ERMAFA Special Machine and Plant Construction

What ERMAFA Special Machine and Plant Construction does

ERMAFA Sondermaschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH is a privately held German special-machinery and plant-engineering manufacturer founded in 1837 and headquartered in Chemnitz. With approximately 90 employees across two German locations and a corporate group of four additional DACH-based partner companies, the company designs and builds both standardized and individually engineered machines covering the full lifecycle of rubber, elastomer, and plastics products — from mixing and calendering through extrusion, vulcanization, and recycling.

The core product portfolio includes internal mixers, rolling mills, calenders, rotary vulcanization presses, and twin-screw extruders (throughput 10–10,000 kg/h), supplemented by turnkey plant projects such as PVC window profile plants (40,000 t/year capacity, 90–95% availability) and tire recycling plants (24,000 t/year). Differentiated proprietary technologies include the Reactruder (thermomechanical elastomer recycling with sub-400 µm output, up to 30% new-material replacement), the patented UD-Tape direct impregnation process for fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites, the MACS autoclave for on-site medical waste sterilization (SAL 10⁻⁶), and a co-developed hydraulic lightweight press with IWC. In-house automation spans PLC programming (Siemens TIA Portal, CODESYS) and robot commissioning (ABB, Kuka, Fanuc), with predictive maintenance and Industry 4.0 integration positioned as service differentiators.

ERMAFA generates revenue through one-time sales of custom and standard machinery, multi-year plant-engineering contracts (with milestone payments of 30/60/10), and recurring service, retrofit, and consulting engagements. The go-to-market is direct enterprise sales to rubber, plastics, automotive, recycling, and healthcare customers, supported by trade show participation (notably IFAT Munich 2026) and membership in VDMA, WDK, and the Azur Allianz Reifen tire recycling alliance. The firm is privately held with no disclosed external investors, no parent company, and no M&A history in the available data.

Name

ERMAFA Special Machine and Plant Construction

Legal name

ERMAFA Sondermaschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH

Website

https://ermafa.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1837

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

ERMAFA is a privately held German special-machinery and plant-engineering manufacturer (founded 1837, ~90 employees) designing custom and standard machines for rubber, elastomer, plastics, recycling, and medical waste customers across the DACH region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Special Machinery and Plant Engineering

NAICS

All Other Miscellaneous General Purpose Machinery Manufacturing (333998)

SIC

Special Industry Machinery (No Metalworking Machinery) (3550)

akta.pro primary industry

Recycling Equipment & Turnkey Reprocessing Systems (Extruders, Wash Lines) (IMANAMAI)

Keywords

• Special machine construction
• Rubber processing machinery
• Plastics processing equipment
• Tire recycling plants
• Plant engineering solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Chemnitz

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Custom Special Machines: Sale of individually designed and built special-purpose machines for rubber, elastomer, and plastics processing. Revenue is generated through one-time project-based sales with close customer collaboration from concept to commissioning. Long-term lifecycle support and service contracts provide ongoing revenue.
2. Standard Machines: Sale of standardized machine models including internal mixers, rolling mills, calenders, rotary presses, and extruders. One-time hardware sales with optional service, maintenance, and spare parts contracts.
3. Plant Engineering (Komplettlösungen): Complete plant solutions from planning to commissioning for production and recycling facilities. High-value project contracts, e.g., PVC window profile production plants with annual capacity of 40,000 tonnes. Includes process automation and control systems.
4. Service, Maintenance & Retrofit: Service including maintenance, repair, spare parts, and retrofitting of existing machines. Covers predictive maintenance, fast repairs, and modernization of outdated control systems to modern CNC technology.
5. Engineering & Consulting Services: Advisory, planning, feasibility studies, process optimization, and prototype production. Provided during project phases or as standalone consulting engagements.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

ERMAFA designs, manufactures, and commissions custom special-purpose machines and complete plant systems for the rubber, elastomer, and plastics processing industries. The portfolio spans standard machines (internal mixers, rolling mills, calenders, rotary presses, twin-screw extruders), complete recycling plants (Reactruder, tire recycling, waste oil, MACS autoclave), turnkey production plants (PVC window profiles, hydraulic lightweight press, UD-tape systems), and integrated automation solutions with full lifecycle service and retrofit support.

