Boston Conveyor & Automation

What Boston Conveyor & Automation does

Boston Conveyor & Automation (BCA) is a privately held American designer and manufacturer of custom material handling, automation, and robotic systems, headquartered in Newburyport, Massachusetts. The company serves food & beverage, life sciences, and general industry manufacturers with three primary product categories: stainless steel conveyor systems (including table top, curved belt, incline, power curve, and ultra-sanitary variants compliant with USDA, EHEDG, and GMP standards), robotic picking and packing cells built around FANUC robots and Soft Robotics grippers, and custom specialty machinery for accumulation, buffering, collating, diverting, and sortation. All metalwork, controls engineering, and panel builds (to UL 508A and NFPA 79) are performed in-house at the Newburyport facility, and the company is a FANUC Tier III partner, Rockwell Automation Gold OEM, and Soft Robotics Preferred System Integrator.

BCA was founded in January 2018 by Jim Laverdiere, who previously founded KLEENLine in 1986 and sold it to ProMach at the end of 2012. When ProMach relocated KLEENLine to Atlanta in 2018, Laverdiere restarted the business in the manufacturing building he still owned, renovating 90% of it within three months. The company operates a B2B enterprise field sales model, selling custom-engineered systems on a project basis with multi-year contract cadence; no public pricing or standard tiers exist. Customer wins include Kate's Homemade Butter (robotic palletizing) and an unnamed large food manufacturing market leader (custom brownie cutting at four squares per second). Management reports that sales doubled and the headcount grew over 32% since February 2021, with 19 new staff added during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The business is independently owned, with no disclosed venture capital, private equity, or parent holding company, and the owner-operator structure concentrates strategic control with the founder and a small executive team that includes VPs of Sales & Marketing and Operations. The company is geographically concentrated in the United States, with a single headquarters location and domestic field sales coverage. Expansion efforts have centered on deepening the technology partner ecosystem, launching a Quick Ship Conveyors line for faster delivery, and exhibiting at industry events such as Pack Expo International 2022.

Name

Boston Conveyor & Automation

Legal name

Boston Conveyor & Automation

Website

https://bostonconveyorandautomation.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Boston Conveyor & Automation designs and manufactures custom stainless steel conveyor systems, robotic picking and packing cells, and integrated controls for food & beverage, life sciences, and general industry manufacturers, operating from a vertically integrated facility in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Automation Equipment

NAICS

Conveyor and Conveying Equipment Manufacturing (333922), Food Product Machinery Manufacturing (333241), Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing (33451)

SIC

General Industrial Machinery & Equipment (3560), General Industrial Machinery & Equipment, Nec (3569)

akta.pro primary industry

Warehouse & Intralogistics Automation Systems (AS/RS, Sortation, Conveyance Controls) (IMAHAHAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Conveyors & Sortation Systems (Warehouse & Parcel) (IMAHABAC), Conveying, Feeding & Accumulation Systems (Packaging Lines) (IMAHAOAK)

Keywords

• Conveyor systems
• Robotic automation
• Material handling
• Stainless steel conveyors
• Food processing equipment

Headquarters

HQ city

Newburyport

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

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. Custom Automation Systems: Design, build, and implement custom material handling and automation systems including robotic picking, packing, and palletizing cells. Revenue generated through project-based equipment sales and installation.
2. Stainless Steel Conveyors: Manufacture and sale of custom stainless steel conveyors including table top, curved belt, incline, power curve, and specialized conveyor systems
3. Robotic Integration Services: Integration of robotic systems with Fanuc robots and Soft Robotics technology for picking and packing applications

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Boston Conveyor & Automation designs, engineers, manufactures, and integrates custom automation systems, robotic picking and packing cells, and a broad portfolio of stainless steel conveyor systems for food & beverage, life sciences, and general industry clients. All metalwork and controls are produced in-house at the Newburyport, Massachusetts facility, allowing delivery of complete integrated systems combining robotics, conveyors, and UL 508A / NFPA 79 control panels.

