What Martin Automatic does

Martin Automatic, Inc. is a US-based, privately held manufacturer founded in 1971 and headquartered in Rockford, Illinois, specializing in automatic web handling equipment for the printing, packaging, and converting industries. The company designs and builds a unified product portfolio organized into four families: butt splicers (MBS, MBNT, MBSC, MBX, MCB, MCB-WW, MTB, MASB), lap splicers (ECP, MASL, MLS, STS, CHW, CMSL, TMSL), heatseal splicers (ECPFI/ECPLT, CHW-HS, MAS, CMSL-HS, TMSL-HS), and rewind systems (STR, LRD, LRH, RMAP, TR), complemented by tension control systems. Its core technology enables non-stop roll changes and continuous press operation, eliminating the productivity loss and material waste associated with manual roll splicing in web-fed production lines, with documented customer outcomes of 5-10% material savings and 5-10 minutes saved per roll change.

The company serves enterprise customers across labels, flexible packaging, folding cartons, newspapers, hygienic disposables, building materials, and specialty bags, with named installations at Nordvalls Etikett (Sweden, six sites), OMNI Systems (US, 21+ systems), Römer Etikett (Germany), Desmedt Labels (Belgium), Peters GmbH, Barthel Group, Colognia Press, and Mega Label. Its go-to-market is direct enterprise field sales, with the most recent publicly visible moves being 2026 customer wins and the world's first integration of Martin unwind/splice technology on a Mark Andy digital hybrid press at Desmedt Labels. The business model is hardware sales of capital equipment, with the implication of an aftermarket parts and service tail, sold on a quote-based pricing model to enterprise printers and converters; revenue is not publicly disclosed.

Name

Martin Automatic

Legal name

Martin Automatic, Inc.

Website

https://martinautomatic.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1971

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Martin Automatic is a US-based, privately held manufacturer founded in 1971 that designs and sells automatic splicers, rewinders, and tension control systems for non-stop web handling to enterprise printing, labeling, packaging, and converting companies globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Web Handling Equipment

NAICS

Other General Purpose Machinery Manufacturing (3339)

SIC

Printing Trades Machinery & Equipment (3555)

akta.pro primary industry

Motion Control Electronics & Controls (Controllers, Drivers, Feedback Interfaces) (IMAHAGAJ)

Keywords

• Web handling equipment
• Automatic butt splicers
• Lap splicing machinery
• Rewind systems
• Tension control systems

Headquarters

HQ city

Rockford

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Revenue model

1. Industrial Equipment Sales: Martin Automatic generates revenue through the sale of industrial web handling equipment including automatic butt splicers, lap splicers, heatseal splicers, rewind systems, and tension control systems. Equipment is sold directly to printing and packaging companies for integration into their production lines. As heavy industrial machinery, these are likely one-time capital purchases with potential for service, parts, and maintenance contracts.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Martin Automatic designs and manufactures industrial web handling equipment — automatic butt splicers, lap splicers, heatseal splicers, rewind systems, and tension control systems — for printing, packaging, and converting production lines. The equipment enables non-stop roll changes and continuous web processing, replacing manual roll handling in industrial press operations.

