Roco
| Roco Modelleisenbahn GmbH
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| legal form | GmbH |
| founding | 1960 |
| Seat |
 Bergheim , Austria
|
| Number of employees | 650 (2007) |
| sales | € 47.0 million (2011) |
| Branch | Toy industry |
| Website | www.roco.cc |
The Austrian company Roco Modelleisenbahn GmbH (formerly Roco Modellspielwaren GmbH ) is a manufacturer of model trains .
Companies
The model trains produced have the nominal sizes H0 (1:87) and to a lesser extent TT (1: 120) and H0e (1:87) (narrow gauge) . The development and production in N (1: 160) was given up after the takeover of the Fleischmann company by the joint parent company Modelleisenbahn Holding . In Europe, after Märklin with € 128 million and Hornby with € 70.6 million and currently € 55 million in annual sales, it is the third largest provider in the European model railway industry. (Sales figures as of 2008)
history
Founding years
Roco was founded in 1960 by Dr.-Ing. Karlheinz Rössler († April 17, 1977). First, children's toys were made. A little later, under the name “Roco minitanks”, military models of vehicles from various armed forces were also launched. In 1967, Rössler switched to the production of model railways and initially manufactured locomotives and cars in 1:87, H0 and 0 (1:45) scale on behalf of model railroad companies from the USA . Roco launched its own H0 freight car models based on European models for the first time in 1967 . In Germany in particular, they achieved great success because of their value for money and their high level of detail. Roco's first locomotive designs for the German market included a model from the DB class 215 , which was launched in 1973. This was followed by models of the DB conversion cars in 1975 .
At the beginning of the 1970s Roco was also active in the 0 gauge. However, due to a lack of economic success, these activities were not pursued and the product line was discontinued.
The big entry into the market
In 1975 Roco managed to take over a large part of the tools from the inventory of the collapsed model railway manufacturer Röwa . This step helped Roco to make its final breakthrough on the European model railway market. The success was also due to the fact that the finely detailed earlier Röwa models only cost 60 percent of the previous Röwa price and were therefore even cheaper than the less well-executed models of the competition.
1977 Röwa models were predominantly TEE cars , fast cars , pieces of silver and Eilzugwagen reproductions, supplemented by internal structures, including the Europe procured Eurofima wagon and Corail wagons of the SNCF. With the entry of the Röwa models into the market in 1976, model locomotives based on DB models such as the 110 and 140 in many variants and the 111 were offered. The program was continuously expanded. In addition to DB prototypes, models from the ÖBB were a focus at Roco.
In the H0 area, the passenger coaches taken over from Röwa were already reproduced on a length scale of 1: 100. The large German model railway manufacturers Fleischmann , Märklin and Trix had much more shortened passenger coaches on offer at that time. Only companies such as Liliput and Rivarossi had built long-scale cars as early as 1971 and 1967, respectively, but had little success on the market: Because of the tight radii on curves and switches that were still prevalent on model railways at that time , there were problems with the cornering behavior of the long cars.
A step toward longer car dared Roco with the replication of standard cars (Switzerland, standard gauge) of SBB Type IV in length scale of 1: 93.5, which since 2006 was later among manufacturers Fleischmann (1991) at Marklin standard. The first cars in the correct 1:87 scale from Roco were again replicas of the Eurofima cars in 1983. Roco initially reluctantly expanded the product line of long-scale cars, including the yl DB type express train carriages, in order to explore the market. From 1988 onwards, almost all types that Roco had in 1: 100 length in the program were also produced in the correct scale. Today, the shortened cars are almost only offered in the entry-level range.
Roco also remained innovative with a track system introduced in 1989 for two-wire railways, the so-called Rocoline, which had a rubber bedding based on the original dimensions as a replica of the superstructure . In addition, this track system had lower rail profiles than is usual with other traditional German manufacturers - 2.1 instead of 2.5 mm, which is close to a true-to-scale track ( UIC 60 tracks would be around 1.9 mm high in H0). However, due to patent problems, the track system was only offered without the bedding until 2017, since then it has been produced both with and without bedding. As a replacement, a track program called geoline was developed with a solid plastic bedding as a superstructure replica, which is very similar to the C track from Märklin and Trix. However, this was discontinued in the 3rd quarter of 2019, since then only remaining stocks have been sold. In the early 1980s Roco experimented with an electronic control console and a track diagram signal box for model railways.
