What Epistolio does

Epistolio Srl is an Italian industrial automation company headquartered in Varese, Italy, founded in 2000 by Dr. Attilio Epistolio in partnership with Gefran Spa. The company operates across four business divisions: (1) Dosing Units for plastic extrusion, comprising proprietary gravimetric and volumetric feeders (VLADY vibrating channel, MARU granule feeders, MARIUS powder feeders, KYARA batch gain-in-weight units, DYANA liquid dosing pumps, Recy-Feed recycling feeders); (2) Painting Robots, with the proprietary MRK self-learning robot and the WINSIX system integrating third-party Yaskawa or ABB robots with offline programming; (3) Internal Transport and Conveyors, encompassing roller, belt, chain, and custom conveyor systems acquired via BIMAC Srl in 2023; and (4) Industrial Solutions, distributing automation components from ABB (drives, motors, PLCs, servo products), Gefran (sensors, regulators, indicators), Dynisco (pressure and temperature measurement), and other brands.

The company's revenue model combines sales of customized proprietary hardware (painting robots, dosing systems, conveyors) with distribution of partner-brand automation components, supplemented by technical support, on-site training, scheduled maintenance, and a spare-parts outsourcing service. Pricing is quote-based and project-specific, with no public price list. The go-to-market is sales-led, targeting large and medium industrial enterprises and OEMs through direct field sales, channel partnerships (notably ABB Value Provider status), and local subsidiaries in China (Jiangsu Saimo EPI Robotics Co. Ltd in Xuzhou) and the United States (Lentz Machinery Group dba Epistolio USA in Claremont, NC).

The company serves vertical markets including plastic and rubber processing (twin-screw extrusion feeding, PET sheet lines, compound mixing, recycling — its primary sector), wooden furniture, automotive alloy wheel manufacturing, metal, ceramic and composites, and process industries (petrochemical, steel, naval, pulp and paper). It holds ISO 9001 certification, offers ATEX-certified equipment for explosive atmospheres, and provides UL-listed products for the US market. Proprietary software includes QUEUE-PRO for program-sequence management, EPI-SCAN/EPI-VISION for 2D/3D vision-guided robot trajectory generation, and MRK SIM for virtual painting-cell simulation.

Name

Epistolio

Legal name

Epistolio Srl

Website

https://epistolio.it

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Epistolio Srl is an Italian industrial automation company that designs and manufactures proprietary painting robots and gravimetric dosing systems, distributes ABB, Gefran, and Dynisco automation components, and supplies conveyor systems for plastics, rubber, metalworking, automotive, wood furniture, and process industries across Europe, North America, and Asia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Varese

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Industrial Automation Equipment Sales: Sale of proprietary industrial automation equipment including painting robots, gravimetric dosing systems, and conveyor systems. Equipment is customized to customer specifications.
2. Industrial Components Distribution: Distribution of industrial automation components from partner brands including ABB, Dynisco, Gefran, and other automation brands. Components include drives, motors, PLCs, sensors, and process control equipment.
3. Spare Parts and Outsourcing Service: Outsourcing service for slow-moving materials and spare parts for production plants. Provides economies of scale, flexible purchasing, reduced delivery times, and consolidated transportation.
4. Technical Support and Training: On-site training for customer personnel and scheduled maintenance programs. Remote assistance services and technical support through partners in various countries.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Epistolio designs, manufactures, and sells industrial automation equipment including proprietary painting robots (MRK self-learning and WINSIX offline-programming systems), gravimetric dosing units for plastic extrusion (VLADY, MARU, MARIUS, KYARA, DYANA, Recy-Feed series), and internal transport conveyor systems (roller, belt, chain, custom). The company also distributes third-party automation components from ABB, Gefran, and Dynisco, and provides technical support, training, and spare parts outsourcing services to industrial manufacturers.

