Colmec

What Colmec does

Colmec S.p.A., founded in 1973 in Busto Arsizio, Italy, designs and manufactures custom extrusion lines and mixing equipment for the rubber and silicone processing industry. Its product portfolio spans core machinery — the patented CTM™ Conical Twin Mixer (2005) and its evolution CVM™ Conical Variable Mixer (2024), CTE conical twin extruders, single-screw extruders (TGF, TGFD, TVF, TPF, TPT, TGS, TSV), gear pumps and various vulcanization ovens (hot air, molten salt, hybrid, NIR, FIR) — and complete turn-key production lines for hoses (brake, fuel, radiator, A/C, high/low pressure), profiles, sheets, cable coating, medical tubing and special systems (cylinder coating, screw preformers, rubber cords, mandrel lines, laboratory lines). Manufacturing is vertically integrated through wholly-owned divisions TIMA (downstream machines, est. 2007), Welmec (CTM conical body welding, est. 2020), the acquired KCM SL (internal mixers, Barcelona, 2022) and a North American subsidiary COLMEC USA (Trumbull, CT), supported by a 3,000 m2 Technology Center (CTC) in Italy and a ~1,000 m2 Technology Center in the US for process validation and R&D.

The company sells primarily through direct enterprise field sales with deep technical consultation, targeting manufacturers in automotive and transport (primary), tyres, building and construction, industrial products, pharma and medical, aerospace, cables and electrical, compounding, food and mining. Revenue is generated from one-time sales of complete turn-key lines and individual machines, complemented by recurring spare parts, 24/7 technical support, teleservice/VPN remote assistance and a revamping/upgrade program for the installed base. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and is quote-based given the custom nature of each system. Approximately 90% of production is exported, with key markets in Europe, North America and Turkey; the company actively participates in flagship industry fairs (K Düsseldorf, Plast Milan, DKT Nuremberg, Rubber Eurasia, Global Polymer Summit).

Colmec is a privately held family business under Colombo family control. Ubaldo Colombo (son of founder Giannino, PhD Mechanical Engineering) serves as President/Managing Director; his three sons Giovanni (PhD), Marco (PhD) and Riccardo (PhD) hold senior positions in R&D, industrialization and organization respectively, completing a third-generation leadership transition by 2023. The group holds ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018 certifications (SQS), and operates from a 24,000 m2 Busto Arsizio headquarters after a 50th-anniversary expansion in 2023.

Name

Colmec

Legal name

Colmec S.p.A.

Website

https://colmec.it

Company type

Private

Founded year

1973

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Colmec S.p.A. designs and manufactures custom extrusion lines and mixing equipment for rubber and silicone processing, serving industrial manufacturers across automotive, medical, aerospace, cables and other sectors worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Busto Arsizio

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Custom Industrial Machinery Sales: Colmec designs, manufactures, and sells custom extrusion lines and rubber/silicone mixing equipment. Revenue is generated from the sale of complete turn-key production lines and individual machine units. Each system is customized to customer specifications.
2. Spare Parts: Colmec maintains a large warehouse stocked with spare parts for maintenance of Colmec machines and systems worldwide. Professional and constant supply service ensures fast delivery and minimum downtime.
3. Technical Support and Service: After-sales technical assistance including maintenance, repair, remote assistance via teleservice/VPN, machine start-up, and training. Customer service available 24/7.
4. Revamping & Upgrading: Machine revamping and upgrade program including upgrades, updates, and spare parts for existing extrusion and mixing systems to maximize machine potential and avoid downtime costs.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Colmec designs, manufactures, and delivers custom-engineered extrusion and mixing lines for rubber and silicone processors. The portfolio covers the full production chain, including internal mixers and conical twin mixers (CTM, CVM), single-screw and conical twin extruders, gear pumps, vulcanization systems (hot air, molten salt, FIR/NIR, hybrid), co-extrusion heads, and complementary downstream equipment such as cooling, cutting, winding and packaging units. Each line is configured to customer specifications, validated at the Colmec Technology Center before shipment, and supported worldwide by spare parts, training, and 24/7 technical service.

