Bijlsma Hercules
Bijlsma Hercules is a 1938-founded, family-owned Dutch manufacturer of custom industrial machinery for the intake, sorting, and processing of potatoes, onions, carrots, and other tuberous crops, serving agricultural processors from its single Franeker headquarters and a dealer network.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1938
- HeadquartersFraneker, Netherlands
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Bijlsma Hercules does
Bijlsma Hercules BV is a Netherlands-based, family-owned manufacturer of industrial machinery for the agricultural processing sector, founded in 1938 and headquartered in Franeker. The company designs and builds custom equipment for the intake (inschuren), sorting (sorteren), and processing (verwerken) of tuberous crops, principally potatoes, onions, and carrots. Its product portfolio spans the full post-harvest workflow, including hopper bins, product cleaners, pre-sorters, inspection units, telescopic and transport belts, box and big-bag fillers, hall fillers, leaf separators, clod and stone separators, loading machines, sorting machines, roller inspection tables, brush machines, weighing machines, palletizers, and bag-sealing belts. A secondary used-machines stream is operated through a dealer network.
All functions—sales, engineering, production, assembly, and service—are handled centrally from the single Franeker facility, enabling customer-specific engineered solutions rather than catalogue products. The company sells direct to enterprise agricultural processors and through regional dealers for used equipment, with a six-language website (Dutch, English, German, French, Spanish, Russian) supporting international reach. The company is privately held with no disclosed external investors and reports no publicly available revenue figures; recent strategic activity is concentrated in incremental product launches (e.g., the 2025 "Combi stortbak met leesunit" and Mono-/Duobelt) and a first disclosed delivery to South Africa.
Bijlsma Hercules firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Bijlsma Hercules
- Legal name
- Bijlsma Hercules
- Website
- https://bijlsmahercules.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1938
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Bijlsma Hercules is a 1938-founded, family-owned Dutch manufacturer of custom industrial machinery for the intake, sorting, and processing of potatoes, onions, carrots, and other tuberous crops, serving agricultural processors from its single Franeker headquarters and a dealer network.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Bijlsma Hercules industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Agricultural Processing Machinery
- NAICS
- Farm Machinery and Equipment Manufacturing (333111), Agricultural Implement Manufacturing (33311)
- SIC
- Farm Machinery & Equipment (3523)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Bulk Handling & Conveying for Processing Lines (Augers, Elevators, Conveyors) (AFAAAJAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Packaging & Bagging Equipment (Weighers, Baggers, Sealers) (AFAAAJAI), Cartoning, Case Packing & Tray Loading Machines (IMALAOAE)
Keywords
Where Bijlsma Hercules is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Franeker
- HQ country
- Netherlands
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Bijlsma Hercules business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- New Machine Sales: Sale of new industrial agricultural processing machines including intake, sorting, and processing equipment. Machines are customized solutions designed for specific customer requirements.
- Used Machine Sales: Sale of used machines obtained through trade-ins or placed by dealers. Provides a varied offering for customers with different budget requirements.
- Service and Support: Service and support services for machines, handled centrally from headquarters in Franeker.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels4 records
Bijlsma Hercules product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Bijlsma Hercules manufactures and supplies industrial machinery for the intake, sorting, and processing of agricultural tuberous crops such as potatoes, onions, and carrots. The product portfolio includes hopper bins, product cleaners, pre-sorters, inspection units, telescopic and transport belts, conveyors, box and big-bag fillers, hall fillers, leaf separators, clod and stone separators, loading machines, sorting machines, roller inspection tables, bunkers with box tipplers, brush machines, roller treatment units, weighing machines, palletizing machines, input belts, and bag-sewing belts. Sales, engineering, production, assembly, and service are all handled centrally from the company's headquarters in Franeker, Netherlands, and a dealer network is used to place pre-owned machines.