Product overview

BCA (Boston Conveyor & Automation) offers a comprehensive portfolio of automation and conveyor solutions centered around robotic picking and packing systems, specialty machinery, material handling automation, and engineered stainless steel conveyors. The core product line includes Robotic Picking and Packing systems integrated with FANUC robots and Soft Robotics grippers, paired with a full range of Stainless Steel Conveyors (Table Top, Sanitary, Ultra Sanitary, Curved Belt, Power Curve, High Speed Shuttle, Chicaning, Incline, Wire Belt, and Workstation Conveyors). Specialty Machinery & Automation covers accumulation, buffering, combining, collating, diverting, and other custom equipment. Control Systems and Panels are designed in-house to UL 508A and NFPA 79 standards. The company provides complete integrated systems combining robotics, conveyors, and controls for food & beverage, life sciences, and general industry applications, with Quick Ship Conveyors available for expedited delivery.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Customer doubled sales during COVID pandemic
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability2 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• FANUC America CorporationcoreTechnology or Integration · 5 April 2021Tier III partner with access to FANUC robotics including the M-20iB/25C Robot designed for sanitary food industry requirements. FANUC robots meet IP67 standards for demanding food environments.
• Rockwell AutomationcoreTechnology or IntegrationGold OEM Partner within Rockwell Automation's global OEM Partner Program. BCA delivers solutions based on Rockwell Automation technology and participates in executive-level engagements and strategic growth opportunities.
• Soft RoboticscoreTechnology or IntegrationPreferred System Integrator program member. BCA integrates Soft Robotics mGrip modular gripping system and SoftAI artificial intelligence for reliable picking solutions in food processing.
• PMMIminorOthersIndustry partner and member of PMMI, an association for packaging and processing technologies.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• SPX FLOW: Global provider of process equipment and automation for food, beverage and industrial markets. Overlaps with BCA in sanitary processing, conveying and controls for food/pharma but at much greater scale and product breadth.
• ProMach: Large U.S. packaging and processing machinery conglomerate that acquired BCA's predecessor KLEENLine in 2012. Operates numerous conveyor, robotic and end-of-line brands serving the same food, beverage and life sciences customers as BCA, but at much greater scale and breadth.

Direct peers

• Shuttleworth: Indiana-based manufacturer of sanitary conveyors and integrated handling systems specifically engineered for food, pharmaceutical and medical device environments. Closely aligned with BCA's stainless-steel, washdown-capable conveyor offering.
• mk North America: German-engineered manufacturer of aluminum and stainless steel conveyors and material handling systems distributed in North America for food, pharma and packaging applications. Directly comparable in conveyor technology and target customers.
• BluePrint Automation: U.S. custom robotic packaging automation integrator focused on food, beverage and personal care end-of-line applications. Highly comparable to BCA's robotic picking/packing and palletizing cell business and similarly mid-sized.
• Dorner (Habasit): Habasit-owned Dorner manufactures sanitary and industrial conveyors, including stainless steel systems, for food, packaging and life sciences applications. Competes head-to-head with BCA's stainless steel conveyor line, particularly in food and beverage processing.
• Aagard: Minnesota-based custom packaging machinery and robotic automation integrator serving consumer goods and food manufacturers. Closely comparable in business model (custom, project-based automation integration) and customer profile.
• FlexLink (Coesia): Part of Italy-based Coesia, FlexLink designs and manufactures conveyors and intralogistics systems for food, pharma and personal-care manufacturers. Directly comparable to BCA in product scope (conveyors, automation cells) and primary verticals (food, life sciences).

Others

• Rockwell Automation: Industrial automation and controls giant and BCA's Gold OEM partner. While primarily a vendor rather than competitor, Rockwell's own integrator network and PartnerNetwork competes for similar enterprise automation projects in food and life sciences.
• FANUC America: Robotics OEM and BCA's core technology partner (Tier III). Not a direct competitor but its Authorized System Integrator network includes firms that compete with BCA for food/pharma robotic integration work.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/bostonconveyor
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCVbp34nie9gmCJKR6CQK9ow
• Facebookfacebook.com/Boston-Conveyor-Automation-2284031221871356
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bcasystems
• Instagraminstagram.com/bostonconveyor

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 Boston Conveyor & Automation