Product overview

Colmec is a manufacturer of advanced rubber and silicone extrusion and compounding systems established in 1973. The product portfolio consists of proprietary patented equipment organized into core mixing/extruding machines and complete production lines. Core products include the CTM™ (Conical Twin Mixer) and its evolution CVM™ (Conical Variable Mixer), the CTE (Conical Twin Extruder), and various single screw extruders (TGF, TGFD, TVF, TPF, TPT, TGS, TSV) paired with GP gear pumps. These are complemented by specialized production lines for hose extrusion (brake, fuel, radiator, air conditioning, high/low pressure), profile extrusion, sheet production, vulcanization (hot air, molten salt, hybrid), cable coating, medical sector, and special systems (cylinder coating, screw preformers, cord lines, sheet lines, thermoplastic mandrel lines, laboratory lines). The portfolio also includes accessories like talcing units, accumulators, dosing systems, and reclaim systems. The systems are designed for diverse industry applications including automotive, aerospace, medical, cables, footwear, and industrial products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CTM™ Conical Twin Mixer Patented mixer consisting of a conical mixing chamber with two counter-rotating conical screws; capable of homogenizing rubber and silicone compounds in a single automated step without requiring a traditional mill, with self-cleaning design and hydraulic opening.
• CVM™ Conical Variable Mixer Evolution of the CTM with variable geometry of the mixing chamber; state-of-the-art industrial mixer meeting demands for speed, efficiency and quality with optimized control of process temperatures and cycle time for silicone compounds.
• CTE Conical Twin Extruder Conical twin extruder that completes homogenization of compound and acts as a buffer to guarantee continuous downstream processing, working in conjunction with CTM mixer and gear pumps for straining and preforming.
• KIM Internal Mixer Internal mixers suitable for mixing a wide range of compounds, available with tangential rotors (2 or 4 wings) or intermeshing rotors for better filler dispersion and thermal control.
• Roll Mills Robust-construction roll mills for a wide range of applications, configurable with or without stock blenders and single or dual drive power transmission for rubber mill room use.
• TGF Cold Feed Extruders (and TGF+GP and TGFD variants) Single-screw cold feed extruders for rubber processing; available in 30mm to 300mm sizes with hourly productions up to 4 tons/h, optionally combined with a gear pump (TGF+GP) or fitted with a degassing system (TGFD).
• TVF Vertical Extruders Vertical single-screw rubber extruders suitable for co-extrusion in limited spaces, with rotating capability and adjustable positioning.
• TPF Pin Barrel Extruders Single-screw rubber extruders with pins positioned in the screw compartment for improved mixing, plasticization and productivity at low extruded output temperatures.
• TPT Tangential Pin Barrel Extruders Cold feed rubber pin barrel extruder with tangential water-cooled pins (screw diameters 70–250 mm); provides better thermal control and a 15-20% production increase vs traditional pin extruders, reaching 25-30% when coupled with a gear pump.
• GP Gear Pumps Gear pumps designed for rubber compounds with operating pressures from 350 to 700 bars, motor power from 1 to 200 kW, and productivity up to 9,000 l/h; available in single and dual drive configurations.
• Co-extruders Custom co-extrusion solutions with heads designed for accurate control of each layer in terms of thickness and homogeneity for multi-layer rubber and silicone products.
• TGS Silicone Extruders (and TSV Vertical variant) Single-screw extruders specifically designed for silicone processing, available in horizontal (TGS) and vertical (TSV) configurations; can be coupled with the CTEf Conical Twin Feeder for automated feeding without operator supervision and consistent supply pressure.
• Hybrid Molten Salt / Hot Air Vulcanization Oven Patented vulcanization system where the rubber profile floats on molten salt while receiving high-speed hot air; vulcanizes single and co-extruded profiles of complex geometry without deformation because the profile is not in contact with support elements.
• Vulcanization Ovens (Hot Air, Molten Salt, FIR and NIR systems) Forced hot air ovens (up to 400°C), traditional molten salt ovens (up to 280°C), FIR ovens with latest-generation infrared heaters, NIR ovens (up to 950°C) and PVO pre-vulcanization systems (up to 600°C) for rubber and silicone profile vulcanization.