Product overview

Epistolio Group is an industrial automation company offering four main product divisions: (1) Dosing Units for plastic extrusion including VLADY vibrating channel feeders, MARU/MARIUS gravimetric feeders, KYARA batch dosing units, and DYANA/Recy-Feed liquid and recycling feeders; (2) Painting Robots including MRK (self-learning) and WINSIX (with integrated third-party robots) systems with vision-based trajectory generation; (3) Conveyors including roller conveyors, belt conveyors, chain conveyors, and custom systems acquired through BIMAC; (4) Industrial Solutions distributing ABB, Gefran, Dynisco, and other automation brands. The company also provides proprietary software including QUEUE-PRO for production management, EPI-SCAN/EPI-VISION for vision-guided robotics, and MRK SIM for simulation. Epistolio operates as a single-source partner for automation solutions serving compound, recycling, extrusion, rubber, metalworking, and painting industries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• MRK Robot Self-learning painting robot for 3D components with joystick-based programming, designed for industrial manufacturers needing automated painting on complex surfaces without requiring robotics expertise. Features customizable arm lengths and integrated EPI-SCAN compatibility.
• WINSIX Robot Painting robot solution integrating third-party industrial robots (Yaskawa, ABB) with offline programming and automatic trajectory generation using EPI-VISION and EPI-SCAN vision systems. Targets manufacturers needing automated painting for large-scale production lines.
• KYARA Series Batch Dosing Units Compact and modular batch gain-in-weight feeders for weighing and mixing 1-6 products with high precision, controlled by Siemens PLC with touch-screen interface. Designed for industrial compound mixing applications.
• MARU Series Gravimetric Feeders Gravimetric loss-in-weight feeders for masterbatches and additives in granules with brushless motors, featuring flow rates from 500 gr/h to over 400 kg/h. Designed for plastic extrusion lines.
• MARIUS Series Gravimetric Feeders Loss-in-weight feeders for continuous dosing of sticky and low-flowing powders, available in single-screw or twin-screw versions with flow rates from few gr/h to over 5 ton/h and precision under 0.5%.
• VLADY Series Vibrating Channel Dosing Units Gravimetric loss-in-weight feeders with vibrating channels for dosing granules, regrinded materials and flakes. Available as single units or multi-component groups of 2-8 units with accelerometer vibration feedback and extruder flow rate synchronization.
• DYANA Liquid Dosing Pumps Dosing pumps for liquids such as plasticizers, acrylates, oils and silicones, available with piston (1-3 heads) or gear pumps with flow rates from 100 gr/h to over 300 kg/h.
• Recy-Feed Series Feeders specifically engineered for the recycling sector to dose regrinded products with low bulk densities at high percentages, available in auger or belt type with capacities up to 5 ton/h.
• Roller Conveyors (Rulliere) Customized internal transport systems for goods handling, including solutions for automotive alloy wheel production with motorized elevators, transfer systems, and pneumatic pushers.
• Belt Conveyors (Nastri) Conveyor belts for extrusion, mixing and calendering processes in tire, rubber and PVC industries, and metalworking sectors with metal slatted belts.
• Chain Conveyors (Trasportatori a catene) Heavy-duty chain conveyors for loads up to 5000 kg/m, often installed in surface treatment plants for moving heavy loads in difficult environments.
• Custom Conveyor Systems Customized conveyor solutions including elevators, tilters, tipping systems, scraper belts, and end-of-line systems with strapping, taping, weighing, labeling and sorting.

