Data M
data M Sheet Metal Solutions GmbH, founded in 1987 as a Technical University of Munich spin-off, develops the COPRA software suite — covering roll forming design, FEA simulation, sheet metal CAD integration, and 360° profile measurement — for roll forming manufacturers, sheet metal fabricators, and academic institutions worldwide.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1987
- HeadquartersValley, Germany
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Data M does
data M Sheet Metal Solutions GmbH is a privately held German software company, founded in 1987 as a spin-off from the Technical University of Munich, that develops and sells the COPRA software family for the roll forming and sheet metal fabrication industries. Its core platform, COPRA RF, covers the entire roll forming engineering process chain — from initial calculation and flower design through roll tool design, part lists, tool production, and quality control — with all modules accessing a central COPRA RF database. Complementary products include COPRA FEA RF (non-linear elasto-plastic finite element simulation for roll forming and, more recently, shaped wire drawing), COPRA MetalBender (sheet metal part design integrated with Autodesk Inventor, AutoCAD, and now BricsCAD), and the COPRA ProfileScan 80/200 hardware lines for 360-degree optical measurement of open and closed profiles in steel, aluminum, wood, and plastic.
The company monetizes through a mix of one-time perpetual software licenses, recurring annual software maintenance contracts (COPRA Software-Pflegevertrag) with quarterly or annual billing, hardware sales of ProfileScan measurement devices, and remote support services delivered via TeamViewer. Go-to-market is direct enterprise sales from the Valley/Oberlaindern headquarters, supplemented by a regional office in Pune, India, and a Polish subsidiary (data-m.pl), with demand generation via trade shows (notably EuroBlech), webinars, newsletters, LinkedIn/YouTube/Vimeo channels, and academic research partnerships such as the EFB Research Alliance (joined 2024) and Grand Valley State University.
The company is family-owned, with Albert and Maximilian Sedlmaier serving as Managing Directors representing the founding and second generations respectively. Headcount is in the 11–50 range. Customer base spans roll forming manufacturers, sheet metal fabricators using mainstream CAD platforms, and academic institutions using COPRA for research and training. Revenue is not publicly disclosed.
Data M firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Data M
- Legal name
- data M Sheet Metal Solutions GmbH
- Website
- https://datam.de
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1987
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- data M Sheet Metal Solutions GmbH, founded in 1987 as a Technical University of Munich spin-off, develops the COPRA software suite — covering roll forming design, FEA simulation, sheet metal CAD integration, and 360° profile measurement — for roll forming manufacturers, sheet metal fabricators, and academic institutions worldwide.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Data M industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Roll Forming Engineering Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132), Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Quality Engineering & Test Automation (QE/QA) (BPAEAFAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Statistical Process Control (SPC) & Measurement Systems (MSA/Gage R&R) (EDABAKAF), Data-Driven Operations & Quality Analytics (DOE, basic analytics) (EDABAKAO)
Keywords
Where Data M is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Valley
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Data M business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Software Licenses: Perpetual software licenses for COPRA RF, COPRA FEA RF, COPRA MetalBender, and other COPRA products. Customers purchase licenses for the software and receive the right to use the software indefinitely.
- Software Maintenance Agreement (COPRA Software-Pflegevertrag): Annual software maintenance contracts that provide: automatic software updates, hotline support via email and TeamViewer, participation in development influence, and quarterly or annual billing options. The contract runs for one year and auto-renews unless cancelled.
- Hardware (COPRA ProfileScan): Sale of measurement hardware devices including COPRA ProfileScan 80 series and 200 series for profile cross-section measurement in roll forming quality control.
- Remote Support Services: Remote support services via TeamViewer for customers with valid hotline support agreements. Support is provided by connecting to customer devices through automatically generated session codes.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels8 records
Data M product offering
Product offeringCore offering
data M develops and sells the COPRA software suite for roll forming engineering, covering the entire process chain from calculation, flower design, and roll tool design through FEA-based process simulation to quality control of roll tools and profile cross-sections. The company also sells COPRA ProfileScan hardware for 360° profile measurement and provides annual Software-Pflegevertrag maintenance contracts with hotline support and continuous software updates.
Product overview
Data M offers a modular software portfolio centered on the COPRA product family for roll forming applications. COPRA RF serves as the core platform providing the entire engineering process chain from flower design through roll tool design and production. COPRA FEA RF is a simulation add-on using non-linear elasto-plastic calculations. COPRA MetalBender extends sheet metal design capabilities through integration with Autodesk Inventor and AutoCAD. The COPRA ProfileScan hardware products provide 3D profile measurement solutions. Software maintenance contracts provide continuous updates and support access.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- COPRA RF: Software for the entire roll forming process chain - from calculation and flower design to roll tool design, part lists and tool production.
- COPRA FEA RF
- COPRA ProfileScan
Products and services
- COPRA RF Core roll forming engineering software covering the entire process chain — calculation, flower design, roll tool design, part list generation, tool production, and quality control — with all program modules accessing a central COPRA RF database for profile and tool management. Sold to roll forming manufacturers and engineering service providers.
