Automation Partners

Name

Automation Partners

Legal name

Automation Partners Inc.

Website

https://automationpartners.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Rohnert Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Fabric Density Measurement Sensors: Sale of PSM-200 optical sensors for continuous fabric density measurement in textile finishing processes.
2. Automatic Fabric Density Control Systems: Complete control systems for stenters, compactors, and sanforizers that provide automatic density, weight and shrinkage uniformity control.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Automation Partners Inc. designs and manufactures the PSM-200 Optical Sensor and a family of automatic fabric density control systems for textile finishing machinery. Its sensors continuously measure fabric density (CPI or PPI) on stenters, compactors, and sanforizers, and proprietary feedforward control algorithms automatically adjust overfeed and machine shrinkage to deliver uniform fabric weight and residual shrinkage across every meter of fabric.

Product overview

Automation Partners provides a portfolio of fabric density measurement sensors and automatic control systems for the textile industry. The core product is the PSM-200 Optical Sensor, which continuously measures fabric density (CPI or PPI). This sensor serves as the foundation for multiple specialized control systems: the Stenter Overfeed Control System uses feedforward technology to control fabric density uniformity on stenter frames; the SMS Shrinkage Measurement & Control System uses dual sensors to automatically control machine shrinkage on sanforizers; and the Tubular Compaction Control system ensures consistent quality on compaction machines. The company claims more than 1,000 systems installed worldwide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• PSM-200: Optical sensor system used for fabric density measurement and control
• SMS System

Products and services

• PSM-200 Optical Sensor Proprietary optical sensor system that continuously measures fabric density (CPI or PPI) in real time, placed at the entry and/or exit of textile finishing machines (stenters, compactors, sanforizers), enabling monitoring of every meter of fabric and serving as the sensing element for downstream control systems.
• Stenter Overfeed Control System Automatic control system for stenter frames that uses a PSM-200 sensor at the entry and a feedforward control algorithm to adjust overfeed speed in real time, producing uniform fabric density and weight at the stenter exit and eliminating manual operator setup errors.
• SMS Shrinkage Measurement and Control System Automatic shrinkage control system for sanforizers that uses two PSM-200 optical sensors (one at entry, one at exit) to continuously measure fabric density and speed, automatically controlling machine shrinkage to obtain uniform fabric density and residual shrinkage and eliminating operator measurement and adjustment errors.
• Tubular Compaction Control Control system for tubular compaction machines that uses continuous PSM-200 density measurement and automatic machine adjustment to ensure consistent fabric density and weight on compaction lines.
• Fabric Density Control System Continuous fabric density measurement and control system that replaces infrequent punch-weight measurements with real-time CPI/PPI monitoring, enabling automatic adjustment of finishing machines and consistent weight control.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2.1% increase in fabric length produced when lowering initial setpoint from 70.0 CPI to 68.5 CPI using automatic overfeed control.
• +2 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Uster Technologies AG: Uster builds quality monitoring and process optimization instruments (e.g., optical yarn clearers, fabric inspection) for spinning, weaving, and finishing mills, overlapping with Automation Partners' optical-sensor-and-control approach in textile process measurement.
• BTSR International: BTSR specializes in yarn tension control, electronic feeders, and quality-monitoring sensors for textile manufacturing, addressing similar continuous-process control use cases as Automation Partners' feedforward density control on finishing lines.
• Mahlo GmbH & Co. KG: Mahlo is a German manufacturer of measurement and control systems for textile finishing, including weft straighteners, shrinkage controllers, and weight/density regulators on stenters, compactors, and sanforizers—the same target equipment as Automation Partners' PSM-200 platform.
• SSM (Schärer Schweiter Mertler) / Loepfe Brothers: SSM (including the former Loepfe Brothers business) supplies electronic yarn feeders and optical yarn quality sensors for the textile industry, making it a comparable niche optical-sensor-and-control peer for process automation in mills.

Broad incumbents

• SICK AG: SICK is a broad industrial sensor and instrumentation incumbent whose optical distance, profile, and quality sensors are used in continuous web/fabric inspection, making it a credible alternative measurement supplier for textile finishers.
• A. Monforts Textilmaschinen GmbH & Co. KG: Monforts is another major stenter and textile finishing machinery OEM whose equipment hosts Automation Partners' control systems; it competes as a broader machinery incumbent that could bundle density control.
• Brückner Trockentechnik GmbH & Co. KG: Brückner is a leading OEM of stenter frames and textile finishing lines—the same machines where Automation Partners' systems are installed—making it both a channel partner and a potential integrator of competing inline measurement.

Emerging players

• Elbit Vision Systems (now part of Coats) / fabric inspection peers: Machine-vision fabric inspection providers (e.g., historically Elbit Vision Systems, now within industrial inspection suppliers) are emerging players that bring camera-based defect and density detection to textile lines, overlapping with Automation Partners' optical sensing niche.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/automation-partners-inc.

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Automation Partners