Lübbers

What Lübbers does

Lübbers Anlagen- und Umwelttechnik GmbH is a privately held German specialty plant-engineering company (Anlagenbauer) founded in 1909 in Bad Langensalza, Thuringia, and family-owned across three generations. It designs, manufactures, and services stainless-steel process equipment for the food (notably dairy and infant formula), pharmaceutical, and chemical industries, operating from a German headquarters with a wholly-owned sales office in the Netherlands serving Benelux customers. The company states 60 employees, 57 active plant locations in the installed base, and 1,527 cumulative projects delivered to leading international producers.

The product portfolio is anchored in three core process technologies: spray drying (Sprühtrocknung) with evaporation capacities from 50 to 5,500 kg/h in single- and multi-stage configurations; evaporation (Eindampfung) with capacities from 1 to 40 t/h, including mechanical (MBV) and thermal (TBV) vapor recompression; and industrial heat pumps (Wärmepumpen) delivering 1–30 MW of heating output up to 250°C with COP above 5, positioned for NET-ZERO operation and waste-heat recovery. Spray drying and evaporation plants can be co-integrated on a single site and coupled with industrial heat pumps. Supporting lifecycle offerings include Modernization/retrofit services with Quick Scan analyses and Basic/Detail Engineering, aftermarket Service (spare parts, maintenance, consulting), and a Safety Engineering (Sicherheitstechnik) line covering fire protection, HAZOP and risk analyses, crack and vacuum testing, and safety training.

Lübbers generates revenue through quote-based, custom-engineered capital-equipment projects (one-time new builds) supplemented by modernization/retrofit project work, spare-parts and maintenance supply across the installed base, and engineering/consulting services including safety engineering. Pricing is not publicly disclosed; engagements are individually scoped based on capacity, customization, and process requirements, with multi-year contract cadences typical for modernization work. Go-to-market is enterprise field sales into regulated industrial buyers, with no public listing, no outside investors, and no app, SDK, or API products.

Name

Lübbers

Legal name

Lübbers Anlagen- und Umwelttechnik GmbH

Website

https://luebbers.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1909

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Lübbers is a German family-owned specialty plant engineer, founded 1909 in Bad Langensalza, designing and manufacturing stainless-steel spray drying, evaporation, and industrial heat pump systems for leading international producers in the food, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial process equipment

akta.pro primary industry

Industrial Drying & Evaporation Equipment (Dryers, Evaporators, Crystallizers) (IMAHAEAD)

Keywords

• Spray drying equipment
• Evaporation systems
• Industrial heat pumps
• Process plant engineering
• Dairy processing equipment

Headquarters

HQ city

Bad Langensalza

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Capital Equipment Sales (New Builds): One-time project sales of new spray drying and evaporation plants, plus industrial heat pump systems, delivered as custom-engineered capital projects (e.g., compact spray drying plant for dairy products in southern Germany).
2. Modernization & Retrofit Projects: Project-based revenue from plant modernization, including Quick Scan analyses, Basic and Detail Engineering, retrofit of evaporators and process upgrades that extend the service life of customer assets and reduce OPEX.
3. Spare Parts & Maintenance Support: Recurring/aftermarket revenue from supply of spare parts and ongoing maintenance support for the installed base across 57 plant locations.
4. Engineering & Consulting Services: Customer consulting in spray drying, evaporation and heat pump domains, including Quickscan analysis, basic and detail planning, plus safety engineering services such as HAZOP and crack/vacuum testing.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Core offering

Lübbers designs, engineers and builds custom stainless-steel process plants for spray drying (50–5,500 kg/h evaporation) and evaporation (1–40 t/h), as well as industrial heat pumps (1–30 MW heating output) capable of NET ZERO operation up to 250°C. The company delivers new-build capital projects, modernization and retrofit services, spare parts, maintenance support, and safety engineering (HAZOP, crack and vacuum testing) to industrial customers in the food, dairy/infant formula, pharmaceutical, and chemical sectors.