Product overview

ERMAFA Special Machine and Plant Construction (Sondermaschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH) is a German machinery manufacturer with over 180 years of experience offering a comprehensive portfolio of standard machines and individualized special machines. The core product lineup includes Internal Mixers, Rolling Mills, Calendars, Rotary Presses, and Twin-Screw Extruders for rubber and plastics processing. ERMAFA also provides complete recycling solutions including the Reactruder for elastomers, Tire Recycling Plants (24,000 tons/year capacity), X5 Waste Oil Recycling Systems, and MACS Autoclaves for medical waste. The plant engineering division delivers turnkey production plants such as PVC Window Profile Production Plants (up to 40,000 tons/year), Hydraulic Lightweight Presses, and UD-Tape Systems for composite materials. Supporting the machinery portfolio are Automation Solutions integrating industrial robots and PLC systems, and comprehensive Service & Maintenance including Retrofit offerings for modernizing existing equipment. The company operates from two locations in Germany with over 90 employees.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ERMAFA Sondermaschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH: Full company legal and trading name for German operations
• Auerbach Werkzeugmaschinen
• MACS (Machine Autoclave Cutting Sterilization)

Products and services

• Internal Mixer (Innenmischer) Rubber processing machines with efficient rotor geometry designs for mixing rubber and elastomer materials, used by rubber product manufacturers and tire producers as the first step in the rubber product lifecycle.
• Rolling Mills (Walzwerke) Mixing mills for processing rubber and rubber-like materials such as rubber or silicone, designed to DIN EN 1417 standards and optimized for integration into the production chain.
• Calender (Kalander) Machines for smoothing, thickness calibration, coating, and finishing rubber and plastic products, featuring precise digital control systems and compliant with DIN EN 12301:2019 standards.
• Rotary Presses (Rotationspressen) Rotary vulcanization presses for high-quality vulcanizing of elastomer materials and thermoplastics, used for sealing sheets, roofing membranes, floor coverings, and conveyor belts.
• Twin-Screw Extruder Counter-rotating and co-rotating twin-screw extruders for PVC compounding and pelletizing, with throughput rates from 10 to 10,000 kg/h, screw speeds up to 1,200 rpm, and high-performance vacuum degassing.
• Reactruder ERMAFA's proprietary thermomechanical recycling technology for processing elastomers without chemical additives, producing recycled material with grain size below 400 µm and enabling up to 30% replacement of new material without quality loss.
• Tire Recycling Plant Fully automated plants for processing used tires and rubber-containing materials to recover high-quality secondary raw materials, with annual throughput capacity of 24,000 tonnes of used tires per year.
• X5 Waste Oil Recycling System Specialized system for efficient treatment and reprocessing of waste oils and similar media, designed with high process stability and robust industrial construction for the recycling industry.
• MACS Autoclave Medical waste treatment system combining steam sterilization with fractional pre-vacuum and integrated mechanical shredding for on-site safe waste processing, achieving Sterility Assurance Level SAL=10^-6.
• Automation Solutions Individual automation solutions including industrial robots, conveyor technology, intelligent control systems, PLC programming (Siemens TIA Portal, CODESYS), and robot commissioning (ABB, Kuka, Fanuc) for increased productivity and flexibility.
• Plant Engineering (Anlagenbau) Complete plant solutions from planning to commissioning, including customized process solutions and automation of production sections or entire systems, delivered as turnkey projects.
• PVC Window Profile Production Plant Complete production plant for PVC window profiles with up to 40,000 tonnes/year capacity, featuring twin-screw extruders, profile tools, calibration tables, and automated storage systems, designed for 90–95% system availability under 4-shift continuous operation.
• Hydraulic Lightweight Press Innovation in forming technology co-developed with IWC that requires no foundation or basement, minimizing space requirements, enabling quick installation and flexible location adaptation, with investment cost savings up to 40% and unit cost reduction up to 30%.
• UD-Tape System