Quantifiable outcome

• Gravimetric dosing accuracy of +/- 0.25% to 0.5% (2 sigma)
• +3 more outcomes

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

AI capability5 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• BIMAC SrlcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Acquisition of BIMAC Srl of Gallarate (VA), a historic company specialized in design and production of conveyor belts and transport systems. Strengthened Epistolio's position in internal transport sector and enabled single partner positioning for automation solutions.
• HIDOS SrlcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2010Acquisition of HIDOS Srl marked Epistolio's entry into gravimetric dosing systems for thermoplastic material extrusion. HIDOS expertise integrated into Epistolio's product portfolio.
• GefrancoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2000Epistolio was founded in partnership with Gefran Spa. Since its inception, Epistolio has been Gefran's partner for distribution in Italy and abroad of sensors, regulators, and indicators for industrial processes, with particular focus on plastic extrusion industry. Gefran sensors measure main variables such as temperature, pressure, position, and force.
• ABB Motion DivisioncoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorEpistolio is a historic partner of ABB Motion Division and recognized as an ABB VALUE PROVIDER, a technical distributor providing high-quality sales and support solutions. Offers ABB low and medium voltage inverters, servo drives, servo motors, HMI, PLC, motors and energy efficiency solutions. Dedicated training and close collaboration with ABB ensures timely and precise local service.
• YaskawacoreTechnology or IntegrationYaskawa is a partner brand for industrial robots used in Epistolio's WINSIX painting robot system. Epistolio's software engineers develop painting applications using Yaskawa robots.
• ABBcoreTechnology or IntegrationABB robots (also in EEx version) are integrated into the WINSIX painting robot system. ABB drives and automation products are distributed by Epistolio as a channel partner.
• DyniscocoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorEpistolio is an official partner of Dynisco and offers innovative measurement solutions for plastics extrusion, processing, and process control applications. Dynisco sensors guarantee extremely high precision measurements at high temperatures using transducers that withstand extreme and corrosive production environments.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• ABB Robotics: ABB is a leading global supplier of industrial robots (including painting robots integrated by Epistolio into WINSIX), drives, PLCs, and motors. As both a key channel partner (ABB Value Provider) and a broad automation incumbent, ABB directly shapes Epistolio's competitive landscape.
• KUKA: KUKA is a major German industrial robot manufacturer whose painting robots compete with WINSIX, and whose broader automation portfolio overlaps with Epistolio's integrated line offerings. It is a larger incumbent serving many of the same automotive and metalworking customers.
• FlexLink (Coesia): FlexLink is a leading conveyor and material flow solutions provider for manufacturing and assembly operations, comparable to Epistolio's BIMAC conveyor division (roller, belt, chain conveyors) for industrial production lines.
• Yaskawa: Yaskawa is a global robot manufacturer whose Motoman painting robot arms are integrated by Epistolio into the WINSIX platform. As an upstream supplier and broad industrial automation incumbent, it represents both a partnership and competitive threat to Epistolio's painting robot division.

Direct peers

• Wittmann Battenfeld: Wittmann is a leading global supplier of auxiliary equipment for plastics processing, including gravimetric dosing/blending systems, material handling, and robotics — directly comparable to Epistolio's dosing and painting robot product lines serving the same plastics and injection molding customers.
• Flexicon: Flexicon manufactures bulk material handling equipment including gravimetric feeding and conveying systems for plastics, chemicals, and food. Its loss-in-weight feeders and flexible screw conveyors are comparable to Epistolio's dosing and conveyor portfolio in target applications.
• Coperion: Coperion manufactures compounding, extrusion, and feeding equipment for plastics and process industries, including gravimetric feeders. Its loss-in-weight feeders compete with Epistolio's MARU/MARIUS/KYARA product family in compound and extrusion lines.
• Piovan Group: Piovan is an Italian-headquartered competitor specializing in dosing, conveying, and process control equipment for plastics and food industries. Its gravimetric dosing and centralized material handling offerings directly overlap with Epistolio's dosing units and conveyor division.
• CMA Robotics: CMA Robotics is an Italian specialist in robotic painting systems for industrial finishing, including wood, plastic, metal and ceramics — directly comparable to Epistolio's MRK and WINSIX painting robots across the same target industries and applications.
• Motan Colortronic (Wittmann subsidiary): Motan is a European manufacturer of gravimetric dosing, blending, and conveying equipment for plastics extrusion and injection molding — closely matching Epistolio's VLADY, MARU, and MARIUS dosing products in target market and application.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights4 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Epistolio.robot.dosing
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/epistoliosrl

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Epistolio