Delsa

What Delsa does

Delsa srl is a privately held Italian industrial automation manufacturer founded in 1982 and headquartered in Grantola, province of Varese. The company designs and builds custom special machines for the decoration, assembly, and handling of plastic parts, with a primary focus on the cosmetics, beauty packaging, and packaging industries and secondary exposure to automotive, appliance, and general industrial customers. Its product portfolio comprises five lines: hot stamping machines for decorating flat, cylindrical, and shaped plastic surfaces; automated assembly machines (rotary tables, pallet chains, vibratory feeders); material-handling automation including depalletizers, tray formers, and blade elevators; Tampograf-branded pad printing (tampografia) machines acquired in 2014; and third-party CNC machining, turning, and grinding services operated since 2004.

All machinery is built in-house at the 3,250 sqm Grantola facility, spanning 3D CAD design, electro-pneumatic schematics, PLC programming, CNC machining, mechanical and electrical assembly, and final customer-witnessed testing. The Tampograf product line adds proprietary technology including a patented airtight inkwell with two-lip ceramic scraping rings and intelligent multi-level pad systems. Delsa sells bespoke, quote-priced machines through direct technical consultation, supported by multilingual website presence and trade fair participation at PLAST (Milan) and Cosmoprof (Bologna), with 1,600+ machines shipped to more than 20 countries over four decades.

The company is wholly owned and operated by founder Dante Dellea, coordinates 20 employees across three departments, and is ISO 9001:2015 certified through ACCREDIA. Registered as an Italian srl with a nominal €10,400 share capital, Delsa has never raised external funding and reinvests profits to expand infrastructure and product capabilities. Revenue is not publicly disclosed; the business model combines one-time machine sales, an installed-base stream of consumables (clichés, films, heat transfers, silicone pads, inks), and external machining services.

Name

Delsa

Legal name

delsa srl

Website

https://delsaautomazioni.it

Company type

Private

Founded year

1982

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Delsa srl is an Italian industrial automation SME that designs and builds custom hot stamping, pad printing, assembly, and material-handling machines for cosmetics, packaging, and plastics manufacturers, selling direct to industrial customers across 20+ countries since 1982.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Varese

HQ country

Italy

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, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Custom industrial machinery sales: Design, manufacture, and sale of custom special machines including hot stamping machines, assembly machines, automation systems, and tampography machines. Each machine is built to customer specifications with pricing based on complexity, features, and production requirements. Machines include accessories such as clichés, films, heat transfers, and consumables.
2. Mechanical processing services for third parties: Since 2004, the company offers machining services for external customers. Services include CNC work, turning, cylindrical and flat grinding, and other mechanical operations on aluminum alloys, steels, cast irons, and plastics. Both large series (50-100 pieces) and complex/long-cycle parts (30-60+ minutes) are processed.
3. Accessories and consumables: Supply of accessories related to hot stamping (clichés, films, heat transfers) and tampography (silicone pads, photopolymer clichés, bromographs, inks, catalysts, thinners). Provides ongoing revenue from consumables and replacement parts.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Delsa designs, manufactures, and sells custom industrial automation machinery for the plastic-parts industry, including hot stamping machines, automated assembly machines, tampography (pad printing) machines acquired with the Tampograf brand, and material-handling automation systems. Since 2004 the company has also offered third-party mechanical processing services (CNC work, turning, grinding) on aluminum, steel, cast iron, and plastic materials.

Product overview

Delsa is an industrial automation company that manufactures custom machinery for plastic decoration and assembly operations. The product portfolio centers on five core product lines: (1) Hot Stamping Machines for decorating flat, cylindrical, and shaped plastic surfaces via heat and pressure transfer; (2) Assembly Machines for automated product assembly, particularly cosmetics items; (3) Automation Machines for material handling operations including depalletizers, tray formers, and packaging equipment; (4) Tampograf Pad Printing Machines (acquired in 2014) for pad printing decoration using silicone pads; and (5) Mechanical Processing Services for third-party CNC machining. The company also produces specific sub-models under each category with varying capacities, cadences, and specifications. Construction of all machinery is performed in-house from mechanical/electrical design through final assembly.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Tampograf: Historic pad printing (tampografia) machine brand acquired by Delsa in 2014, operating since 1968