Product overview
Bijlsma Hercules is a leading manufacturer of agricultural processing machines based in Franeker, Netherlands, founded in 1938. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of machines for the intake (inschuren), sorting (sorteren), and processing (verwerken) of potatoes, onions, carrots, and other tuber crops. The product line spans from field to consumer, including hopper bins, pre-sorters, inspection units, telescopic belts, conveyor systems, box and big bag fillers, hall fillers, leaf separators, clod and stone separators, sorting machines, roller inspection tables, bunkers, box tipplers, brush machines, roller treatment units, weighing machines, palletizing machines, and bag sealing equipment. The company also offers used machines through dealers.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Stortbakken (Hopper Bins) Robust hopper bins for efficient intake and loading of tuberous crops such as potatoes, onions, and carrots from the field into the processing facility, used by agricultural processors.
- Productreinigers (Product Cleaners) Machines for cleaning agricultural products during the intake process, used by processors of potatoes, onions, carrots, and other tuberous crops.
- Voorsorteerders (Pre-sorters) Pre-sorting machines for initial classification of crops before main processing, used in agricultural processing lines.
- Inspectieunits (Inspection Units) Inspection units for quality control of crops during the intake process, used in agricultural processing operations.
- Telescoopbanden (Telescopic Belts)
- Transportbanden (Transport Belts) Conveyor belts for moving crops through the processing line, used in agricultural processing facilities.
- Transporteurs (Conveyors) Conveyor systems for transporting agricultural products across the processing line, used in farms and processing facilities handling tuberous crops.
- Kisten- en big-bagvullers (Box and Big Bag Fillers) Product-friendly machines for filling boxes and big bags with processed crops, used in agricultural processing and packaging operations.
- Hallenvullers (Hall Fillers) Machines for filling storage halls with crops for long-term storage, used in agricultural processing operations handling potatoes and similar crops.
- Loofscheiders (Leaf Separators) Machines for separating leaves from crops such as potatoes and onions, used in the intake and sorting stages of agricultural processing.
- Kluiten- en stenenscheiders (Clod and Stone Separators) Machines for removing clods and stones from crops during intake processing, used in agricultural operations handling potatoes and other root crops.
- Opschepmachines (Loading Machines) Machines for loading crops from storage bunkers, used in agricultural processing facilities.
- Sorteermachines (Sorting Machines) Sorting machines for classifying crops by size, quality, and other parameters, used in the sorting stage of agricultural processing lines.
- Rollenleestafels (Roller Inspection Tables) Roller-based inspection tables for visual quality control of crops, used in the sorting stage of agricultural processing.
- Bunkers met kistenkantelaar (Bunkers with Box Tippler) Storage bunkers equipped with box tippling mechanisms for efficient unloading, used in agricultural sorting and storage operations.
- Kistenkantelaar (Box Tippler) Machines for tilting and emptying boxes of crops, used as a standalone unloading solution in agricultural processing operations.
- Borstelmachines (Brush Machines) Brush machines for cleaning and processing crops, used in the sorting stage of agricultural processing lines.
- Rollenbehandelunits (Roller Treatment Units) Roller-based treatment units for crop processing, used in the sorting stage of agricultural processing operations.
- Afweegmachine (Weighing Machine) Weighing machines for precise measurement of processed crops, used in the final processing and packaging stage of agricultural operations.
- Palletiseermachine (Palletizing Machine) Customer-specific machines for automated stacking of boxes onto pallets, used in the final processing and packaging stage of agricultural operations.
- Invoerbanden (Input Belts) Conveyor belts for feeding products into processing lines, used in the processing stage of agricultural operations.
- Naaibanden (Sewing Belts) Belts for sewing or sealing bags of processed products, used in the processing and packaging stage of agricultural operations.
- Gebruikte machines (Used Machines) Pre-owned machines obtained through trade-in or placed by dealers, including hallenvullers, stortbakken, rollenleestafels, egelbanden, valbrekers, sorteermachines, big-baghouders, and zeefmatten, offered to customers with different budget requirements.
- Service and support for Bijlsma Hercules machines Centralized service and support for the company's agricultural processing machines, managed from the Franeker headquarters for customers across markets.
Quantifiable outcome
- Sorting with minimum space and handling requirements
Companies that use Bijlsma Hercules
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Bijlsma Hercules technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature7 records
Bijlsma Hercules partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Bijlsma Hercules competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Allround (Allround Vegetable Processing): Netherlands-based supplier of complete vegetable processing lines including washing, drying, sorting, weighing, and packaging—directly overlapping with Bijlsma Hercules' processing (verwerken) and sorting (sorteren) categories.
