Atec Automation Technology

What Atec Automation Technology does

Atec Automatisierungstechnik GmbH, doing business as Atec Neu-Ulm, is a family-owned German Mittelstand engineering company founded in 1994 and headquartered in Neu-Ulm, Germany. The company designs, builds, and commissions membrane filtration systems — covering microfiltration, ultrafiltration, and nanofiltration — primarily using cross-flow ceramic membrane technology organised around its proprietary modular Reihenmiditube (Row-miditube) architecture. Its core product platforms are the compact Atec Minitube for process bath treatment, the Atec Miditube cross-flow system for demanding industrial separations, containerised ultrafiltration units, and mobile drinking water plants for disaster relief and development aid. In parallel, Atec delivers full in-house industrial automation — from circuit design and control cabinet construction through PLC software, visualisation, VDE testing, and on-site commissioning — bundling filtration hardware with controls as a single-source solution.

The business is project-based and sales-led: technically experienced sales engineers consult with industrial customers in German-speaking markets (D/A/CH) on plant sizing and pilot testing, and service technicians handle installation and after-sales support on customer sites. Revenue is generated through one-time capital sales of custom-engineered filtration plants, supplemented by automation and control system integration work, and recurring process-bath care and wastewater treatment services. Named reference customers include ENKA GmbH & Co. KG (viscose fibre press liquor treatment), an Austrian carbide tool manufacturer, a German ceramic producer, a European brewery, and a hard coal power station, spanning automotive supply chain, metalworking, ceramics, food and beverage, and energy end-markets. The company has expanded its addressable market internationally via drinking water and disaster-relief deployments, supported by sustained participation in publicly funded research consortia (BMBF/BMWK) with partners such as Fraunhofer IKTS, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, and Institut Hohenstein.

Name

Atec Automation Technology

Legal name

Atec Automatisierungstechnik GmbH

Website

https://atec-nu.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Atec Automation Technology is a family-owned German Mittelstand firm that designs, builds, and commissions custom membrane filtration plants and in-house industrial automation for industrial process water, wastewater, and drinking water applications, serving enterprise customers primarily in the D/A/CH region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial water treatment equipment

NAICS

Industrial Machinery Manufacturing (3332), Industrial Machinery Manufacturing (33324), Automatic Environmental Control Manufacturing for Residential, Commercial, and Appliance Use (334512)

SIC

Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823), Misc Industrial & Commercial Machinery & Equipment (3590)

akta.pro primary industry

Separation & Filtration Equipment (Filters, Centrifuges, Membranes) (IMAHAEAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Water & Wastewater Treatment Plant Equipment (Clarifiers, Aeration, Membrane Systems) (IMAHAEAJ), Filtration (Rapid/Slow Sand, Media, Membrane Pretreatment) (EUANABAB), Industrial Wastewater & Effluent Treatment Services (BPALAHAD), Factory Automation Cells & Integrated Systems (Assembly, Welding, Painting Lines) (IMAHAHAL)

Keywords

• Membrane filtration systems
• Industrial water treatment
• Process water recycling
• Ceramic membrane filtration
• Wastewater treatment plants

Headquarters

HQ city

Neu-ulm

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Membrane Filtration Systems Sales: Sale of custom-built filtration plants for industrial water treatment, process water, wastewater, and drinking water applications. Includes pilot testing, on-site piloting, and industrial-scale implementation.
2. Automation and Control Solutions: Complete automation solutions for filtration plants and membrane filtration systems including control cabinet construction, software programming, visualization, electrical installation, and commissioning services.
3. Process Bath Treatment Services: Services for treatment of industrial process fluids including process bath care, wastewater treatment, and recycling solutions for caustic soda, acids, and other process liquids.
4. Custom Solutions and Special Equipment: As a specialist for custom solutions and individual systems, the company provides consultative sales and engineering services for specific applications.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Atec Automation Technology develops, manufactures, and commissions custom membrane filtration plants (microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration) using ceramic membranes for industrial process water treatment, wastewater recycling, and drinking water applications. The company also delivers complete industrial automation and control solutions for these plants, including control cabinet construction, software programming, visualization, electrical installation, and commissioning.

