What IMA Schelling Group does

IMA Schelling Group GmbH is a privately-held German industrial machinery manufacturer, founded in 1917 and headquartered in Lübbecke, Germany. The company designs, develops, and produces modularized processing systems and complete plant solutions for panel cutting, edge processing, CNC machining, drilling, automated handling, and storage — organized into four business divisions: Woodworking, Board, Precision (metal and plastics), and Consulting. Its customer base spans industrial furniture manufacturers, wood-based panel processors, plastics and non-ferrous-metal fabricators, and prefabricated-construction companies across Europe, North America, and Asia.

The technology backbone rests on the proprietary aimi machine software platform (for ERP integration and customer-deployed AI applications), the newly launched Vision AI platform (customer-trainable computer vision for quality inspection), the Zimba service and machine-management platform, and the IPC.NET plant control system that orchestrates robotics, logistics, sorting, and stacking. Specialized hardware — including the HL 1 high-performance panel saw, the thickness-flexible pressure beam for through-feed edge processing, the fk 6 plate saw with XXL rotary table, and Robot.sort robotic sorting cells — anchors the mechanical layer. Sensor-based predictive maintenance is delivered via Viezo.

Revenue is generated primarily through direct enterprise sales of capital equipment and turnkey production lines, supplemented by recurring aftermarket and spare-parts supply, software platform access (aimi, Vision AI, Zimba), service modernization, and industrial consulting. The company sells exclusively B2B through wholly-owned subsidiaries in 18 countries — no dealer or reseller channel — and reaches customers via international trade fairs (Ligna, AWFS, Interzum Guangzhou, India Wood, Drema), the annual Open House event at the Lübbecke Technology Center, technical training academies, and a multilingual digital presence. Named enterprise customers include Fournier Habitat, Egger, FingerHaus, and Meine Möbelmanufaktur. Leadership comprises CEO Maximilian Lehner and Managing Director Christoph Geiger.

Name

IMA Schelling Group

Legal name

IMA Schelling Group GmbH

Website

https://imaschelling.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1917

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

IMA Schelling Group GmbH designs and manufactures modularized industrial plant solutions for panel cutting, edge processing, CNC machining, drilling, and automated handling for woodworking, board, and precision (metal and plastics) manufacturers, selling turnkey production lines and software platforms directly to enterprise customers across 18 countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Woodworking Machinery

NAICS

All Other Industrial Machinery Manufacturing (333248), Industrial Machinery Manufacturing (3332)

SIC

Machine Tools, Metal Cutting Types (3541), Special Industry Machinery (No Metalworking Machinery) (3550), Construction, Mining & Materials Handling Machinery & Equip (3530)

akta.pro primary industry

Factory Automation & Control Systems (PLC/SCADA/DCS) (IMAIAMAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Motion & Machine Control (CNC, Robotics Controllers, Servo/Motion Controllers) (IMAGABAG), Industrial Controllers & Control Systems (PLCs, PACs, CNC Controllers) (IMAHAHAH)

Keywords

• Industrial woodworking machinery
• Panel cutting systems
• Edge banding equipment
• CNC machining centers
• Automated material handling

Headquarters

HQ city

Lübbecke

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices21 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Industrial machinery and plant sales: IMA Schelling Group designs, develops, manufactures, and sells complete industrial plant solutions including panel saws, edge processing machines, CNC machining centers, drilling systems, and automated handling/storage systems. Machines are sold as standalone units or as fully integrated turnkey production lines. This represents the core revenue driver.
2. Aftermarket and spare parts: Spare parts supply and replacement services for installed machinery worldwide. Supported by dedicated hotline services for different machine categories and regions. Spare parts pricing and supply are cited as a key service pillar.
3. Software platforms (aimi, Vision AI, Zimba): Digital software platforms including aimi for machine integration, Vision AI for customer-trainable AI models, and Zimba for machine management. Software is embedded within the machine ecosystem and extended to customers.
4. Service, modernization, and repair: Comprehensive service offerings including machine modernization, digitalization, repair, predictive maintenance (Viezo sensors), technical training, and service consulting. Positioned as a central component of the overall customer value proposition with new approaches in spare parts pricing.
5. Consulting services: Industrial consulting division that supports existing and new customers with the development and realization of manufacturing strategies for furniture production, including process optimization and factory planning.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

IMA Schelling Group develops and manufactures high-end industrial plant solutions for panel cutting, edge processing, CNC machining, drilling, material handling, and storage systems serving the woodworking, panel, precision (metal/plastic), and furniture manufacturing industries. Machines are sold as standalone units or as fully integrated turnkey production lines, accompanied by proprietary digital platforms (aimi, Vision AI, Zimba), control systems, sensor-based predictive maintenance, and aftermarket services.

Product overview

IMA Schelling Group is a provider of plant solutions for the woodworking, panel/board, precision (metal and plastics), and consulting industries. The product portfolio includes four main business divisions (Woodworking, Board, Precision, Consulting) supported by software platforms (aimi, Vision AI, Zimba), control systems (IPC.NET), robotics (Robot.sort), and sensor technology (Viezo). Key hardware products include the HL 1 high-performance panel saw, edge processing systems, CNC and drilling technology, and vision systems for quality control. The company offers comprehensive services including hotline support, spare parts, technical training, and predictive maintenance.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• aimi: Machine software platform for integrated digital structures and automation
• Vision AI
• Zimba
• HL 1
• Robot.sort
• Klebtec

