Ape Impianti

What Ape Impianti does

Ape Impianti (legal name Ape Impianti; DBA "APE") is a privately held, family-owned Italian industrial machinery manufacturer founded in 1961 in Verona by Fabio Grappoli and now led by third-generation owner Francesco Grappoli. The company designs and builds machines and complete end-of-line packaging lines for the beverage and food industries, organized across five performance tiers (Productive, Flexi, Performance, plus dedicated depalletizer and monoblock ranges) and covering depalletization, case erecting, case packing, partition insertion, case sealing, palletization, Bag-in-Box, decrating/unpacking, repacking, bins handling, and craft-beer six-pack carrier systems. Underlying technologies include the proprietary AXIPACK modular platform, inflatable-tube depalletization (DEPAL 2.0 EVO), brushless-motor linear axes, and 2-axis Delta robotics, with throughput ranges from ~3,000 bottles/hour at entry level up to 25,000–30,000 bottles/hour for high-performance monoblocks and decraters.

The business generates revenue primarily through customized hardware sales on a quote-based pricing model (no public price list), supplemented by engineering services from analysis and design through commissioning, and by after-sales technical support and spare-parts supply. Go-to-market is hybrid: direct sales in Italy and France (via the wholly-owned Ape Packaging France subsidiary established 2014) plus a 40-distributor international channel for export markets. Customers are predominantly enterprise beverage and food producers — wine (Botter, Collis, GIV, Chiarli, Campo Viejo, Bertani, Cricova), spirits (Courvoisier/Beam Suntory, Illva Saronno, Luxardo, Jermann, Nonino), craft beer (BrewFist), and food (Redoro olive oil) — totaling 2,570 customers and 4,725 machines installed worldwide. Production is concentrated at the 6,000 sqm Zevio facility near Verona; the company is part of the Omnia Technologies conglomerate group.

Name

Ape Impianti

Legal name

Ape Impianti

Website

https://apeimpianti.it

Company type

Private

Founded year

1961

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Ape Impianti is a family-owned Italian industrial machinery manufacturer, founded 1961 in Verona, that designs and builds complete end-of-line packaging lines — depalletizers, case packers, sealers, palletizers and monoblocks — for wine, spirits, craft beer and food producers worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Packaging Machinery

NAICS

Commercial and Service Industry Machinery Manufacturing (333310)

SIC

Misc Industrial & Commercial Machinery & Equipment (3590), General Industrial Machinery & Equipment (3560)

akta.pro primary industry

Bottling Line Maintenance, Automation & Integration Services (AFAFAJAN)

akta.pro secondary industry

Capping, Sealing & Closing Machines (IMAHAOAG)

Keywords

• Industrial packaging machinery
• Beverage packaging automation
• End-of-line packaging systems
• Case packing equipment
• Palletizing systems

Headquarters

HQ city

Verona

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Industrial Machinery Sales: Design, manufacture and sale of complete packaging lines and individual machines (depalletizers, case erectors, case packers, partition inserters, case sealers, palletizers, monoblocks) for beverage and food industries. Machines range from entry-level (3,000 bph) to high-performance industrial (25,000 bph).
2. Engineering Services: Full engineering services from analysis and design through to commissioning. Customized solutions developed in partnership with customers for specific packaging line requirements.
3. After-Sales Technical Support: Technical customer care and support services including spare parts supply and maintenance.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Ape Impianti designs, manufactures and installs machines and complete end-of-line packaging lines for the beverage and food industries. The product portfolio spans depalletizers, case erectors, case packers, partition inserters, case sealers, monoblocks, palletizers, decraters/unpackers, repackers and beer six-pack carriers, organized across Productive, Flexi and Performance series plus a dedicated Beer Series. Turnkey service covers engineering, installation, commissioning, spare parts and after-sales technical support.

