PS Automation

What PS Automation does

PS Automation GmbH is a privately held German manufacturer and supplier of electric and electronic valve actuators, founded in 1989 and headquartered in Bad Dürkheim, Germany. The company engineers and produces a portfolio spanning smart actuators (PS-AMS platform), linear actuators (PSL, PSF, PSF-M, PSF-EX), quarter-turn actuators (PSQ, PSQ-E, PSR-E, PSF-Q, PSF-Q-M), Ex-proof (ATEX/IECEx) variants, and accessories, integrating brushless DC motors, electronic positioners, electronic position transmitters, on-board process controllers, and Power-Fail-Safe functionality into a unified platform with broad industrial fieldbus support (ProfibusDP, Profinet, HART, Modbus, CANopen). Its product architecture is differentiated by an integrated control stack (PSAP positioner, PSPT transmitter, PSIC process controller, PSCP Power-Fail-Safe, PSC.2/PSC.3 on-site controls) delivered in a single actuator, reducing the need for external controllers and safety hardware.

PS Automation sells engineered-to-order hardware to valve OEMs, EPCs, and end users in process industries, with primary verticals in water and wastewater, power generation, chemical and petrochemical, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, shipbuilding, and industrial utilities. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed, consistent with engineered industrial B2B practice, and the company monetizes primarily through hardware sales, custom-engineered project solutions, and aftermarket spares/service. The company holds ISO 9001 (since 2001) and ISO 14001 (since 2018) certifications audited by TÜV Hessen, and carries a Dun & Bradstreet international AA1 rating.

Go-to-market combines an event-driven presence at major global valve trade shows (IVS Bergamo 2026, VALVE WORLD EXPO Düsseldorf and Americas, Valve World India), engineering-led direct field sales to OEMs/EPCs/end users, and international distribution partners including PS Automazione S.r.l. (Italy), MX Servicios para Control de Procesos (Chile), an Indian subsidiary, and German trading partner Miat Trading GMBH. The company is currently undergoing a leadership transition, with internal successors Sebastian Happel and Pascal Herlan taking over as Managing Directors effective June 1, 2026 following the August 2023 retirement of co-founder Max Schmidhuber.

Name

PS Automation

Legal name

PS Automation GmbH

Website

https://ps-automation.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

PS Automation GmbH is a privately held German manufacturer of electric and electronic valve actuators, founded in 1989 and headquartered in Bad Dürkheim, serving OEMs, EPCs, and end users in water, power, chemical, pharmaceutical, food, shipbuilding, and industrial utilities via its integrated PS-AMS smart actuator platform and direct plus channel partner sales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Valve Actuators

NAICS

Instruments and Related Products Manufacturing for Measuring, Displaying, and Controlling Industrial Process Variables (334513), Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing (33451), Relay and Industrial Control Manufacturing (335314)

SIC

Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823), Measuring & Controlling Devices, Nec (3829)

akta.pro primary industry

Process Automation Instrumentation & Control (DCS, Valves, Actuators, Analyzers) (IMAHAHAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Industrial Controllers & Control Systems (PLCs, PACs, CNC Controllers) (IMAHAHAH), Instrumentation, Controls & Automation (DCS/PLC/SCADA, SIS, Metering) (EUAEAFAC)

Keywords

• Electric valve actuators
• Process automation equipment
• Smart actuator platforms
• Explosion-proof actuators
• Industrial flow control

Headquarters

HQ city

Bad Dürkheim

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Hardware sales of valve actuators and accessories: Sale of PS Automation's core product lines: Smart Actuators, Linear Actuators, Quarter-turn Actuators, Ex-Proof Actuators, and accessories, sold as engineered units to valve OEMs, EPCs, and industrial end users. The dominant revenue stream.
2. Custom-engineered solutions and project-based sales: Project-based custom-engineered actuator solutions tailored to specific customer requirements (e.g., the custom solution delivered to Trimteck, LLC and maritime innovation work with Feen Marine). Billed as one-off hardware and engineering packages.
3. Aftermarket spares, accessories, and service: Sale of accessories, spare parts, and associated service for the installed base of PS Automation actuators across process industries and shipyards.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

PS Automation develops, manufactures, and supplies a comprehensive portfolio of electric and electronic valve actuators — including smart (PS-AMS), linear (PSL/PSF), quarter-turn (PSQ/PSF-Q), and explosion-proof (PSF-EX, PS-AMS2 PSQ EX) variants — engineered in Germany and sold to valve OEMs, EPCs, and industrial end users in water, power, chemical, pharmaceutical, food, and shipbuilding markets. The company's core competency is engineering transmissions with electronic control systems and application knowledge for continuous-duty process plants.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• PS-AMS: Smart (intelligent/parametrizable) electronic actuator platform for linear and quarter-turn applications, including PS-AMS PSL, PS-AMS PSQ, and PS-AMS2 PSQ EX variants.
• PSF / PSF-M
• PSL
• PSQ / PSQ-E / PSR-E
• PSCP (PS-AMS Power Fail-Safe Device)
• PSCS (Communication Software)