Product overview

Lübbers operates as a specialized plant engineering (Anlagenbau) provider rather than a unified software platform, offering a portfolio of closely interlinked process technology modules: Sprühtrocknung (Spray Drying) and Eindampfung (Evaporation) form the core new-build offerings and can be combined on a single site, while Wärmepumpen (Industrial Heat Pumps) are provided as a complementary technology — both as standalone NET-ZERO solutions up to 250°C and as an energy-recovery add-on integrable with spray drying and evaporation plants. The Modernisierung offering retrofits and upgrades existing installations across all three core technologies, supported by Service (consulting, Quickscan, engineering, spare parts, maintenance) and Sicherheitstechnik (safety engineering, HAZOP, testing, training). Together these six named offerings cover the full lifecycle — from new plant construction and process integration to modernization, operation, and safety — primarily serving the food, dairy/infant formula, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries across 57 plant locations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sprühtrocknung (Spray Drying) Custom-engineered spray drying plants with evaporation capacities from 50 to 5,500 kg/h, available in single-stage and multi-stage configurations, designed for dairy/infant formula, food and fine chemicals applications with focus on energy efficiency, NET ZERO targets and integration with industrial heat pumps.
• Eindampfung (Evaporation) Custom evaporation systems with capacities from 1 to 40 t/h, available in low, medium and high-heat configurations, supporting MBV (mechanical vapor recompression), TBV (thermal vapor recompression) and heat pump integration, with energy efficiency and NET ZERO focus, optionally integrated with spray drying lines.
• Wärmepumpen (Industrial Heat Pumps) Industrial heat pumps with heating output from 1 to 30 MW, enabling NET ZERO operation up to 250°C, recovering waste heat with COP above 5, available in multi-stage and custom configurations for various industrial sectors.
• Modernisierung (Modernization / Retrofit) Retrofit and modernization services that optimize process performance, safety, hygiene, service life and cleaning while improving production capacity and product quality, reducing OPEX and replacing plant components on existing spray drying, evaporation and heat pump installations.
• Service Lifecycle services covering customer consulting in spray drying, evaporation and heat pump domains, including Quickscan analyses, basic and detailed engineering, spare parts supply and maintenance support for the installed base across 57 plant locations.
• Sicherheitstechnik (Safety Engineering) Plant safety services including fire protection, HAZOP and risk analyses, crack tests, vacuum tests and safety training to ensure safe operation of spray drying, evaporation and heat pump installations.

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Alfa Laval: Swedish multinational specializing in heat transfer, separation, and fluid handling — including evaporation, heat pump, and dairy processing equipment. Overlaps with Lübbers' evaporation and industrial heat pump offerings, particularly for dairy and chemical customers.
• SPX FLOW: Global supplier of process equipment including evaporation and drying technologies for food, dairy, and chemical industries. Directly comparable in evaporation and spray drying product lines, with a broader portfolio and global scale.
• Stork (a Fluor company): Engineering and process services provider for food, dairy, and chemical industries, including spray drying plant construction and modernization. Comparable to Lübbers in project-based capital equipment delivery to industrial processors.
• Andritz Group: Global supplier of plant, equipment, and services for industries including food, chemical, and environmental — with separation, drying, and evaporation technologies directly comparable to Lübbers' core stack.
• GEA Group: Global large-cap supplier of process technology for food, dairy, and chemical industries, including spray drying and evaporation systems. Overlaps directly with Lübbers' core spray drying and evaporation offerings but serves a vastly broader customer base with a much larger portfolio.
• Bühler Group: Swiss family-owned process technology and equipment provider for food and feed industries with deep spray drying expertise serving dairy and infant formula markets — a direct adjacent competitor to Lübbers in spray drying plant construction and modernization.
• GEA Heat Pumps / Industrial Energy Solutions: Industrial heat pump offerings within GEA's portfolio that compete directly with Lübbers' Wärmepumpen (1–30 MW) product line, particularly for food, dairy, and chemical customers seeking NET-ZERO solutions.

Emerging players

• Vobis Engineers: European engineering firm focused on process plant solutions for food, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries, including drying and evaporation technologies. Comparable as a smaller specialist peer overlapping with parts of Lübbers' product and customer footprint.

Direct peers

• Dedert Corporation: US-based specialist engineering firm supplying evaporation, drying, and process plant equipment to food, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries. Comparable as a mid-sized specialist in the same process technologies as Lübbers, with a regional rather than European geographic focus.
• SiccaDania: Danish specialist in spray drying, evaporation, and process plant engineering serving food, dairy, and chemical end markets. Closest direct peer to Lübbers in product scope, customer segments, and Mittelstadt-style specialty engineering positioning.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 record

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 Lübbers