• Rubber Hose Extrusion Lines Complete turn-key rubber hose extrusion lines covering brake hoses, turbo-charge intercooler hoses, gasoline/fuel hoses, radiator hoses, air conditioning hoses, high-pressure hydraulic hoses (40–350 Bar), low-pressure spiral-reinforced hoses (10–35 Bar), and a multifunctional universal hose line.
• Rubber Profile Extrusion Lines Complete lines for production of rubber profiles — single or multiple component — with or without metal reinforcement, for solid and sponge rubber compounds used in door profiles, glass profiles, wiper profiles and similar applications.
• Roller Head Line Line for producing air-free rubber sheets up to 2.5m wide and 0.5–15mm thick, using a roller head extrusion configuration.
• Silicone Cable Coating Extrusion Lines Silicone cable coating lines with production speeds up to 800 m/min, processing cables from 0.5 mm² to 300 mm², including coextruded multilayer, fire-resistant, and high-voltage deep-sea cable protection configurations.
• Medical Sector Extrusion Lines (cleanroom, cGMP/FDA) Cleanroom extrusion lines meeting cGMP/FDA and OMS standards with 21CFR11 software compliance, designed for medical silicone products such as silicone catheters from OD 0.3 mm, multilumen tubing, hoses for peristaltic pumps, oxygen-spiralled hoses, and HCR biomedical compounds.
• Silicone Hose, Profile and Sheet Extrusion Lines Continuous extrusion and vulcanization systems for dense and sponge silicone hoses and profiles with high linear speeds, plus dense/sponge silicone sheet extrusion lines up to 2000 mm with tight dimensional tolerances and uniform expansion.
• Special Systems (Cylinder Coating, Screw Preformers, Rubber Cord Lines, Sealant Sheet Lines, Thermoplastic Mandrel Lines, Laboratory Lines) Custom special systems including cylinder coating systems (cylinders up to 10,000 kg and 10,000 mm length), continuous screw preformers, rubber cord lines for apex profiles and tread covering, sealant sheet lines, thermoplastic mandrel lines (PP/PA) with laser control, and laboratory lines for R&D and reduced-scale testing.
• Triplex Head Extrusion Configuration Configuration of three extruders linked to a single Triplex head, enabling quick die changes, quick cleaning, quick restart between compound and die changes, no cross-contamination between compounds, and minimized rubber path.
• ART™ Automatic Rubber Reclaim System System for reclaiming wasted unvulcanized rubber from mold cleaning and extrusion heads using a cutting unit, feeding belt, conical twin-screw extruder (CTE) with gear pump (GP) for filtration and preforming into strips or pellets.
• Just-in-Time Blending System Patented system using the CTM Mixer to homogenize master batch with accelerant in approximately 2 minutes, transforming it into final compound just before extrusion; solves compound shelf life issues and allows real-time modification of compound properties.
• Complementary Silicone Accessories (Talcing Units, WIG-WAG Accumulator, Polyethylene Packaging Unit, Powder Dosing Systems, Solid Block Loading Systems) Complementary silicone line accessories including talcing units for continuous even talc application, WIG-WAG silicone strip accumulators, automatic polyethylene packaging units for strip wrapping, automatic powder dosing systems with big-bag loading and weighing, and solid-block loading belts with load cells and metal detection.
• Automatic Screen Changers Hydraulically operated screen changers up to 500 mm for rubber straining processes, reducing screen pack change time and supporting continuous production.
• Spare Parts Supply Service Colmec maintains a large warehouse with spare parts immediately available for the maintenance of Colmec machines and extrusion lines worldwide; the constant supply service ensures fast delivery and minimum downtime for customers.
• Technical Support and Maintenance Service (24/7 Teleservice) After-sales technical assistance including 24/7 customer service, machine start-up, training, repair, remote assistance via teleservice/VPN, and full maintenance support for installed Colmec equipment worldwide.
• Revamping and Upgrading Service Machine revamping and upgrade program including upgrades, updates and spare parts for existing extrusion and mixing systems to maximize machine potential and avoid downtime costs.