Röwa developed a close coupling with which model railroad cars, which inevitably cannot drive closely coupled because of the narrow radii that are common there , were now closely coupled according to the prototype. This was achieved with a special kinematics of the coupling drawbar guidance. The carriages are only pushed or pulled apart in the curves so that the buffers cannot get caught. In 1975 Roco offered close couplings for retrofitting, in 1976 an improved variant appeared. Other manufacturers followed this trend only in 1985 (Fleischmann) and 1987 (Märklin), but both now offer these couplings as standard on their vehicles, Roco only as an exchange part. From 1993 Roco released a new close coupling ("Universal Coupling", UK) which, like the Märklin KK, is compatible with the standard model railroad couplings that have been used up to now and even with the Märklin product. In contrast to the Märklin close coupling, this coupling did not get caught in the buffers of long model railroad cars. Due to patent problems, this coupling was no longer available from the end of 2005, but has been available again since August 2007.
Bankruptcy and its causes
Roco got into economic difficulties in 2005 (like other model railway manufacturers too) and filed for bankruptcy on July 15, 2005. The reasons for this were allegedly poor quality, wrong model selection and many other management errors, which let the banks involved pull the emergency brake, as it was said in many model railway forums by critics, but also in the press. The business was continued by a rescue company (owner until today) called Modelleisenbahn GmbH , which also owns the rights to the Roco brand name . A major problem is that various patents were not registered by Roco but in the name of the former and deposed managing director. After the new beginning, various products could no longer be produced, only after a legal dispute or only in a slightly different form (e.g. the so-called whisper sander).
According to a report by ZDF magazine Frontal21 broadcast on July 8, 2008 , the cause of the company's insolvency turned out to be completely different. Roco had previously been lured with the prospect of cheap loans. Only a few weeks after signing the loan agreements with the Raiffeisenverband Salzburg , the Raiffeisenverband then called all loans due for no apparent reason. The then owner of the company, Peter Maegdefrau (owner 2002–2005): "To this day, I still can't explain how you come to such steps when you sit together a few weeks in advance, talk about partnership, about long-term relationships." Then Maegdefrau and his 800 employees then sat in the credit trap: The accounts were blocked, the company had to file for bankruptcy, from which the Raiffeisenverband Salzburg benefited considerably. After research by Frontal 21 , the bank knew very well that the Roco company was developing well. According to an internal forecast - which the Raiffeisen Association Salzburg did not want to comment upon request from Frontal 21 - the Raiffeisen Association had expected a profit of 3.8 million euros on a sale for the rescue company, which was founded before the bankruptcy. In any case, it is certain that the Raiffeisenverband now has around 400, e.g. T. German company is involved. Peter Maegdefrau has meanwhile filed a legal action against the Raiffeisenverband Salzburg for damages i. H. v. 40 million euros.
The Salzburg public prosecutor saw the causes of the bankruptcy quite differently. According to a report in the Salzburger Nachrichten on July 21, 2007, the Salzburg public prosecutor was convinced after examining all the proceedings that Maegdefrau had caused the company's insolvency through gross negligence. In addition, the public prosecutor's office accused him of having stashed assets of the company and of transferring money from the company account to his private account. In the indictment of July 3, 2007, Maegdefrau is accused of fraudulent crime and grossly negligent impairment of creditors' interests.
On May 3, 2010, Maegdefrau was sentenced by the Salzburg Regional Court to a prison term of 20 months for several fraudulent offenses. Accordingly, as managing director of the Roco companies, he committed economic crimes by stealing company assets aside. For example, he has collected agency fees of around 77,000 euros privately for no consideration. He also tried to pay himself 94,000 euros for alleged special services shortly before bankruptcy opened, even though he received a managing director's payment for these activities anyway. Maegdefrau also illegally withdrew assets from the company by registering patents developed in the company.