Products and services

• Hot Stamping Machines Industrial machines that automatically decorate plastic items using hot stamping — transferring colored films onto flat, cylindrical, or shaped surfaces through combined pressure (up to 5,600 kg pneumatic heads) and heat, eliminating the need for inks or varnishes. Targeted at industrial customers in packaging, cosmetics, automotive components, and appliances; offers cadences up to 2,400 items/hour depending on configuration.
• Assembly Machines Automated machines for assembling products — particularly cosmetics items such as lipsticks, mascara/lip-gloss brushes, pens, and packaging components — using feeders, mechanical arms, vibratory feeders, mechanical rotating tables (12 to 24 stations), transport modules, and unloading systems. Targeted at cosmetics and packaging manufacturers requiring high-volume precision assembly.
• Automation Machines Industrial machines for material handling operations in production lines, including depalletizers, palletizers, tray formers, feeding and orientation units, vial wrappers, and blade elevators for bottles. Targeted at industrial manufacturers needing automated handling, loading, and packaging of plastic and cosmetic components at production speeds up to 3,600 pieces/hour.
• Tampograf Pad Printing Machines Semi-automatic and automatic pad printing machines using silicone pads to transfer ink from cliches to surfaces. Features a patented airtight inkwell with two-lip ceramic scraping rings (double the working life of standard designs), intelligent pad technology for printing below cliche level on irregular surfaces, and independent multi-pad systems for successive stamping. Targeted at industrial customers decorating plastic, metal, glass, and other materials.
• Mechanical Processing Services for Third Parties Outsourced precision machining services including CNC work centers, numerically controlled lathes, cylindrical and flat grinding, and manual machining on aluminum alloys, steels, cast irons, and plastic materials. Handles both large series (50-100 pieces) and complex long-cycle parts (30-60+ minute cycles). Targeted at industrial companies needing outsourced precision machined components.
• TG 30 Tampography Machine Compact pad printing machine for high-speed printing on small to medium surfaces, with manual loading/unloading and production rate of approximately 2,200 p/h. Targeted at industrial customers needing small-format pad printing.
• TG 80 Tampography Machine Extra-flexible small pad printing machine suitable for manual loading/unloading of small/medium series or integration in automatic lines for large series, with production rate of approximately 1,400 p/h. Targeted at industrial customers requiring flexible pad printing for varied product runs.
• TG 150 Tampography Machine Large electro-pneumatic pad printing machine with flexible configuration, accepting cliches up to 850 mm length and offering pad force options of 5,500, 3,600 or 1,800 N. Targeted at industrial customers requiring large-format or high-force pad printing.
• ME60/TE+P Hot Stamping Machine Rotating mechanical table hot stamping machine for capsule decoration combining cylindrical and flat hot stamping, with 4 stations and 45-degree axis, achieving a cadence of 2,400 items/hour. Targeted at packaging manufacturers decorating capsules.
• HS3/PR+C Hot Stamping Machine Electric hot stamping machine for vials using a 4-axis robotic table, supporting conical, elliptical, convex and cylindrical vials with diameter 10-30 mm and length 50-120 mm at a cadence of 2,400 items/hour. Targeted at cosmetics/packaging manufacturers decorating vials.
• T10/4-1HS30+2HS15 Hot Stamping Machine 4-station flat hot stamping machine for 3-color printing using a Bettinelli rotating table, with pneumatic heads up to 3,000 kg and 1,500 kg pressure at a cadence of 6 seconds per item. Targeted at industrial customers needing multi-color flat hot stamping.
• HS60/ST Hot Stamping Machine Flat hot stamping machine with heat transfer capability, pneumatic head pressure up to 5,600 kg, compatible with traditional film or heat transfer, at a cadence of 6 seconds per item. Targeted at industrial customers requiring high-pressure flat hot stamping or heat transfer.
• TS40 Lipstick Tray Former Automatic tray packer with a robot handling 2 lipsticks per cycle, with an injection-printed trays loader and a cadence of 3,000 pieces/hour. Targeted at cosmetics manufacturers needing automated tray packaging of lipsticks.
• T08/ORI-CA+BET Feeding and Orientation Unit Power supply and orientation unit for plastic covers with 2 air channels, mechanical arm for piece orientation, suction cup grip, minimum cadence of 100 pieces/minute. Targeted at industrial customers needing automated feeding and orientation of plastic covers in production lines.
• DELTA 2013 Vials Wrapper Automatic packaging machine for 600x400 mm cardboard boxes with spacers, 2-pieces-per-cycle picking robot, cadence of 3,600 pieces/hour. Targeted at cosmetics/pharmaceutical manufacturers needing high-speed box packaging of vials.
• ELCO6-2LL Blade Elevator 2-blade elevator for perfume bottles with loading tank, rotating brush, exit conveyor belt and recirculation chute, handling bottles of 10-50 mm diameter. Targeted at cosmetics manufacturers orienting perfume bottles on production lines.
• MR12/12-PRODIR Pen Assembly Machine Pen assembly machine with a 12-station mechanical rotating table, vibratory feeders for components, and mechanical arm for loading/unloading. Targeted at writing instrument manufacturers.
• MB10/12 Finished Lipstick Assembly Machine Lipstick assembly machine with 12-station rotating table, injection base supply, vibratory feeding of components, cyanoacrylate gluing, at a cadence of 2,400 pieces/hour. Targeted at cosmetics manufacturers assembling finished lipsticks.
• T10/24-DS6+DS8 Pen Assembly Machine Pen assembly machine with a 24-station mechanical rotating table, vibratory feeding for multiple components, and dual-track processing system. Targeted at writing-instrument manufacturers needing high-throughput assembly.
• MR12/16+12-3000 Lipstick Mechanism Assembly Machine Pneumatic assembly machine for 4-component lipstick mechanisms using 2 mechanical rotating tables and 16 mechanical grippers for piece holding. Targeted at cosmetics manufacturers assembling lipstick mechanisms.

