energy, minerals, and pharmaceuticals globally.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Union Process is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Akron
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Union Process business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Particle Size Reduction Equipment Sales: Manufacturing and selling Attritors, horizontal bead mills (DMQX series), and related size reduction equipment. Machines range from laboratory scale to production mills capable of processing hundreds of gallons per batch.
- Toll Milling/Grinding Services: Contract toll milling and toll grinding services for customers who wish to save on capital equipment costs. Union Process grinds material to required particle size and returns end product to customer.
- Grinding Media Sales: Sale of grinding balls and media including carbon steel, stainless steel, chrome steel, tungsten carbide, alumina, zirconium oxide, glass, and silicon carbide media.
- Spare Parts and Refurbishing: OEM spare parts for existing Attritor mills and equipment refurbishing services.
- Rubber Inks: Sale of rubber and vinyl inks for stamping, silk screening, and marking natural latex rubber products. Includes stamping inks, silkscreen inks, and marking inks.
- Laboratory Services: Particle characterization services including laser diffraction size analysis, surface area analysis, and material characterization testing.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Custom Equipment Quotation |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels6 records
Union Process product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Union Process designs, manufactures, and sells particle size reduction equipment built around its patented Attritor (internally agitated ball mill) technology, including wet, dry, cryogenic, and horizontal bead mills. The company also sells grinding media (metallic and non-metallic), a complementary line of rubber and vinyl inks, and provides toll milling/grinding, lab testing, and particle characterization services to industrial manufacturers.
Product overview
Union Process is a manufacturer of size reduction and dispersing equipment, notably inventing and holding the trademark for Attritor technology. The product portfolio centers on internally agitated ball mills (Attritors) available in wet, dry, and cryogenic configurations, operating in batch, circulation, or continuous modes. Supporting products include DMQX horizontal bead mills, grinding media (metallic and non-metallic), and mixing tanks. The company also provides toll milling/grinding services, laboratory testing services, particle characterization, and spare parts. A complementary line includes rubber and vinyl inks for latex products. The Q-Series handles chocolate and circulation grinding, S-Series covers batch production, SD-Series addresses dry grinding, and CLS Attritors handle lime slaking applications.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Wet Attrition Mills (Attritor) Internally agitated ball mills for wet grinding applications, including batch, circulation, and continuous modes. Variants include Wet Batch Laboratory Mills, Wet Circulation Laboratory Mills, Chocolate Grinding Attrition Mills, Limestone Grinding Ball Mills (CL), Limestone Slaker Ball Mills (CLS), Small Media Bead Mills (SDM), and Wet Batch/Circulation/Continuous Production Mills. Used by industrial manufacturers in chemicals, coatings, food, and other sectors for fine particle size reduction and dispersion.
- Dry Attrition Mills Attritors configured for dry grinding operations, available in batch and continuous configurations for both laboratory and production scale. The SD Series is used for dry grinding of fibrous and other dry materials, including the SD50 side-loading tank Attritor and SD-100 dry grinding Attritor for toll milling. Designed for industrial customers needing dry particle size reduction.
- Horizontal Bead Mills (DMQX Series) Horizontal media mills combining the benefits of circulation grinding with horizontal milling. The DMQX Series provides fine grinding with smaller media, closed system operation, and narrow particle size distribution, including the DMQX-07 bead mill for submicron and nanometer particle size testing. Targeted at industrial users requiring submicron and nano-scale particle sizes.
- Cryogenic Attrition Mills Attritors configured for cryogenic grinding using liquid nitrogen or liquid argon. The cooling embrittles materials for improved processability, enabling grinding of heat-sensitive and soft materials including organic materials, plastics, polymers, rubbers, and metal powders. Suitable for R&D and production customers handling temperature-sensitive feeds.
- Grinding Media Complete range of grinding media including metallic (carbon steel, chrome steel, stainless steel, forged steel) and non-metallic (zirconium oxide, alumina, glass, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, tungsten carbide) options. Available in various shapes and sizes from 0.03mm to 125mm, sold per pound. Used as a consumable input to Union Process and other grinding mills across industrial applications.
- Rubber and Vinyl Inks Non-toxic inks for printing on natural latex rubber products, including Stamping Ink (100 Series concentrated, K Series ready-to-use), Intensifiers (900 Series), Silkscreen Ink (800 Series), and Marking Inks (200 Series). Sold in quart cans at nominal cost plus shipping. Targeted at manufacturers of latex rubber products needing stamping, silkscreening, and marking inks.
- Toll Milling/Grinding Services Contract milling services for industrial customers that prefer to avoid capital equipment purchases. Includes wet grinding, dry grinding, and small media milling using the company's Attritor mills at the Akron, Ohio pilot plant. Material is ground to the required particle size and returned to the customer, with capacity expanded by the SD-100 dry grinding Attritor.
- Lab Testing Services Particle size reduction testing services including wet grinding trials, dry grinding trials, bead milling trials, food processing trials, and cryogenic grinding trials, run at Union Process's R&D lab with milling experts. Used by industrial customers to qualify equipment and processes before purchase.
- Particle Characterization Laboratory services including laser diffraction particle size analysis, surface area analysis (BET, BJH, DH models), pore volume distribution, sieve analysis, moisture analysis, and tap/bulk density testing. Provides material characterization data for industrial customers developing or troubleshooting grinding and dispersion processes.