Product overview

Martin Automatic is a manufacturer of web handling equipment for printing and converting operations. The company offers a unified portfolio of automated splicing and rewinding solutions comprising four product families: Butt Splicers (MBS, MBNT, MBSC, MBX, MCB, MCB-WW, MTB, MASB), Lap Splicers (ECP, MASL, MLS, STS, CHW, CMSL, TMSL), Heatseal Splicers (ECPFI/ECPLT, CHW-HS, MAS, CMSL-HS, TMSL-HS), and Rewind Systems (STR, LRD, LRH, RMAP, TR), complemented by Tension Control Systems. These products enable non-stop roll handling for continuous web processing across applications including labels, flexible packaging, folding carton, and building materials.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• MBS Butt Splicer Automatic butt splicer for continuous web processing in printing and converting operations, enabling zero-loss roll changes.
• MBNT Butt Splicer Automatic butt splicer for narrow web applications.
• MBSC Butt Splicer Compact automatic butt splicer designed for smaller production environments with fully automated roll handling.
• MBX Butt Splicer Automatic butt splicer for medium to wide web processing, capable of handling 60-inch diameter paper rolls.
• MCB Butt Splicer Automatic butt splicer for various web handling applications.
• MCB-WW Butt Splicer Wide web automatic butt splicer variant.
• MTB Butt Splicer Automatic turret butt splicer for high-speed applications.
• MASB Butt Splicer Automatic butt splicer for narrow web applications.
• ECP Lap Splicer Automatic lap splicer for continuous roll processing.
• MASL Lap Splicer Automatic lap splicer for narrow web applications.
• MLS Automatic Splicer Automatic splicing system for various web handling needs.
• STS Lap Splicer Automatic lap splicer for narrow web processing.
• CHW Lap Splicer Automatic lap splicer for heat seal and specialty applications.
• CMSL Lap Splicer Automatic lap splicer for mid-web applications.
• TMSL Lap Splicer Automatic lap splicer for narrow web converting.
• ECPFI/ECPLT Heatseal Splicer Heatseal splicer for flexible packaging applications.
• CHW-HS Heatseal Splicer Heatseal splicer variant for specialty packaging.
• MAS Heatseal Splicer Automatic heatseal splicer for narrow web applications.
• CMSL-HS Heatseal Splicer Heatseal splicer for mid-web packaging applications.
• TMSL-HS Heatseal Splicer Heatseal splicer for narrow web specialty applications.
• STR Automatic Turret Rewind Automatic turret rewinder for continuous roll processing with flying transfer capability, designed for compact production environments.
• LRD Automatic Transfer Rewind Automatic transfer rewinder for mid-web applications with non-stop operation.
• LRH Automatic Transfer Rewind Automatic transfer rewinder for high-speed applications.
• RMAP Automatic Transfer Rewind Automatic transfer rewinder for narrow web processing.
• TR Flying Transfer Turret Rewind Flying transfer turret rewinder for high-speed continuous operation.
• Tension Control Systems Web tension control systems for maintaining consistent tension throughout the converting process.

Quantifiable outcome

• Saves 5-10% of material and 5-10 minutes per roll change
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments11 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Nordson Corporation: Nordson is a diversified precision technology company with products in adhesives, coatings, and test & inspection, including web handling and dispensing subsystems serving converting and packaging customers. It is a broader incumbent whose converting product lines overlap with Martin's web handling portfolio.
• Fives Group: Fives is a global industrial engineering group whose converting and printing machinery businesses (formerly parts of GE and others) serve the printing, packaging, and corrugated industries. As a broad incumbent with web and converting systems, it competes for similar large capital equipment projects.
• Comexi Group: Comexi is a Spanish manufacturer of printing, laminating, slitting, and rewinding equipment for flexible packaging. Its converting systems and rewinders directly serve the same flexible packaging customer base as Martin's splicers and rewind systems.
• Davis-Standard: Davis-Standard is a major global supplier of extrusion and converting machinery for plastics, paper, and specialty applications. Its converting systems integrate with splicing and winding equipment comparable to Martin's, making it a relevant broad incumbent peer.

Others

• Mark Andy: Mark Andy is a leading manufacturer of narrow web flexographic and digital hybrid printing presses. It is also a customer and OEM partner of Martin Automatic (Desmedt was the first Mark Andy digital hybrid press fitted with Martin non-stop unwind/splice technology), making it a key adjacent ecosystem participant.

Direct peers

• Maxcess: Maxcess is one of the closest direct peers to Martin Automatic, offering a broad portfolio of web handling products including unwind/rewind stands, splicing systems, tension control, web guiding, and rotary tooling for the converting, printing, and packaging industries. Both companies compete head-to-head in splicing and rewind technology.
• Erhardt+Leimer: Erhardt+Leimer is a German manufacturer of web guiding, tension control, and web inspection systems for printing, packaging, and converting lines. The company directly competes with Martin's tension control and splicing offerings and shares a similar European industrial customer base.
• Kampf Schneid- und Wickeltechnik: Kampf is a German manufacturer of slitting and winding machinery for films, paper, foil, and laminates, with a strong converting industry presence. Its slitter-rewinders and winding technology directly overlap with Martin's rewind product family for the same customer base.
• Atlas Converting Equipment: Atlas Converting Equipment manufactures high-performance slitting and rewinding machinery for film and paper converting. Its rewind systems directly compete with Martin's LRD, LRH, and turret rewind product families in the same narrow and mid-web converting applications.
• BST eltromat International: BST eltromat specializes in web guiding, video/web inspection, and color measurement systems for printing and converting. It is a direct peer in the web handling automation space where Martin Automatic sells splicers, rewinders, and tension controls into the same end customers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 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 Martin Automatic