Products and services

• Woodworking Division — Industrial Plant Solutions Integrated industrial plant solutions for the woodworking and furniture industry, including panel cutting, edge processing, CNC machining, drilling, sorting, and handling systems sold to manufacturers as standalone machines or full production lines.
• Board Division — Panel Processing Solutions Industrial plant solutions for wood-based panel and board manufacturers, including high-performance sawing lines, cutting optimization, and storage systems for particleboard, MDF, chipboard, and similar materials.
• Precision Division — Metal and Plastics Processing Precision cutting and sawing systems for non-ferrous metals, plastics, and printed circuit board materials, including the fk 6 with XXL rotary table for heavy plastic panels.
• Industrial Consulting Services Advisory and consulting services for industrial customers on manufacturing strategy development, process optimization, and factory planning for furniture and wood-based panel production.
• aimi Machine Software Platform Integrated digital platform for machine management, process intelligence, and factory-wide digital integration that connects machinery to customers' ERP systems and supports deployment of customer-built AI applications.
• Vision AI Platform AI-powered industrial image analysis platform that enables customers to train their own models for quality inspection and production monitoring, expanding IMA Schelling's vision portfolio toward configurable AI applications.
• Zimba Service Platform Centralized machine management and support platform providing accelerated access to documentation, spare parts, and service processes for IMA Schelling's installed machinery base.
• HL 1 High-Performance Panel Saw High-performance plate cutting saw (Plattenaufteilsäge) developed for batch-size-1 production, combining high cutting performance with the flexibility and variable layout design required for highly customized panel processing.
• fk 6 Panel Saw with XXL Rotary Table Specialized panel saw featuring an XXL rotary table of 5,800 x 2,200 mm and 1,500 kg ergonomic handling capability for processing large and heavy plastic panels.
• Robot.sort Sorting Cells Compact and flexible robotic sorting cells composed of a robot and a variable number of storage racks, providing scalable, space-efficient sorting that replaces conventional linear storage systems.
• IPC.NET Plant Control System Proprietary plant control system that integrates robots and handling processes and concentrates all logistics, stock management, sorting sequence, production unit, and intelligent stacking information into a single intelligent control layer.
• Viezo Predictive Maintenance Sensors Sensor-based predictive maintenance technology for industrial machinery, enabling forward-looking servicing to maximize machine uptime and performance.
• Spare Parts Service Worldwide spare parts supply and replacement services for installed IMA Schelling machinery, with dedicated contact lines ([email protected] / [email protected]).
• Customer Hotline Support Dedicated hotline services for confirmation, processing and shipping, CNC and drilling, and cutting and storage, with separate phone numbers for different machine categories and regions.
• Technical Training Academy Practical workshop training programs held at the IMA Schelling Technology Center in Lübbecke and Austria, helping customers identify optimization potential and develop solutions, with dedicated training contacts in Germany and Austria.

Quantifiable outcome

• Batch-size-1 production capability enables waste-free manufacturing with maximum machine availability, as demonstrated in Fournier Habitat installation
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature9 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Homag Group: German-headquartered global market leader in woodworking machinery and production-line solutions for the furniture and construction-supply industries. Closely comparable to IMA Schelling across panel cutting, edge processing, CNC, and integrated production lines for the same enterprise customer base.
• Biesse Group: Italian manufacturer of machinery and integrated lines for processing wood, glass, stone, plastic, and metal — a direct competitor in panel cutting, edge processing, and CNC machining for the furniture industry. Serves the same furniture and panel-processing customers as IMA Schelling.
• SCM Group: Italian industrial group and one of the world's largest manufacturers of woodworking machinery and components. Competes head-to-head with IMA Schelling in panel processing, edge banding, CNC machining, and assembly for the furniture industry.
• Weinig Group: German manufacturer of solid-wood and panel-processing machinery (including the Holz-Her brand). Competes with IMA Schelling in panel cutting, edge processing, and CNC for furniture and joinery customers, particularly in German-speaking markets.
• Felder Group: Austrian family-owned manufacturer of woodworking machines (Felder, Hammer, Format-4). Overlaps with IMA Schelling in panel saws, edge processing, and CNC for professional joinery and small-to-mid furniture manufacturers, especially in the DACH region.

Broad incumbents

• Dürr AG: German mechanical and plant engineering group that acquired Homag. Competes with IMA Schelling in large-scale woodworking production lines while also serving automotive, paint, and environmental technology customers as a broader industrial-engineering incumbent.
• Kuka AG: German-based global supplier of robotics, automation, and production systems. Comparable to IMA Schelling's Robot.sort and IPC.NET automation stack as a broad industrial automation incumbent, though Kuka serves a much wider set of industries beyond woodworking.
• Siemens Digital Industries: Industrial-software and automation giant whose PLC, SCADA, and digital-enterprise platform competes at the control-system layer with IMA Schelling's IPC.NET plant control system and aimi integration platform.

Emerging players

• Leitz: German manufacturer of precision tooling and tooling services for the wood-processing industry. Adjacent to IMA Schelling's machine offerings — supplies the consumable tooling (cutters, saw blades) used on IMA Schelling's panel and edge-processing lines.
• HOMAG China / Guangdong Leadx (Chinese panel-processing machinery peers): Asian (predominantly Chinese) panel-processing machinery manufacturers competing in cost-sensitive segments of the same furniture and panel-cutting market that IMA Schelling addresses through its Changzhou and Guangzhou trading entities. Notable as emerging price-pressure competitors rather than direct technology peers.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/IMASchellingGroupGmbH
• Facebookfacebook.com/IMASchellingCompany
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ima-schelling-group
• Instagraminstagram.com/ima_schelling_group
• Xx.com/schellingukltd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries20 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 IMA Schelling Group