100 years of passion for fastening technology
A century later, the small workshop founded by the 32-year-old business man Otto Roth in the summer of 1914 is now a broad-based trade group offering a solid range of mechanical fixings and fastenings, as well as being a certified manufacturer of precision-turned and finished products. Today, Rainer Grässle (managing partner) and Johannes-Otto Roth (silent partner) are responsible for the medium-sized company, which employees some 300 staff. Profile.
A company which is able to weather two world wars and a global economic crisis must have a compelling business model with an excellent offering. Headquartered in Stuttgart (Germany) Otto Roth (Berliner Schrauben GmbH has been part of the Group since 1995 and Hamburger Heinz Bergmann GmbH since 2006) has been satisfying its customers for 100 years with the quality of its products and services.
From the perspective of technological development, 100 years is almost an eternity. This spans the period from when the first car rolled off the assembly line (Henry Ford changed the production of the Ford Model T) to the invention of the smartphone, which provides solutions to most questions via the Internet.
100,000 connecting elements in the portfolio
The company founder started off the business in 1914 by manufacturing heating pipe clamps. The 1920s saw the addition of an automatic turning shop and trade in screws/accessories. This laid the basic foundations of the company for its later years: trade in mechanical fixings and fastenings and the manufacture of precision-turned and finished products from drawings.
Over the years, the product range has been continuously extended – the company now supplies more than 100,000 DIN- and ISO-compliant connecting elements. Otto Roth also produces the following: Experienced turning and finishing technicians at the Buchen site manufacture complex components from customer drawings in the required size and material and in all surface finishes.
Managing director Rainer Grässle talks about the synergic benefits: “As well as wholesale trade in connecting elements, we advise our customers on customised solutions and manufacture precision parts from drawings – that is our strength which also benefits our customers.”
At the Buchen plant, tolerances have top priority.
Using cutting-edge machining technology, the Buchen plant in Germany produces highly precise pre-finished, rotationally symmetrical parts. There are approximately 100 machine tools for this purpose. Wolfgang Dambach, authorised signatory and plant manager at Buchen adds: “We are completely flexible in terms of batch size – we can manufacture anything from a few hundred up to tens of thousands of components. If deadlines are pressing, we can also operate multiple shifts. Our high-bay warehouse is well stocked with raw material which means we can also respond to requests at short notice.”
In 2008, as part of the expansion and modernisation of the Buchen plant, the high-bay warehouse for bar stock was built. This was a quantum leap forward for production at the Buchen site in terms of workflow organisation and material management. The high-bay warehouse makes stock management and work processes easier (store, remove, re-store). It also ensures quality, process reliability and traceability. The necessary raw materials are stored in more than 200 cassettes at the high-bay warehouse Although each supplier has to confirm the quality and composition of their delivery with a class 3.1 factory certificate, Otto Roth always carries out an additional check to verify this.
This involves spectral analysis, which is used to inspect the incoming goods, thus guaranteeing the correct specifications. Regular interim inspections at the machines and in the QA laboratory accompany every stage of the manufacturing process. Experienced QA employees analyse strength, shape, position, contour and layer thickness, among other characteristics, using cutting-edge testing methods and more than 1,000 optical and tactile measuring and testing instruments. The quality of the entire production process is monitored at all times which ensures an impressively high delivery quality of almost 100 per cent. The customer can also be supplied with test reports if required. This includes traceability right back to the base material. Dambach: “This effort gives every customer the peace of mind that the ordered parts have been manufactured from the correct material.”
Advice and customised solutions
Grässle has identified a trend which sees customers assigning increasingly complex services to Otto Roth: “This is a big opportunity for us to further increase added value.”
A major benefit is that the customer has only one single point of contact: “For us, providing advice does not just mean taking on the requirements of the customer without discussion – our manufacturing specialists are always searching for possible areas of optimisation.” For example, there are discussions about whether the given diameters are actually necessary, etc. Or questions are raised about what process should be used to best create the surface quality indicated on the drawing.
Grässle continues: “Our advisers are always able to provide the optimum solution, compatible with the customer’s budget, for a variety of manufacturing methods. This is why we have become the preferred supplier for many of our customers!”
He uses the following example to illustrate how his company defines an efficient, all-round service from a single source: “Previously, a customer purchased individual components of an assembly group made from brass (base, central part and lid) from three manufacturers which were soldered and nickel-plated following production. The procurement process of this assembly group was impaired due to different alloys being required, varying production quantities and problems with coordinating the individual delivery dates. Today, we deliver the complete component: The base and central part are now manufactured from one piece, which reduces the cost of the entire assembly group by 25%.” This is a result of expertise founded on 100 years of company history.
Efficient management of c-parts now using smartphones
Today, in the fully automated high-bay warehouse in Stuttgart more than 40,000 articles are available – screws and accessories, fittings, flanges, wood connectors and tools. An intelligent control system optimum stock management and guarantees reliability.
E-business solutions, such as EDI based on UN/EDIFACT and also direct supplier connections (e.g. OCI interface) ensure efficient delivery.
Regarding C-parts, the company implements a wide range of concepts in collaboration with its customers, chiefly the traditional kanban with two-bin or multi-bin systems, as well as the Kanban-Mobil.DE developed by the company itself. This involves customer barcode labels being scanned and transmitted directly to OTTO ROTH where the order is automatically processed.
OTTO ROTH has now taken a significant step forward in terms of service and security: Instead of the usual scanner and data transfer via analogue fixed line telephone or by email, modern smartphone technology is now available if required. A specially adapted smartphone is used, equipped with a Windows mobile operating system. Using an app developed by OTTO ROTH, the customer scans the 2D barcode on the kanban bin and transfers this data via the mobile telephone network (GSM network or WLAN). The order is automatically processed at OTTO ROTH. The advantage is that the order is transferred quickly and extremely securely and the customer can do so without a telephone line. There is also no need for the customer to install a program enabling third-party access to his IT infrastructure. The new system is called Kanban-Mobil.SCANNER OTTO ROTH is one of the first suppliers of this technology in the field of fastening technology.
Whether via Internet, fixed network or mobile network, your data connection to OTTO ROTH is secure, fast and reliable. OTTO ROTH guarantees timely delivery, thereby ruling out any interruption to the customer’s production chain.
Since Otto Roth was founded, the company has acquired over 100 years of in-depth expertise in all aspects of fastening technology. This knowledge is being constantly updated and refined. Rainer Grässle: “This expertise and with the commitment of our employees ensures we will also deliver outstanding quality in the future!”
Contact:
Natalie Wiesmann, Marketing
Tel. +49 711 1388 -186, n.wiesmann@ottoroth.de
Rutesheimer Str. 22, 70499 Stuttgart, Germany