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 2400 pieces per hour with hot stamping machines
• +3 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• TampografcoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 1 January 2014Delsa acquired Tampograf, a historic company operating in pad printing machines since 1968. This acquisition expanded Delsa's product range to include tampography (pad printing) machines. The Tampograf brand is now integrated into Delsa's offerings, with both classic pad printing models and integration of tampography heads on Delsa's automatic machines.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Coesia S.p.A. Italian industrial automation group with multiple packaging and processing machinery brands; serves similar European industrial customers with broader turnkey solutions than Delsa's specialist offering.
• GEA Group AG: Large German engineering group with packaging, processing and filling machinery lines; adjacent incumbent serving food/cosmetics packaging customers that overlap with Delsa's primary verticals.
• Leonhard Kurz Stiftung & Co. KG: Global leader in hot stamping foils and finishing technology; a much larger upstream/downstream player overlapping with Delsa's hot stamping decoration applications in packaging and plastics.
• I.M.A. Industria Macchine Automatiche S.p.A. Large Italian publicly-listed packaging machinery group serving pharma, cosmetics, food and tea; much broader portfolio but overlapping customer base in cosmetics packaging automation where Delsa also operates.

Direct peers

• Inkcups Now: US-based pad printing and digital decoration equipment manufacturer; competes directly with the Tampograf line in tampography machines and integration of pad printing into automated lines.
• Printa Systems Srl: Italian tampography and pad printing equipment manufacturer; directly competes with Delsa/Tampograf in pad printing machines for plastics, cosmetics and industrial decoration.
• Marchesini Group S.p.A. Italian packaging and assembly machinery specialist focused on cosmetics and pharmaceuticals; serves the same Italian and European cosmetics OEMs as Delsa, with broader end-of-line capabilities.
• ITW Morlock GmbH: German maker of hot stamping machines and automation equipment for plastic part decoration; directly overlaps with Delsa's hot stamping product line and serves similar cosmetics/packaging customers.
• Automatic Machinery Corporation: US maker of pad printing, hot stamping and custom automation equipment; overlaps with Delsa's full portfolio (tampography, hot stamping, custom automation) for similar industrial customers.
• Teca Print AG: Swiss manufacturer of pad printing (tampography) machines and automation systems; directly comparable to Delsa/Tampograf in core product technology, customer base (cosmetics/packaging decoration) and custom-build GTM.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/delsa-automazioni-srl

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Delsa