Product overview

Atec Neu-Ulm offers a comprehensive portfolio of membrane filtration products centered on microfiltration, ultrafiltration, and nanofiltration technologies. The core product line includes the compact Atec Minitube (fully automated, energy-saving system for process bath treatment), the modular Atec Miditube Cross-Flow System (using ceramic membranes for demanding industrial applications), and container-based ultrafiltration units for drinking water. The company also provides mobile drinking water treatment plants for disaster relief and develops custom automation and control systems for industrial plants. All products leverage the modular Reihenmiditube principle, allowing flexible configuration of filtration units with different membrane types for specialized applications.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Atec Minitube A compact, energy-saving, fully automated membrane filtration system designed for treating industrial process baths in parts cleaning applications, including degreasing, phosphatizing, rinsing, and pickling baths. Targeted at industrial manufacturers seeking circular management of process liquids.
• Atec Miditube Cross-Flow Filtration System A modular cross-flow filtration system using ceramic membranes for demanding industrial applications such as viscose fiber press liquor treatment, ceramic production grinding wastewater, and heavy metal removal. Features the Row-miditube/Reihenmiditube modular design for flexible configuration and capacity expansion.
• Container-Based Ultrafiltration Units Compact, ready-to-install standard containers housing complete ultrafiltration plants for drinking water treatment, designed for groundwater and surface water processing as well as seawater pretreatment. Targeted at municipalities, remote communities, and humanitarian deployments.
• Mobile Drinking Water Treatment Plants Portable and scalable water treatment units using submerged ceramic membranes for disaster relief and development aid applications, capable of delivering germ-free drinking water output at thousands of liters per hour.
• Microfiltration Systems Membrane filtration systems for removal of suspended solids, bacteria, and particulate contaminants from industrial process liquids, complementing Atec's broader membrane filtration product family.
• Ultrafiltration Systems Membrane filtration systems for protein, starch, and suspended solid removal in food industry applications and industrial wastewater treatment, forming part of Atec's modular filtration platform.
• Nanofiltration Systems Membrane filtration systems for desalination, mineral adjustment, and treatment of starchy wastewater to enable water reuse in production processes, available as part of Atec's modular filtration portfolio.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduction of fresh water consumption, wastewater volume, chemicals, and energy consumption through circular management of industrial process baths
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers5 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

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Fraunhofer IKTScoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Research partnership in the SäuReMemDest project for treatment of wastewater with volatile organic compounds and acid recycling through membrane distillation. Project duration 01.01.2021 to 30.06.2023, funded by Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).
• Institut HohensteincoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2019Research partner in HyprSTEP project for development of graphene-functionalized smart textile filters and polymer membranes for advanced wastewater treatment. Also partner in REWARD project for laundry wastewater recycling.
• NorafinminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2019Project partner in HyprSTEP joint project for development of functional coated filter textiles and membranes.
• PolymemTech Warsaw University of TechnologyminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2019Project partner in HyprSTEP joint project for advanced wastewater treatment using hybrid membrane technology.
• Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Lead partner in REWARD research project for development of sustainable recycling process for water and detergent components in commercial laundries, funded by BMBF.
• Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK)coreOthersFunding source for SäuReMemDest research project on acid recycling and membrane distillation technology.
• Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)coreOthersFunding source for REWARD research project for laundry wastewater treatment and recycling.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Donaldson Company: Donaldson manufactures industrial filtration equipment including liquid filtration and membrane-based systems for process water and parts cleaning, directly comparable to Atec's parts-cleaning bath and process-water filtration offerings.
• Toray Industries (Toray Membrane): Toray is a leading global manufacturer of polymeric reverse osmosis, nanofiltration, ultrafiltration, and microfiltration membranes used in industrial and drinking water treatment, competing with Atec in membrane-based water treatment.
• MANN+HUMMEL: Germany-headquartered global filtration specialist with industrial membrane and process filtration products, serving automotive, manufacturing, and water treatment customers — a closely comparable industrial filtration peer in the DACH region.
• EnviroChemie: German-based specialist in industrial water recycling, process water treatment, and wastewater reuse, with comparable DACH customer base and overlapping focus on closed-loop process bath and parts-cleaning applications.
• Pall Corporation (Danaher): Pall is a global leader in membrane filtration and separation technologies for industrial water, process fluids, and wastewater applications, directly overlapping with Atec's microfiltration, ultrafiltration, and nanofiltration product lines across similar industrial customer segments.
• Kubota (Membrane Systems): Kubota is a major supplier of submerged membrane bioreactor (MBR) systems for municipal and industrial wastewater treatment, directly comparable to Atec's ceramic-membrane MBR retrofit and wastewater treatment capabilities.

Broad incumbents

• Pentair: Pentair provides water filtration, treatment, and membrane systems for industrial, commercial, and residential applications, with overlap in industrial process water and ultrafiltration product lines.
• Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions: Veolia operates one of the broadest industrial and municipal water treatment portfolios globally, including membrane filtration, wastewater recycling, and process water solutions, making it a broad incumbent that competes with Atec on larger industrial projects.
• GEA Group: GEA is a German process equipment major with separation, membrane, and process-water technologies serving food, dairy, brewery, and industrial customers — overlapping with Atec's food & beverage and process bath applications.
• SUEZ Water Technologies & Solutions: SUEZ provides industrial water and wastewater treatment including membrane filtration, process water recycling, and specialty chemicals, addressing the same automotive, food & beverage, and heavy industry segments that Atec serves.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Atec Automation Technology