Quantifiable outcome

• 15-20% production increase with TPT cooled pin barrel extruder vs traditional pin extruders; 25-30% when coupled with gear pump
• +3 more outcomes

Segments10 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• KCM SL (Barcelona, Spain)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022COLMEC acquired KCM SL from Barcelona, Spain in 2022. KCM is a leader in the construction of Internal Mixers for rubber applications. This acquisition enables Colmec to supply complete plants in the rubber mixing sector from the first to the last component.
• Welmec (Vanzaghello, Milano, Italy)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Welmec is a division established in 2020, specializing in welding and construction of all conical bodies of the CTM mixer. Located in Vanzaghello, Milano.
• COLMEC USA, Inc. (Trumbull, CT, USA)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2011COLMEC USA, Inc. established in 2011 in Trumbull, CT, serves as sales, service, and technical support center for the North American market. Includes a Technology Center (~1,000 m2) for testing, optimizing, and developing production processes.
• TIMA SRL (Sant'Agata sul Santerno, Ravenna, Italy)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2007TIMA is a division of Colmec established in 2007, dedicated to designing and building downstream machines to complete Colmec's offerings for extrusion and mixing lines.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves16 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Comerio Ercole S.p.A. Comerio Ercole is an Italian manufacturer of rubber processing machinery including calendering lines, mixing equipment, and complete plants. Same-country Italian specialty machinery heritage and similar target customers (tire, industrial rubber, technical rubber goods) make it a direct domestic peer to Colmec.
• Troester GmbH & Co. KG: Troester is a leading German manufacturer of machinery and complete lines for rubber and silicone processing, including extruders, calendering systems, and downstream equipment. Directly competes with Colmec across the same rubber/silicone extrusion and mixing equipment categories, serving automotive, cable, and industrial hose customers globally.
• Pinette Emidecau Industries (PEI): PEI is a French industrial machinery maker specializing in presses, molds, and rubber/composites processing equipment. Overlaps with Colmec in rubber processing lines for automotive and industrial customers, with comparable mid-sized European specialty machinery profile.
• REP International (French Rubber Engineering): REP International is a French manufacturer of injection molding and rubber processing machinery, including presses, extruders, and complete production cells. Competes with Colmec in rubber processing equipment with similar direct-to-manufacturer enterprise sales motion and global service footprint.
• VMI Group (VMI Holland): VMI is a Dutch manufacturer of tire and rubber processing machinery, including extruders, internal mixers, and tire building equipment. Overlaps with Colmec in rubber mixing and extrusion equipment for tires, profiles, and industrial rubber goods, and competes for similar B2B customers worldwide.

Broad incumbents

• KraussMaffei Berstorff: KraussMaffei (now part of INEOS) is a much larger German industrial machinery incumbent that, through the Berstorff brand, supplies rubber extruders and complete lines. Significantly broader portfolio (injection molding, extrusion, compounding) gives it more scale, but Berstorff directly overlaps with Colmec in rubber extrusion lines for hoses, profiles, and tires.
• Coperion GmbH: Coperion is a global leader in compounding and extrusion technology for plastics and rubber, including twin-screw extruders, mixers, and feeding equipment. Larger parent (Hillenbrand) and broader polymer-processing portfolio position it as a broad incumbent competing with Colmec in compounding and silicone/rubber extrusion.

Regional players

• Rubber City Machinery Corporation: Rubber City Machinery is a US-based dealer and rebuilder of used rubber processing equipment including mixers, mills, calenders, and extruders. Regional North American player that competes in some segments of rubber machinery but primarily in the secondary/used market versus Colmec's new custom lines.

Emerging players

• Maplan GmbH: Maplan is an Austrian manufacturer of rubber injection molding machines and related processing equipment. Niche player focused on rubber molding that partially overlaps with Colmec in rubber processing equipment supply to automotive and industrial rubber goods manufacturers.
• Iddon Brothers Ltd: Iddon Brothers is a UK-based manufacturer of rubber extrusion equipment, including extruders, roller head lines, and ancillary equipment for profile and hose production. Smaller emerging player with comparable specialization in rubber extrusion that competes for similar specialty rubber profile and hose customers.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/colmec-s.p.a.

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries4 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 Colmec