Hinke

What Hinke does

Hinke Tankbau GmbH is an Austrian manufacturer of custom stainless steel vessels and tanks, founded in 1946 by coppersmith Erhard Hinke and headquartered in Vöcklamarkt, Austria. The company designs, engineers, and fabricates bespoke pressure vessels, process vessels, agitator vessels, fermenters, reactors, crystallisers, heat exchangers, columns, and storage tanks for pharmaceutical, food and beverage, chemical, and semiconductor technology customers. Stated vessel capacities reach 4,200 mm in diameter, 200,000 L in volume, 16,000 kg in weight, and 18 m in height, with internal surface finishes achievable to Ra < 0.5 µm via electrochemical polishing. Hinke operates a ~6,000 m² manufacturing facility processing several thousand tons of stainless steel annually and delivering several hundred vessels per year, having shipped over 8,000 vessels since founding.

Hinke's competitive positioning rests on a dense stack of certifications — ASME Section VIII Division 1, EN ISO 9001:2015, AD 2000 HP0, OENORM EN ISO 3834-2, PED, EN 13445, GMP, FDA-USP, ATEX, EN 1090 EXC2, and Austrian Pressure Equipment Act §51 — that authorize fabrication for regulated pharmaceutical and chemical markets across the EU and US. Manufacturing capabilities include X-ray fluorescence (XRF) material verification at goods receipt, plasma tap-hole welding, half-pipe coil welding, sheath rolling, state-of-the-art exterior grinding, and an in-house riboflavin test rig for cleanability validation. The company has been a member of the SCHULZ BRAND FAMILY since 2016 and is independently managed alongside sister company Kaspar Schulz (Germany), providing synergistic engineering and cross-border (Austria/Germany) manufacturing control for food and beverage plant projects.

The company sells on a project-based, custom-fabrication basis via direct enterprise sales, guiding customers from initial offer through engineering, factory acceptance testing, delivery, and installation; pricing is project-specific and not publicly disclosed. Revenue is generated through one-time project sales rather than recurring contracts, with the product portfolio spanning small pharmaceutical CIP, WFI, and buffer vessels through large food-grade fermenters (up to 265,000 L) and chemical reactors (up to 64,000 L). Hinke is a privately held Austrian GmbH with no disclosed funding history, no public listing, and no recorded M&A or leadership changes beyond the 2016 Schulz Brand Family acquisition.

Name

Hinke

Legal name

Hinke Tankbau GmbH

Website

https://hinke.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1946

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Hinke Tankbau GmbH, founded in 1946, manufactures custom stainless steel vessels for pharmaceutical, food, beverage, chemical, and semiconductor industries. The Austrian company delivers ASME-, GMP-, and FDA-compliant pressure vessels up to 200,000 L as part of the SCHULZ BRAND FAMILY.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Stainless Steel Vessels and Process Equipment

NAICS

Metal Tank (Heavy Gauge) Manufacturing (33242), Power Boiler and Heat Exchanger Manufacturing (332410)

SIC

Air-Cond & Warm Air Heatg Equip & Comm & Indl Refrig Equip (3585)

akta.pro primary industry

Heat Transfer Equipment (Heat Exchangers, Boilers, Condensers) (IMAHAEAC)

Keywords

• Stainless steel vessels
• Process vessel fabrication
• Pharmaceutical tank fabrication
• Food-grade vessel manufacturing
• Pressure vessel engineering

Headquarters

HQ city

Vocklamarkt

HQ country

Austria

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

Revenue model

1. Custom Stainless Steel Vessel Fabrication: Design, engineering, and fabrication of custom stainless steel vessels for pharmaceutical, food/beverage, and chemical industries. Projects range from process vessels to fermenters, reactors, and storage tanks. Revenue generated through project-based custom fabrication with delivery and installation services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Hinke Tankbau GmbH is a German manufacturer specializing in the design, engineering, fabrication, and installation of custom stainless steel vessels, apparatus, and process equipment. The company produces pressure vessels, tanks, fermenters, reactors, heat exchangers, containers, and piping primarily from high-grade stainless steel for use in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, food & beverage, chemical, cosmetic, and water treatment applications. Hinke also provides concept engineering, CAD design, regulatory documentation, surface finishing, and on-site assembly as part of its project deliveries.