The Wirtschaftsblatt of August 10, 2007 reported that after an examination by the Salzburg public prosecutor's office, all of Maegdefrau's allegations against banks and against the bankruptcy administrator have proven to be unfounded. The spokeswoman for the Salzburg public prosecutor's office informed the Wirtschaftsblatt that the bankruptcy had been lawfully processed and that Maegdefrau's representations were untrue. However, the Salzburg Regional Court could not agree with this in the judgment of May 3, 2010 and acquitted Maegdefrau of the insolvency responsibility, which was confirmed in the appeal proceedings by the Linz Higher Regional Court on March 21, 2011 (AZ 35Hv 153 / 07y). Thus, the bankruptcy is still an unsolved case.
Post bankruptcy development
After the bankruptcy, Roco was initially continued by Raiffeisen and sold on to the Freising entrepreneur Franz-Josef Haslberger in September 2007. In 2007 the company was able to make profits again and achieved sales of 34.6 million euros, an increase of 12%. At the beginning of 2008 the German-Austrian model railway holding , the owner of Roco Modelleisenbahn GmbH, also took over the competitor Fleischmann , the previous number four on the European market - behind Märklin , Hornby and Roco. At the end of 2008 the rights to parts of the Klein Modellbahn company program were also taken over.
technology
The company's H0 models are equipped as standard for the two-wire direct current system. In addition, a large number of the models are also offered for the central conductor AC system from the manufacturer Märklin. It is also common for the dealer to swap couplings and axles for the desired power system at no extra charge when purchasing wagon models. A special feature of Roco locomotives was and is the equipment with a flywheel , which gives the models more prototypical driving characteristics. Today this technology is standard for all common manufacturers.
For digital control , Roco offers its own range of products that correspond to the Lenz system. The actual control center is, however, the operating unit, the so-called Lokmaus, the central unit is basically just a special amplifier. The components are connected via the X-Bus system. The system works according to the NMRA / DCC standard, the special feature is the address range starting with 0 for the accessory decoder. There is a serial interface and the Rocomotion software , a special variant of the Freiwald TrainController, for control with the PC .
Branches
The company headquarters is in Bergheim (Salzburg). In addition to management, global sales and marketing, product management and all commercial areas of the company are located there. The service department and the spare parts store are also located in Bergheim.
In the Gloggnitz plant , parts of the Roco rail system, the motors, circuit boards, pantographs , controls and wheels are manufactured for further processing in the other locations. The plastic injection molds and injection molds for locomotives and wagons are also manufactured in Gloggnitz.
Production is located in the Roco plant in Banská Bystrica in central Slovakia . This is where the locomotives for both power systems and the wagons are assembled.
The Arad plant ( Romania ) is Roco's youngest production facility. The majority of the H0 rail and part of the Roco wagon program are manufactured here.
Parts of the program are made in Vietnam.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/industrie/modellbahnindustrie-fleischmann-und-roco-machen-dampf-beim-gewinn/6138918.html
- ↑ http://www.bahnwahn.de/rocodb215/
- ↑ https://www.drehscheibe-online.de/foren/read.php?010,8086832
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORRuvRbpxhk#t=05m54s
- ↑ http://frontal21.zdf.de/ZDFde/inhalt/16/0,1872,7263056,00.html
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated February 11, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.salzburg.com/online/salzburg/stadt+salzburg/Ex-Roco-Geschaeftsfuehrer-erhaelt-20-Monate.html?article=eGMmOI8VemrPIJcaWB98pBDw5YgeZRRLpQ8LZ0M&img=&text=&mode not retrievable ( page not available in . =& Web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.wirtschaftsblatt.at/home/zeitung/archiv/254081/index.do ( Memento from February 10, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Model railway builder Roco back on track on ORF from January 28th, 2008
- ↑ http://www.nn-online.de/artikel.asp?art=771480&kat=5 ( Memento from March 25, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Vietnam: Modellbahn Holding outsources (January 21, 2016)
