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Von Roll Holding AG

logo
legal form Corporation
ISIN CH0003245351
founding 1803
Seat Breitenbach , SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland 
management
Number of employees 1,203
sales 291.6 million CHF
Branch Electrical machine industry
Website www.vonroll.com
As of December 31, 2019

The Von Roll Holding AG is a globally active Swiss industrial group, which is now specializing in products for power generation, transmission and distribution. The company's operational activities are divided into the segments Von Roll Insulation, Von Roll Composites and other activities that include water and wastewater treatment. The company has been listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange under the symbol ROL since 1987 . Historically, Von Roll was primarily important for its iron works and foundries .

The Von Roll Group employs around 1200 people (as of the end of 2018) and generated sales of around 292 million Swiss francs in 2019.

history

19th century

Ludwig von Roll (around 1825)
Old logo of Ludwig von Roll'schen Eisenwerke.

In 1803 Karl Dürholz planned as a representative of the Solothurn company Felix Brunner und Cie. the construction of a melting furnace in Matzendorf . Shortly afterwards he went into business for himself with his brother and founded the "Eisenwerke der Handelsgesellschaft der Gebrüder Dürholz & Co." For unknown reasons, the stove was not built in Matzendorf, although approval from the Small Council of Solothurn was available, but later in Gänsbrunnen , probably in 1805. The councilor from the von Roll family Ludwig von Roll (1771–1839) joined the company in 1809 which he took over in 1810 together with Peter von Glutz and the ironworks owners Viellard and Antonin from Belfort . The company was now called Ludwig von Roll & Cie.

In 1810 the new company received a permit to operate two blast furnaces in Gänsbrunnen and in the Klus near Balsthal , a hammer forge in Matzendorf and to mine ore. In 1812 another hammer forge was built in Niedergerlafingen .

After financial difficulties in the early 1820s, Viellard and Antonin left the company. In 1823 the remaining shareholders von Roll and von Glutz founded the new public limited company, the Ludwig von Roll'schen Eisenwerke , based in Solothurn. It is likely to be one of the oldest stock corporations in Switzerland. The name of the company was retained for almost 140 years until 1962. The first director was Joseph Lack from Kappel . In 1827 the new company acquired the works of the old Ludwig von Roll. & Cie., Which she had previously taken over on a lease basis.

From 1825 the business of the von Roll'schen Eisenwerke was very good thanks to the strong demand for iron in Great Britain and France . The increasing demand for cast goods led to the establishment of a foundry in the Klus in 1828, in which casting was carried out directly from the blast furnace. In 1836 a rolling mill followed in Gerlafingen. Since the company's own blast furnaces could no longer supply enough pig iron for the steadily increasing demand of the von Roll'schen Eisenwerke, pig iron was also obtained from abroad for some time. After improvements to the existing blast furnaces and the construction of a larger blast furnace in Choindez ( Courrendlin municipality ) in 1846, enough pig iron could again be produced for own use and even surpluses were sold. The Baden ironworks were considered to be the fiercest competitors at this time .

The Ludwig von Roll'schen Eisenwerke initially extracted their ore exclusively in the canton of Solothurn, mainly from pits near Balsthal , Matzendorf, Laupersdorf and Ramiswil , in addition to less productive excavations. After a few years, however, the productivity of the Solothurn mines fell sharply and more ore was obtained from the Bernese Jura . Related to this is the construction of the blast furnace in Choindez, of which the director Lack said: “As long as iron is produced somewhere in the Jura, this plant will maintain its rank”, which proved to be true: When the ore smelting in Choindez in 1982 (then with an electric oven), it was the last system in Switzerland. The rolling mill in Gerlafingen was enlarged several times in the 1840s. In 1845 von Roll gave up the blast furnace in Gänsbrunnen.

The von Roll'schen Eisenwerke also benefited from the general economic upswing in Switzerland in the 1850s, in particular from the emergence of the railway and the increasing need for pipelines for gas and water works. In 1858, 2040 tons of pig iron were produced in the Choindez blast furnace and 1530 tons in the Klus furnace. 1300 t of wrought iron were produced in Gerlafingen, 485 t in Choindez, plus 410 t of cast goods in the Klus. From 1859, however, business went worse again. The Sardinian War and the temporary decline in railway construction had particularly negative effects . Cast pipes have been produced in Choindez since the 1850s.