- Spudnik Equipment Company: US-based manufacturer of potato handling and storage equipment, with a comparable product line of conveyors, separators, and storage systems. A direct regional peer for the North American market with parallel product structure.
- DOWNS (Crop Processing Solutions): European manufacturer of grading, washing, and polishing equipment for potatoes and root vegetables. Comparable in scale and customer base, often competing for the same European packhouse projects.
- Wyma Engineering: Dutch designer and manufacturer of post-harvest vegetable handling equipment (receiving, cleaning, sizing, conveying). Near-identical customer profile (potato, onion, carrot packhouses) and a directly overlapping product range with Bijlsma Hercules.
- AVR (Roose Maaltijdservice / AVR bvba): Belgian manufacturer specializing in potato machinery—planters, harvesters, and in-store/handling equipment. Competes head-to-head with Bijlsma Hercules in the European potato processing equipment market.
- WM Kartoffeltechnik: German manufacturer of potato handling, sorting, and storage equipment. Comparable in scale and product mix, serving the same German and European potato value chain.
- Tong Engineering: UK-based manufacturer of handling, sorting, and grading equipment for vegetables, particularly root crops. Closely comparable product portfolio (intake hoppers, conveyors, optical sorters, box/big bag fillers) serving the same European packhouse customer base.
- Haith Group: UK-based manufacturer of root crop and vegetable handling equipment, including washers, polishers, graders, and box handling systems. Directly comparable offering for UK and European packhouse customers.
Broad incumbents
- GRIMME Landmaschinenfabrik: Large, family-owned German manufacturer with a dominant position in potato and root crop machinery worldwide. Overlaps with Bijlsma Hercules in storage and handling equipment but competes across a much broader product portfolio including harvesters and planters.
- Ploeger Oxbo Group: Large manufacturer of specialty harvesting and agricultural equipment including potato and onion systems. A broader incumbent with overlapping products in harvesting, handling, and grading.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Bijlsma Hercules social profiles
Digital presenceBijlsma Hercules financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Bijlsma Hercules leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Bijlsma Hercules funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Bijlsma Hercules 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 Bijlsma Hercules
What does Bijlsma Hercules do?
Bijlsma Hercules manufactures and supplies industrial machinery for the intake, sorting, and processing of agricultural tuberous crops such as potatoes, onions, and carrots. The product portfolio includes hopper bins, product cleaners, pre-sorters, inspection units, telescopic and transport belts, conveyors, box and big-bag fillers, hall fillers, leaf separators, clod and stone separators, loading machines, sorting machines, roller inspection tables, bunkers with box tipplers, brush machines, roller treatment units, weighing machines, palletizing machines, input belts, and bag-sewing belts. Sales, engineering, production, assembly, and service are all handled centrally from the company's headquarters in Franeker, Netherlands, and a dealer network is used to place pre-owned machines.
Is Bijlsma Hercules a public or private company?
Bijlsma Hercules is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was Bijlsma Hercules founded?
Bijlsma Hercules was founded in 1938. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Bijlsma Hercules based?
Bijlsma Hercules is headquartered in Franeker, Netherlands, in the Europe region.
How does Bijlsma Hercules make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. New Machine Sales are the primary driver. The others are used Machine Sales and service and Support.
Who are Bijlsma Hercules's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Allround (Allround Vegetable Processing), Spudnik Equipment Company, DOWNS (Crop Processing Solutions), Wyma Engineering, AVR (Roose Maaltijdservice / AVR bvba), WM Kartoffeltechnik, Tong Engineering and Haith Group. Broad incumbents are GRIMME Landmaschinenfabrik and Ploeger Oxbo Group.
Does Bijlsma Hercules have an API?
No public API is recorded for Bijlsma Hercules.
What industry is Bijlsma Hercules in?
Bijlsma Hercules's product category is Agricultural Processing Machinery. Its primary akta.pro industry code is AFAAAJAJ, Bulk Handling & Conveying for Processing Lines (Augers, Elevators, Conveyors), with a secondary code of AFAAAJAI, Packaging & Bagging Equipment (Weighers, Baggers, Sealers). Its NAICS code is 333111 and its SIC code is 3523.