Metro Tech

What Metro Tech does

Metro Tech (株式会社メトロテック) is a Japanese industrial automation manufacturer specializing in high-speed mail processing and document handling equipment. Founded in 1988 and headquartered in Toda City, Saitama Prefecture, the company operates from two production centers—Toda Daiichi Center and Toda Daini Center—and serves enterprise customers in Japan across printing and publishing, financial services and insurance, e-commerce and retail, education, logistics and transportation, government and public sector, consumer electronics manufacturing, telecommunications, and business services sectors.

The company's core technology centers on a proprietary shuttle-type bottom-feed paper feeder, digital thickness-detection sensors with 50-micron accuracy, and optical character recognition systems using pattern matching. Its product portfolio comprises two flagship lines—the Mail Robo 4500 series of Japanese envelope insertion and sealing machines (processing up to 4,500 envelopes per hour with up to 12 insertion points) and the MS-120 high-speed automatic sealing machine (17,000 envelopes per hour)—augmented by three modular devices: a thickness detection sorting device, an OCR window inspection device, and a shuttle-type high-speed paper feeder. The differentiating technical capability is simultaneous processing of Japanese washi envelopes and Western-style envelopes on a single machine without mechanical reconfiguration, alongside handling of ultra-thin to thick materials (0.05mm to 12mm) and booklets, accordion-folded catalogs, and Z-folded materials.

Metro Tech generates revenue through one-time capital equipment sales configured per customer specification, with quote-based pricing and no public price list. The go-to-market motion is direct enterprise field sales driven by website inquiry forms and telephone consultation, with no third-party distributors or resellers; customer-facing marketing is conducted through a bilingual (Japanese/English) corporate website and factory consultation. The firm merged with 第一工業株式会社 (Daiichi Kogyo Co., Ltd.) effective April 1, 2026, as stated in its company information page.

Name

Metro Tech

Legal name

株式会社メトロテック

Website

https://metrotech.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Metro Tech (株式会社メトロテック) is a Japanese industrial automation manufacturer producing high-speed mail-processing equipment, including envelope insertion/sealing machines, thickness detection sorters, and OCR inspection systems. Based in Toda City, Saitama, the firm serves printing, financial, telecommunications, and logistics enterprises across Japan.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Mail Processing Equipment

NAICS

Commercial and Service Industry Machinery Manufacturing (33331), Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing (33451)

SIC

Printing Trades Machinery & Equipment (3555), Electrical Industrial Apparatus (3620)

akta.pro primary industry

End-of-Line Integration & Packaging Line Systems (IMAHAOAN)

akta.pro secondary industry

Conveying, Feeding & Accumulation Systems (Packaging Lines) (IMAHAOAK)

Keywords

• Industrial mail automation
• Envelope insertion equipment
• Document processing machinery
• Mail sealing machines
• Logistics automation systems

Headquarters

HQ city

Toda

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Industrial Machinery Sales: Manufacture and sale of industrial automation equipment including inserting/sealing machines, paper feeders, thickness detection devices, and inspection systems. Revenue generated through one-time capital equipment sales with optional accessories and peripheral equipment.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Metro Tech manufactures and sells industrial automation equipment for high-speed mail and document processing. The product portfolio includes envelope insertion/sealing machines (Mail Robo 4500 series, MS-120), paper feeders, thickness detection sorting devices, and OCR-based window envelope inspection systems. Equipment is sold direct to Japanese enterprise customers in printing, financial services, e-commerce, government, education, and logistics sectors.

Product overview

Metro Tech is a Japanese industrial machinery manufacturer specializing in high-speed mailing and document processing equipment. The product portfolio consists of two primary core product lines—Mail Robo 4500 series and MS-120 sealing machines—augmented by modular add-on inspection devices. The Mail Robo 4500 series serves as the flagship insertion and sealing system, with a variant version handling larger envelopes, while the MS-120 provides standalone high-speed sealing capability. These core machines integrate with three specialized inspection modules: the Thickness Detection Sorting Device (which identifies missing or excess inserts), the Window Envelope Inspection Device (which uses OCR/pattern matching for number verification), and the Shuttle-Type High-Speed Paper Feeder (which enables high-speed feeding of various paper types). The company also offers counting and sorting conveyors as optional equipment. All products target Japanese businesses in printing, publishing, financial services, e-commerce, and logistics sectors requiring automated mail processing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• メールロボ4500シリーズ (MailRobo 4500 Series): Japanese-style envelope insertion and sealing machine series with versatile capabilities for various envelope sizes and thicknesses.
• メールロボ (MailRobo)
• MS-120