- COPRA FEA RF Finite element analysis simulation software that simulates roll forming operations using a non-linear elasto-plastic calculation method, enabling process optimization and identification of issues such as end flare without requiring users to be simulation specialists. Includes WireRolling capability for shaped wire drawing simulation.
- COPRA ProfileScan 360-degree measurement device for scanning open and closed profiles from the outside. The 80 series measures profiles up to 80mm width and 310mm length; the 200 series with double sensor measures up to 200mm width and 760mm length. Works with steel, aluminum, wood, and plastic profiles using a high dynamic range camera.
- COPRA MetalBender Sheet metal part design software integrated with Autodesk Inventor, AutoCAD, and BricsCAD. Provides professional sheet metal design capabilities with focus on uncomplicated and fast handling and consideration of sheet metal technical aspects. Version-coupled to each year's CAD platform release.
- COPRA Software-Pflegevertrag (Software Maintenance Agreement) Annual software maintenance contract providing automatic COPRA software updates, hotline support via email and TeamViewer, and participation in product development influence. The contract runs for one year and auto-renews unless cancelled; remote support requires a valid hotline support agreement.
Companies that use Data M
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Data M technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability2 records
Feature5 records
Data M partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- EFB (Europäische Forschungsgesellschaft für Blechverarbeitung)minordata M exhibited for the first time at the EFB joint stand at EuroBlech 2024 (booth 11-C15), marking their debut in the EFB Research Alliance. This represents data M's embrace of collaborative research in sheet metal processing.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Data M competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- ANSYS: ANSYS is a leading FEA simulation platform (Ansys Mechanical, LS-DYNA) used widely in sheet metal forming. It competes directly with COPRA FEA RF for non-linear elastoplastic roll forming simulation, and broadens data M's competitive set on simulation accuracy and performance.
- Forming Technologies Inc. (FTI): Forming Technologies Inc. (FTI) develops COSTSUE and FORMINGSUITE, dedicated software for roll forming and tube bending process simulation and design—directly comparable to data M's COPRA RF and COPRA FEA RF in target customer, use case, and roll-forming-only specialization.
- Simufact Engineering (Hexagon): Simufact (now part of Hexagon) provides metal forming simulation software specifically for forging, casting, welding, and additive—directly analogous to COPRA FEA RF's elastoplastic roll forming simulation use case for industrial manufacturers.
- Hexagon MSC Software: Hexagon's MSC Software (Marc, Dytran, Simufact) provides metal forming simulation used in automotive and aerospace forming applications, including sheet and roll forming work—competing directly with data M's elastoplastic FEA roll forming offering.
Broad incumbents
- Dassault Systèmes: Dassault Systèmes (SOLIDWORKS, 3DEXPERIENCE, SIMULIA) is a broad CAD/CAE incumbent that overlaps with data M in sheet metal design and forming simulation across industrial customers, including aerospace and automotive roll forming applications.
- Siemens Digital Industries Software: Siemens (NX, Solid Edge, Simcenter) is a major industrial CAD/CAE incumbent whose sheet metal design and forming simulation modules overlap with COPRA RF/FEA RF functionality in target manufacturing accounts.
- Autodesk: Autodesk (Inventor, AutoCAD) is the platform data M's COPRA MetalBender integrates with, and is the dominant general-purpose CAD incumbent in data M's target customer base. While not a roll forming specialist, Autodesk competes at the broader CAD layer where roll forming design begins.
Emerging players
- Bricsys (BricsCAD): Bricsys's BricsCAD has been added as a supported CAD platform in COPRA RF 2025.2, making it an adjacent platform peer—data M now competes at the integration layer rather than as a rival, but BricsCAD competes with AutoCAD/Inventor for data M's customer base.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Data M social profiles
Digital presenceData M financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Data M leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Data M subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries2 records
Data M funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Data M M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Data M
What does Data M do?
data M develops and sells the COPRA software suite for roll forming engineering, covering the entire process chain from calculation, flower design, and roll tool design through FEA-based process simulation to quality control of roll tools and profile cross-sections. The company also sells COPRA ProfileScan hardware for 360° profile measurement and provides annual Software-Pflegevertrag maintenance contracts with hotline support and continuous software updates.
Is Data M a public or private company?
Data M is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was Data M founded?
Data M was founded in 1987. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Data M based?
Data M is headquartered in Valley, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does Data M make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Software Licenses are the primary driver. The others are software Maintenance Agreement (COPRA Software-Pflegevertrag), hardware (COPRA ProfileScan) and remote Support Services.
Who are Data M's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are ANSYS, Forming Technologies Inc. (FTI), Simufact Engineering (Hexagon) and Hexagon MSC Software. Broad incumbents are Dassault Systèmes, Siemens Digital Industries Software and Autodesk. Bricsys (BricsCAD) is listed as an emerging player.
Does Data M have an API?
No public API is recorded for Data M.
What industry is Data M in?
Data M's product category is Roll Forming Engineering Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAEAFAJ, Quality Engineering & Test Automation (QE/QA), with a secondary code of EDABAKAF, Statistical Process Control (SPC) & Measurement Systems (MSA/Gage R&R). Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7372.