Quantifiable outcome

• Reactruder enables up to 30% replacement of new material without quality loss in rubber recycling
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

AI capability2 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau (VDMA)minorOthersERMAFA is a member of VDMA, the German Mechanical and Plant Engineering Association, which represents the interests of the German mechanical engineering industry.
• Wirtschaftsverband der deutschen Kautschukindustrie e.V. (WDK)minorOthersERMAFA is a member of the German Rubber Industry Association, representing and supporting the rubber processing sector.
• Azur Allianz ReifenminorOthersERMAFA is a member of the Azur tire industry alliance, a cooperation network focused on tire recycling and the circular economy.
• Auerbach WerkzeugmaschinenminorOthersERMAFA includes Auerbach Werkzeugmaschinen (machine tools) as part of its group of companies, operating under the ERMAFA umbrella.
• IWC (Innovations- und Wissenschaftliches Centrum)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerERMAFA collaborated with IWC to develop the hydraulic lightweight press — a special innovation in forming technology that requires no foundation or basement, reducing space requirements and installation time.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• VMI Group: Netherlands-headquartered tire and rubber machinery manufacturer covering building machines and testing equipment. Comparable customer overlap in tire manufacturers; complementary on rubber processing scope.
• POMINI Rubber & Plastics: Italian-built manufacturer of internal mixers, rolling mills, and calenders specifically for rubber and tire production. Direct competitor to ERMAFA's core rubber-processing machinery portfolio with comparable throughput specifications.
• TROESTER Group: German specialist in rubber processing machinery - calenders, extruders, tire production lines - with deep overlap to ERMAFA's rotary presses, calenders, and tire recycling plant offerings. Comparable German Mittelstand profile.
• KraussMaffei: German machinery manufacturer offering compounding, extrusion, and rubber/plastics processing equipment directly overlapping ERMAFA's core portfolio. Comparable on customer base (tire makers, plastics converters) and on full-plant engineering scope for polymer processing.
• HF Mixing Group (Harburg Freudenberger): Specialized manufacturer of internal mixers and complete mixing room technology for the tire and rubber industry - the closest direct competitor to ERMAFA's internal mixers and rolling mills product lines.
• Coperion (K-Tron): Global leader in compounding and extrusion systems, including twin-screw extruders for PVC/rubber compounding that directly compete with ERMAFA's twin-screw extruder line (10-10,000 kg/h). Same DACH origins and overlapping plastics-processing customer base.

Emerging players

• Untha Shredding Technology: Austrian manufacturer of industrial shredders and recycling systems - adjacent competitor for the size-reduction stage of ERMAFA's tire recycling plants. Comparable recycling market positioning in DACH.
• Rubber injection molding machinery (China-based players): Lower-cost Chinese and Indian entrants (e.g., Wuxi Xinje, Sanyu, Guangdong Yizumi) increasingly offering standard rubber-mixing and injection equipment at significant price discounts. They represent margin pressure on ERMAFA's standardized components but not its custom Sondermaschinenbau.

Broad incumbents

• KMT Waterjet / Bystronic: Broader industrial machinery incumbents whose engineering, automation, and integration capabilities are comparable to ERMAFA's plant engineering scope, though operating in non-overlapping end-markets (sheet metal vs. rubber/plastics). Useful comparable for capital intensity and project lifecycle revenue model.
• Dieffenbacher: German plant engineering group supplying wood-based panels, automotive (forming), and recycling systems. Adjacent to ERMAFA in automotive lightweighting (forming technology) and recycling plant scope, with broader industrial exposure.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ermafa-sondermaschinen--und-anlagenbau-gmbh
• Facebookfacebook.com/AuerbachMaschinenfabrikGmbh

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries2 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 ERMAFA Special Machine and Plant Construction