Product overview

Ape Impianti designs and manufactures machines and complete packaging lines for the beverage and food industries. The product portfolio centers on end-of-line packaging automation across five main series organized by performance level: DEPALETIZZATORI (depalletizers: BABYDEPAL, COMPACT, DEPAL 2.0 EVO, DEPAL 2010, DEPAL 3000), SERIES PRODUCTIVE (entry-level: FORM 1300, AXIPACK 100, INCA BS, AXI INSER 100, CH S11 NS, CH 1000), SERIES FLEXI (mid-range: FORM 2010, INCA 180, AXIPACK 200, AXI INSER 200, CH 2010), SERIES PERFORMANCE (high-performance: FORM 3000, INCA 300, INCA ROBOT, INCA RBK, INSER 400, CH 3000), and MONOBLOCKS (integrated: TRIO NS, TRIO HM, TRIO P4, ISOLA, UNICA). Supporting equipment includes PALLETIZZATORI (C4, BABYPAL, RBK 1300, PAL 1300, PAL 2010, PAL 3000, RBK 3000), BAG-IN-BOX systems (FORM BIB, CH BIB, TRIO BIB), BINS PACKING/UNPACKING, UNPACKER (DECA series), REPACK, and CARRIER systems for beer six-pack packaging. The company serves wine, beer, spirits, and food industries with complete lines from depalletization through palletization.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Beer Series: A range of machines entirely dedicated to the craft beer world, including depalletizers, monoblocks, and packaging solutions for breweries.
• Series Performance
• Flexi Series
• Series Productive

Products and services

• Depalletizers Series
• Series Productive (Entry-Level Packaging Line)
• Series Flexi (Mid-Range Packaging Line) Mid-range packaging line machines built on AXIPACK technology for compact footprint and high flexibility across formats.
• Series Performance (High-Performance Packaging Line) High-performance case erectors, robotic case packers, partition inserters and case sealers for industrial-scale beverage producers.
• Monoblock Systems (Integrated Packaging) All-in-one monoblock machines integrating case erecting, bottle picking/insertion, partition insertion and case sealing in a single compact unit.
• Palletizers Series Cartesian, layer and anthropomorphic robotic palletizers for orienting, grouping and palletizing cartons onto pallets.
• Bag-in-Box Packaging Line Case erecting, sealing and monoblock systems dedicated to Bag-in-Box packaging format for wine and liquid-food producers.
• Unpacker / Decrater (DECA Series) Decraters/unpackers that remove bottles from returnable plastic crates, using brushless linear axes for high-speed, controlled decasing.
• REPACK 100 (Repacker) Case packer designed for repacking return bottles into cartons, developed for the American market and reusable-container workflows.
• CESTONATRICE (Bins Packing / Unpacking) Automatic machine for picking up and depositing bottles inside bins for storage and ageing, available in portal and robotized versions.
• Engineering & After-Sales Technical Services Customized engineering, installation, commissioning, spare parts supply and after-sales technical support services for Ape Impianti packaging equipment.

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 25,000 bottles/hour throughput with high-performance Series 3000 HP
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers17 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Omnia Technologies GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAPE Impianti is part of Omnia Technologies Group, providing access to group synergies, shared technology development and global support infrastructure.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Gebo Cermex: Part of the Sidel group, focusing on case packing, conveying, and palletizing for beverage and FMCG. Directly overlaps with Ape's monoblock, case-packer, and palletizer product lines.
• GAI Macchine Imbottigliatrici: Italian manufacturer of bottling and packaging machinery (filling, capping, labeling, end-of-line). Comparable Italian family-owned mid-sized peer serving wineries and beverage producers.
• OCME S.r.l. Italian maker of secondary and end-of-line packaging machinery (case packers, palletizers, depalletizers) for beverage and food sectors, with overlapping product lines in wineries and distilleries.
• SMI S.p.A. Italian manufacturer of end-of-line packaging machinery (case packers, palletizers, stretch-wrappers) for beverage, food, and FMCG, also part of an Italian industrial group. Closest scale and product-line peer to Ape.
• Zecchetti S.r.l. Italian supplier of palletizing, depalletizing, and end-of-line packaging automation for beverages and food, with very similar product breadth to Ape's palletizer range.
• BVM S.r.l. Italian specialist in end-of-line packaging solutions for wine, beverage, and food, with very similar product positioning to Ape (medium-sized, end-of-line focus).

Broad incumbents

• Tetra Pak: Global packaging and processing equipment provider with extensive beverage and food packaging machinery offerings. Competes broadly with Ape in liquid food and dairy packaging lines.
• Krones AG: Global German leader in beverage packaging and bottling machinery (filling, labeling, packaging, palletizing). The dominant broad-line incumbent Ape competes against in European beverage plants.
• Sidel Group: French-headquartered global supplier of beverage packaging equipment and complete lines. Direct geographic overlap with Ape via its French subsidiary presence and competes on similar beverage end-of-line applications.

Regional players

• ProMach: Large North American packaging-machinery platform (filling, capping, labeling, case packing, palletizing). Comparable product portfolio at much larger scale and primarily serving the Americas.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/apeimpianti
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ape-impianti

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

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 Ape Impianti