Product overview

Hinke is a stainless steel vessel manufacturer specializing in high-quality pressure vessels and tanks for Pharma & Life Sciences, food and beverage, and chemical industries. The company produces individual vessels and complete process systems with capacities up to 200,000 liters, diameters up to 4,200 mm, and weights up to 16,000 kg. Their product portfolio includes process vessels, agitator vessels, buffer vessels, fermenters, reactors, heat exchangers, and specialized vessels for pharmaceutical applications (WFI systems, CIP vessels, crystallisers). All products are manufactured from stainless steel materials (1.4301 to 1.4539 and 2.4610) with surface finishes up to Ra < 0.5µm, and comply with international standards including ASME, AD 2000, EN 13445, GMP/FDA, and PED.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Custom stainless steel pressure vessels and tanks Engineered-to-order stainless steel pressure vessels and tanks fabricated from grades such as 1.4404 and 1.4571, documented per PED, AD 2000, ASME U-Stamp, and GOST-TR requirements, for use in pharmaceutical, biotech, food & beverage, chemical, cosmetic, and water-treatment plants.
• Stainless steel apparatus and process equipment Custom-designed stainless steel apparatus and process equipment including reactors, fermenters, heat exchangers, CIP vessels, and WFI vessels, built to hygienic and pressure-code standards for pharmaceutical, biotech, food & beverage, chemical, cosmetic, and water-treatment applications.
• Stainless steel storage tanks and containers Custom stainless steel storage tanks and containers, including mobile storage tanks, engineered to customer specifications for hygienic and corrosion-resistant storage of process fluids across regulated industries.
• Stainless steel mixers and mixing tanks Custom stainless steel mixers and mixing tanks designed for hygienic operation in food & beverage, pharmaceutical, chemical, and cosmetic production processes.
• Stainless steel piping and fittings Custom stainless steel piping and fittings fabricated and welded to integrate vessels and apparatus into customer process plants, with surfaces finished to hygienic standards.
• Concept engineering and CAD design services Engineering and CAD-based design services, including 3D CAD and PDMS tooling, provided to develop customer-specific vessel and apparatus concepts prior to and during fabrication.
• On-site assembly and installation services On-site assembly and installation services delivered globally for Hinke-fabricated stainless steel vessels and apparatus, including integration into customer plants.

Quantifiable outcome

• Surface roughness internal up to Ra < 0.5μm (electrochemical polishing)
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• SCHULZ BRAND FAMILY / Kaspar SchulzcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Hinke is an independently managed manufacturer that has belonged to the SCHULZ BRAND FAMILY since 2016. In the field of complex plant systems and highly specialized component fabrication, the SCHULZ BRAND FAMILY creates valuable synergistic effects for food and beverage sectors. Hinke's know-how and competence transfer ensures workable solutions that set plant engineering standards in taste, quality, functionality, and automation, also impacting other industries. Full and integrative manufacturer control in Germany and Austria provides project reliability.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• GEA Group: Global process engineering group with deep footprint in food, beverage, and pharma equipment including separators, homogenizers, and process vessels. Competes with Hinke in food/pharma plant equipment but at much larger scale and broader portfolio.
• Sulzer: Global engineering company with process equipment division serving chemical, pharma, and food markets via mixing, separation, and reactor technologies. Larger, more diversified incumbent competing in adjacent process-vessel categories.

Direct peers

• Ziemann Holvrieka: Leading European manufacturer of stainless steel process and storage tanks for the brewing, beverage, and food industries. Directly competes with Hinke's food/beverage fermenter and storage vessel lines.
• GMM Pfaudler: Global manufacturer of glass-lined and stainless steel reactors and process equipment serving pharma, chemical, and food industries. Closest direct competitor to Hinke in custom pharma/chemical pressure vessels and reactors.
• Paul Mueller Company: US-based fabricator of stainless steel processing equipment and tanks for dairy, food, beverage, pharma, and industrial customers. Comparable in custom vessel fabrication for hygienic applications.
• Kaspar Schulz Brauereimaschinen: German brewer of brewing vessels and complete brewhouses, part of the same SCHULZ BRAND FAMILY as Hinke. Sister-company peer with overlapping food/beverage vessel manufacturing capabilities.
• De Dietrich Process Systems: Designs and manufactures corrosion-resistant process equipment including glass-lined and stainless steel reactors, vessels, and filtration/drying systems for pharmaceutical and chemical customers. Directly comparable in regulated vessel fabrication.
• Central States Industrial Equipment (CSI): US fabricator of stainless steel sanitary process equipment for food, beverage, dairy, pharma, and personal care industries. Direct competitor in custom hygienic vessels.

Emerging players

• INOX India: Indian manufacturer of stainless steel cryogenic and process vessels for industrial gas, chemical, and pharma applications. Emerging international competitor in custom stainless pressure vessel fabrication.

Regional players

• Winkler GmbH: German specialist in industrial heat exchangers and pressure vessels serving chemical, pharmaceutical, and energy markets. Regional DACH competitor with overlapping heat-exchanger and process-vessel capabilities.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/hinkegmbh
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hinketankbau

Compliance10 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 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 Hinke