- Spare Parts and Refurbishing OEM spare parts for existing Attritor mills and equipment refurbishing services, including mechanical seals, tank covers, agitator arms, and other wear components. Sold separately to support the installed base of Union Process mills in the field.
- Mixing Tanks Standalone mixing tanks available in capacities from 5 to 1,000 gallons, configurable with various impellers, anchor-stirrers, and jackets for heating/cooling. Includes the PT5 premixing tank with pump assembly on a mobile cart for circulation grinding setups. Sold as a separate product line to industrial customers for premix, holding, and circulation grinding applications.
Quantifiable outcome
- Grinding up to 10 times faster than conventional ball mills
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Union Process
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Union Process technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature7 records
Union Process partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Dynamic Bulk Systems, Inc.coreUS sales representative for dry process applications covering Western Kentucky, Southern Illinois, Eastern Missouri regions.
- Tricor Equipment Company, LLCcoreUS sales representative for liquid process applications covering Western Kentucky, Southern Illinois, Eastern Missouri regions.
- Diptech Industries SDN BHDcoreExclusive sales representative for Malaysia. Contact: Oon Gaik Bee, Sungai Petani, Kedah, Malaysia.
- Westbury International (PVT) LimitedcoreSales representative for Sri Lanka. Contact: Nissanka Ganhewa, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka.
- KPA Tech Co. Ltd.coreSales representative for Korea. Contact: Mr. Joon Huh, Gyeonggi-do, Korea.
- Shanghai UNIST International Trading Co.coreSales representative for Shanghai, China region. Contact: Jeffrey Peng.
- Qingdao Union Process Precision Machinery Co., Ltd.coreManufacturing and sales partner in Qingdao, China for Union Process products.
- BF Technologies 2003coreSales representative covering Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine. Contact: Dr. Csaba Balázsi, Hungary.
- CeremexcoreSales representative for Spain. Contact: Julian De Andres, Casarrubios del Monte, Toledo, Spain.
- Lameco NV/SAcoreSales representative for Belgium. Contact: Peter Van Bijsterveld, Mechelen, Belgium.
- Smithers Quality AssessmentsminorAccredited quality and environmental management systems certification body that performs Union Process ISO 9001:2015 audits.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Union Process competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Bühler Group: Swiss multinational supplying process equipment for food (especially chocolate refining and conching), feed, and advanced materials. Competitor in chocolate and food grinding applications where Union Process sells Q-Series units.
- Metso: Finnish large-scale industrial equipment company serving mining, metals, and aggregates. Competes with Union Process in mineral grinding and lime/limestone processing at the larger end of the market.
Direct peers
- Hosokawa Micron Group: Global manufacturer of particle size reduction and processing equipment, including agitated bead mills and attritor-style mills. Direct competitor in chemicals, minerals, and pharma fine grinding markets.
- Glen Mills: US-based supplier of laboratory and production grinding/milling equipment, including bead mills and planetary ball mills. Comparable in lab-to-production scale offering and consumable grinding media.
- Eirich: German manufacturer of intensive mixers, agitated mills, and processing equipment for ceramics, battery materials, and minerals. Overlapping technology and customer base with Union Process Attritors.
- Patterson Industries: Canadian manufacturer of ball mills, pebble mills, and processing equipment for mineral, chemical, and agricultural applications. Overlaps with Union Process in ball-mill-style grinding equipment.
- NETZSCH Feinmahltechnik: German manufacturer of stirred media mills, bead mills, and classifiers for wet and dry grinding. Direct competitor to Union Process in circulation, batch, and continuous fine-grinding applications across chemicals, ceramics, and battery materials.
- RETSCH (Verder Scientific): German manufacturer of laboratory mills, crushers, and sieve shakers used for particle size analysis and sample preparation. Comparable in lab milling equipment and materials characterization services.
- WAB Group (Willy A. Bachofen): Swiss maker of wet grinding and dispersing machines (DYNO-Mill) used in paints, coatings, inks, and battery slurries. Direct competitor in horizontal bead mills (Union Process DMQX).
Regional players
- SWECO: US-based manufacturer of vibratory grinding and finishing equipment used in mineral, chemical, and pharmaceutical applications. Adjacent peer in particle size reduction equipment for similar end-markets.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Union Process social profiles
Digital presenceUnion Process compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Union Process financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Union Process leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Union Process subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries2 records
Union Process funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Union Process M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Union Process
What does Union Process do?
Union Process designs, manufactures, and sells particle size reduction equipment built around its patented Attritor (internally agitated ball mill) technology, including wet, dry, cryogenic, and horizontal bead mills. The company also sells grinding media (metallic and non-metallic), a complementary line of rubber and vinyl inks, and provides toll milling/grinding, lab testing, and particle characterization services to industrial manufacturers.
Is Union Process a public or private company?
Union Process is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was Union Process founded?
Union Process was founded in 1946. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Union Process based?
Union Process is headquartered in Akron, United States, in the North America region.
How does Union Process make money?
Six revenue lines are on record. Particle Size Reduction Equipment Sales are the primary driver. The others are toll Milling/Grinding Services, grinding Media Sales, spare Parts and Refurbishing, rubber Inks and laboratory Services.
Who are Union Process's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Bühler Group and Metso. Direct peers are Hosokawa Micron Group, Glen Mills, Eirich, Patterson Industries, NETZSCH Feinmahltechnik, RETSCH (Verder Scientific) and WAB Group (Willy A. Bachofen). SWECO is listed as a regional player.
Does Union Process have an API?
No public API is recorded for Union Process.