Trade Press Day 2024 (Holding) - Today. Tomorrow. Roto.

Opportunities seized

With regard to the international markets, Dr Keill stated that the three divisions of the Roto Group were extremely successful in developing new business in 2024. They all have their own success stories. Dr Keill briefly summarised the “good news“ from the Roto Group as follows: “Window- and door-related services from RPS are popular as minimally invasive measures to boost energy efficiency. In Italy, the Netherlands and France, the demand for roof windows and access hatches from Roto DST is greater than it was before. And the customer base of Roto FTT with its subsidiaries Deventer and Ultrafab is growing on an international scale.” The building element industry as a whole has also been generating good news for many years. The Roto director’s criticism is that it just doesn’t speak about it enough.

Industry performance

He criticises the lack of recognition of the positive environmental impact achieved by millions of modern windows which have already been installed. The industry would be justified to claim that it has reduced the emissions resulting from existing buildings for many years and decades now. From 2021 to 2024, 37 million windows were replaced in Germany alone. The Group director outlines the most urgent need: “37 million energy-saving windows have already been installed but another around 209 million need to be replaced if we are going to take environmental protection seriously.” If the 6 million worst existing windows in the country were to be replaced first, this measure alone would reduce the building sector’s CO₂ emissions by 700,000 tonnes. Year on year. “And we would have sufficient capacity for these 6 million. Even in Germany, where there is a skills shortage all over.”

“Today. Tomorrow. Roto.”

2025 marks the 90^th anniversary of the founding of Roto. Back then, entrepreneur Wilhelm Frank paved the way for the industrial production of window hardware. “Industrial in the sense of series production, for a huge number of windows, buildings and customers.” Since then, Roto technology has gone into generations of windows and roofs, each one marking an improvement on the predecessor, recalled Dr Keill. “90 years ago, the belief in a better future and the benefits of industrial production for this better future led to the founding of Roto,” explained Dr Keill. And the trust the company places in its own contribution to a better future has remained all-encompassing at Roto to this day.

In 2024, the Group came up with a message which expresses its continued commitment to sustainability and its optimistic view of the future: “Three words which embody the responsibility that we are taking: Today. Tomorrow. Roto.  Responsibility for today and tomorrow. These three words also represent Roto’s strong conviction that it will continue to make the future better.”

A desire to make greater energy savings

The Roto director would like to see the industry as a whole show a stronger sense of self-confidence. “We should recognise what has already been achieved. Even if the renovation rate remains low, in 2025 tangible action will be taken and investments made in support of environmental protection thanks to the many millions of new windows in Europe. If we were to express our pride in what has been achieved and therefore create a positive mood, we would make a lot more people want new windows. This would encourage even more customers to think of our industry first when it comes to saving energy.”

The previous evening, Dr Keill had already asked the press representatives at the event to spread more good news about unique opportunities and tangible solutions. “Together, we can do a lot to draw people’s attention back to what is possible and stop waiting for politicians to show us the way.” Companies, homeowners and the housing sector as a whole are trying to find their way in a changing energy market. Now it’s up to the building element industry to do more to catch up.

In a good position

European, American and Chinese window manufacturers are already in a good position to meet a continuously growing demand for modern building elements – just like Roto. In Europe and America, process optimisation and automation play a particularly important role given the skills shortage, according to Dr Keill. He emphasises: “Collaboration as partners in value chains is becoming increasingly important for economic success. We have to think in processes that don’t stop at our own factory gate.” Partnerships have achieved a new level of quality and have been indispensable in fostering closer proximity to customers. Joint product developments with perfectly coordinated components will open up new opportunities for further improvements in the building envelope. In this context, Roto speaks of a “perfect match”. “Achieving a ‘perfect match’ in the product range, but also in our relationships with suppliers and customers, is a contribution to a better future.”

Courage to change

The Group director is expecting transformation processes to pick up speed and high costs to persist for all industrial companies. “Safeguarding supply chains and the power supply is challenging. Stepping up collaboration with customers and making our own contribution to the future is challenging. But at the end of the day, there are also many new opportunities,” Dr Keill is certain. “And Roto is determined to grasp these. We are able to do this thanks to our excellent economic situation.”

Learning from each other

The director doesn’t expect German or European politicians to provide any impetus for new builds or renovations in 2025 either. He believes that companies would benefit from focusing on collaboration with organisations and individuals who share their own views on responsibility and future-oriented actions. “Now is the time for entrepreneurs, inventors and professionals.” And the experience of the Roto divisions shows that this opportunity can be seized in every country and market around the world. “All we need to do is be willing to learn as much as possible from each other and to work together.”

Ready for the future

“Today. Tomorrow. Roto.” is Roto’s promise to continue acting as an innovator in the industry. It also expresses the three divisions’ commitment to take social and ecological responsibility. “Roto has been embodying sustainable production, business practices and construction for decades now. But the legal requirement to publish measures and their impact is now making our efforts visible.” Staff and customers can now read about how the Roto Group is fulfilling its responsibility towards a better future.

Many of the investments in future-relevant production technologies and digital-based services that Roto announced last year have already been made in 2024. Attendees at the 19^th International Roto Trade Press Day had the opportunity to get an impression of this first-hand. At the Leinfelden-Echterdingen plant, experts from Roto Window and Door Technology explained how new technologies impact efficiency, reliability and resource consumption. The Holding director announced further modernisation measures in all plants, as well as the expansion of various production capacities, for the next few years. “This demonstrates we are confident that our company will play an important role in future with our products and services.” As Dr Keill concluded, the three Roto divisions will start the new year with clear objectives and a great deal of optimism.