Products and services

• Mail Robo 4500 Series (メールロボ4500シリーズ) High-speed Japanese-style envelope insertion and sealing machine processing standard and non-standard envelope sizes (Nagahagaki No.3 to Kakugata No.2) at 4,500 envelopes per hour. Features multi-station collating for up to 10 inserts, paper thickness handling from 0.05mm to 12mm, and supports both Japanese and Western-style envelopes. Targets high-volume mail operations in printing, financial, government, and logistics sectors.
• Multi-size Standard/Non-standard Japanese Envelope Insertion & Sealing Machine (定形外定形兼用型和封用封入封緘機) Versatile insertion and sealing machine based on the Mail Robo 4500 platform, modified via setup changes to handle larger Kakugata No.2 Japanese envelopes and standard Western-style envelopes. Processes 4,500 envelopes per hour with up to 12 inserts per envelope and optional inspection devices (window check, thickness check, weighing, sorting conveyor). Built to order with customer-specified dimensions.
• High-Speed Automatic Sealing Machine MS-120 (高速自動封緘機 MS-120) Industrial high-speed envelope sealing machine processing up to 17,000 envelopes per hour using a universal shuttle feeder. Handles both Japanese and Western-style envelopes from Nagahagaki No.4 to Kakugata No.0 with sealing thickness range of 0.1-12mm. Produces more than four times manual output with consistent sealing quality.
• Thickness Detection Sorting Device (厚み検知仕分装置) Inline inspection device that detects missing or excess inserts during mailing using digital high-precision displacement sensors. Sorts defective envelopes at 12,000 per hour with 50-micron measurement accuracy. Integrates with other inspection modules to unify inspection data across the line.
• Window Envelope Inspection Processing Device (窓部検査処理装置) Optical character recognition system for window envelopes that reads printed numbers, special characters, and codes via pattern matching. Performs sequential and random number inspection, postal code sorting, code reading/recording, and front/back discrimination at 12,000 envelopes per hour. Supports OCR-A, OCR-B, SEMI, and MICR fonts with additional font registration available.
• Shuttle-Type High-Speed Paper Feeder (シャトル型高速紙送り装置) High-speed paper feeding device that accurately separates and counts individual items at 300 sheets per minute (20,000 per hour). Handles paper from thin noshi paper to 12mm thick booklets, with size range 90x70mm to 380x300mm and batch processing capability. Supports continuous counting up to 1 million units with reliable double-feed and feed-miss detection.

Quantifiable outcome

• High-speed automatic sealing machine achieves 17,000 units/hour processing capacity, more than 4 times manual production
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Pitney Bowes: Global incumbent in mailing, shipping, and document automation equipment. Directly comparable product category (inserters, sealers, sorters) but at much larger scale and broader geographic footprint.
• Bühler Group: Large-scale industrial machinery manufacturer with packaging line and inspection systems relevant to Metro Tech's end-of-line packaging and quality control modules.
• Krones AG: Global packaging line integrator for beverage, food, and consumer goods. Comparable as an end-of-line packaging systems manufacturer with broad industrial automation capabilities.

Direct peers

• Quadient: Direct peer in mail processing automation (formerly Neopost), offering inserting, sealing, and folder-inserter systems targeting the same enterprise document workflows as Metro Tech.
• Bowe Systec: German manufacturer of mail processing and inserting systems, directly competing with Metro Tech's Mail Robo and MS-120 product lines in document packaging automation.
• Bell and Howell: Manufacturer of mail processing and inserting equipment, including envelope inserters and sorting systems targeting enterprise mailrooms — direct overlap with Metro Tech's product portfolio.

Regional players

• Ishida Co., Ltd. Japanese packaging machinery manufacturer specializing in weighing, packaging, and quality inspection systems — overlapping with Metro Tech's inspection modules and broader packaging automation scope.
• Toyo Jidoki Co., Ltd. Japanese manufacturer of bag filling, packaging, and sealing machinery. Comparable in scale and Japanese domestic focus to Metro Tech, with overlapping customer industries in mail/document packaging.
• Neopost (now Quadient) – Japan operations: Regional (Japan) operations of global mail automation peer Quadient, directly competitive in the same Japanese enterprise mailroom customers that Metro Tech serves.

Emerging players

• Ranpak Holdings: Provider of paper-based protective packaging solutions and automation equipment. Adjacent in paper-handling automation and end-of-line packaging, but focused on cushioning rather than document inserting.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Metro Tech