Products and services

• PS-AMS Smart Actuators
• Linear Actuators (PSL, PSF, PSF-M series)
• Quarter-turn Actuators (PSQ, PSQ-E, PSR-E, PSF-Q, PSF-Q-M)
• Ex-Proof Actuators (PSF-EX, PSF-M-EX, PSF-M410-EX, PSF-Q-M80-EX, PS-AMS2 PSQ EX) ATEX/IECEx certified explosion-proof electric actuators for hazardous-area valve automation in chemical, petrochemical, oil & gas, and pharmaceutical environments. Covers linear and quarter-turn variants with mechanical failsafe or manual override.
• PSCP Power-Fail-Safe System (PSQ1003AMS) Integrated Power-Fail-Safe device that maintains actuator position and operation during power loss, supporting safe process shutdown and restart. Available as a built-in feature on the PSQ1003AMS quarter-turn smart actuator.
• PS Automation Product Configurator Web-based tool for online selection, configuration, and validation of PS Automation actuators, allowing customers to specify the right actuator-valve combination and request quotes digitally.

Quantifiable outcome

• 30+ years of continuous independent operation on the market
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature10 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Sebastian Happel and Pascal HerlancoreOthers · 1 June 2026Appointed as Managing Directors of PS Automation GmbH effective June 1, 2026, succeeding the previous leadership (Christian Schmidhuber as CEO with Max Schmidhuber as co-founder having retired, and Andreas Reuter as interim MD). This is a leadership/governance change rather than a commercial partnership.
• PS Automazione S.r.l.coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLong-time Italian distribution and integration partner for PS Automation, represented by Luca Tononi. PS Automazione S.r.l. provides local sales, application engineering, and support for PS Automation's smart, linear, and quarter-turn actuators in the Italian process industry and valve OEM market.
• MX Servicios para Control de ProcesoscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorChilean channel partner distributing and supporting PS Automation actuation products for the Chilean and South American process industry market.
• Miat Trading GMBHminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTrading partner deploying PSQ series actuators to its customers, providing an additional route to market for PS Automation's quarter-turn actuator line.
• Dun & BradstreetminorOthersGlobal business data and analytics provider that assigns PS Automation an international rating of AA1, used as a third-party signal of creditworthiness and low business risk.
• TÜV HessencoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerIndependent certification body that has audited PS Automation's quality (DIN EN ISO 9001 since 2001) and environmental (DIN EN ISO 14001 since 2018) management systems for over 20 years.
• AssentiominorGTM or Marketing PartnerStrategic partner supporting PS Automation's brand photography and visual content production.
• steinbach.MEDIAminorGTM or Marketing PartnerVideo production partner producing PS Automation's product, brand, and event video content distributed via YouTube and other channels.
• Schulhilfswerk für Afrika e.V.minorOthersCharitable partner organization that PS Automation supports as part of its corporate social responsibility activities.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Flowserve: Flowserve is a large flow-control specialist with electric and pneumatic actuator offerings, overlapping with PS Automation in process-industry valve actuation for power, chemical, and water markets.
• Siemens (Process Industries): Siemens provides industrial automation, drives, and valve actuation products as part of a broad industrial portfolio, serving many of the same water, chemical, and power customers as PS Automation.
• Honeywell Process Solutions: Honeywell supplies process automation hardware and software including electric actuators for valves used in refining, chemicals, and power, competing with PS Automation in integrated plant automation solutions.
• ABB Process Industries: ABB offers electric actuators and drives within a broad industrial automation and electrification portfolio, with overlapping applications in water, power, and process industries served by PS Automation.
• Emerson Electric (Fisher & Bettis Actuators): Emerson's Fisher and Bettis lines offer electric and electro-hydraulic actuators as part of a broader process automation portfolio, competing with PS Automation in valve automation for oil & gas, chemical, and power applications.

Direct peers

• SAMSON Controls: SAMSON is a German manufacturer of control valves and associated actuators used in process industries, overlapping directly with PS Automation in valve automation for chemical, power, and water applications.
• Biffi (Crane Co.): Biffi, part of Crane Co., manufactures electric, pneumatic, and hydraulic valve actuators for oil & gas and process industries, directly comparable to PS Automation in hazardous-area and process-industry actuator applications.
• AUMA Riester: AUMA is a German specialist manufacturer of electric actuators for valve automation, serving water, power, oil & gas, and process industries — a direct comparable to PS Automation in product scope, customer base, and German-engineered positioning.
• Rotork: Rotork is the global market leader in electric valve actuators and process control gearboxes, directly competing with PS Automation in linear, quarter-turn, and smart actuator categories for water, power, and process industries.
• Schiebel Antriebstechnik: Schiebel is an Austrian specialist in electric valve actuators and control systems for process industries, comparable to PS Automation in product scope, target verticals, and small/mid-sized European specialist positioning.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCUCfQ_Fu85eGt1R2-mSpsAA
• LinkedInde.linkedin.com/company/ps-automation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 PS Automation