From 1867, the furnace of the Choindez blast furnace was switched from charcoal to coke . The furnace was not well suited for this, and because of the high coke prices, it was switched back to charcoal for a short period in 1873. In 1877, however, a new coke-fired blast furnace with a significantly higher production (4200 t) was put into operation. In 1873 the company moved its headquarters from Solothurn to Gerlafingen.

In 1880 von Roll took over the iron works from Undervelier and demolished the blast furnace there. Hedinger openly writes in his essay in the commemorative publication for the company's centenary that the von Roll'sche Gesellschaft's purchase “not only got rid of a competitor in the sale of iron and wood”, but “what was more important to them, in the Ownership of a further 7/18 shares in the joint Delsberg ore concession [came], so that after the purchase it owned 14/18. " In 1883, von Roll acquired the Rondez plant from the Société des Forges de Vallorbe et des Rondez, which had been in liquidation . This included an old blast furnace in Delémont (Delsberg), which von Roll broke down, and a charcoal furnace in Rondez, which continued to be used for a few years. Von Roll acquired almost all of the ore concessions in the Delsberg Valley through the purchase and was able to acquire the few that were missing later. In the 1880s, only the von Roll works in Gerlafingen and Choindez remained of the formerly numerous Jura ironworks.

With iron, cast pipes and fittings, Ludwig von Roll'schen Eisenwerke already took part in the performance shows in Bern in 1848 and 1857 and in the 1873 world exhibition in Vienna . The company appeared on a larger scale at the first Swiss national exhibitions in Zurich in 1883 and in Geneva in 1896 .

20th century

In 1914, the Choindez blast furnace was the only remaining blast furnace in Switzerland to produce 22,000 t of pig iron per year, exceeding the total production of the nine Swiss blast furnaces in 1858 by more than 50%. The built-up area of ​​the von Roll'schen works was 161,393 square meters. In the course of time, the company built residences for its staff, due to the isolated location of the older plants and the expansion of all plants. At the time of the State Exhibition in Bern in 1914, there were 815 apartments and lodging houses for single employees and workers with 483 beds. The company boasted “spacious, modern dining establishments” in which the workers received “good, nutritious food (lunch consisting of soup, meat, vegetables and bread) at modest prices”.

With the outbreak of the First World War , general mobilization was ordered in Switzerland and the von Roll'schen Eisenwerke were initially only able to continue their operations to a limited extent. The Klus plant was idle for three weeks, while the Choindez, Rondez and Undervelier plants were almost constantly occupied with troops, as they were very close to the border. After a reduction in the number of troops deployed for border protection, the plants were slowly able to resume full operations, but had to contend with the increasingly difficult procurement of raw materials from abroad.

Immediately at the beginning of the war, the German government imposed an export ban on coal and the operation of the blast furnace in Choindez had to be stopped. The Federal Council was later able to persuade the German government to allow coal exports to Switzerland. This ensured the supply of coal to Switzerland and the von Roll'schen works until the end of 1916. From then on, however, significantly less coal was delivered from Germany. From 1917 onwards, the exploitation of peat stocks in Switzerland as a substitute fuel was intensified . Von Roll took part in a Swiss peat cooperative and independently exploited a peat store in Montfaucon . Despite the good quality of the peat, the costs were disproportionately high. At Buix near Porrentruy , coal was searched for by deep drilling, but this was stopped after no coal had been found even at a depth of over 1000 m.

Gerlafingen steelworks

Mild steel from Germany also became more expensive, in 1917 semi-finished products cost 420 francs per ton, in 1918 it was 700 francs. This led to the establishment of its own steelworks in Gerlafingen . A Siemens-Martin furnace and an electric furnace were built. Another electric furnace went into operation in 1922, but the Siemens-Martin furnace was shut down in 1921 due to high wages and coal prices. Von Roll developed a new charging method for its electric ovens, from above with troughs instead of through the door. This procedure then caught on worldwide.

During the Second World War , the Swiss metallurgist Robert Durrer returned from Berlin and developed a new steelmaking process in Gerlafingen in which pure oxygen is used for refining . The process was not economical in Gerlafingen, however, as it required larger quantities of pig iron than the plant could supply. It was later further developed in Austria and known as the Linz-Donawitz process . During the war, Von Roll was a sub -supplier of the Oerlikon-Bührle company , which was considered the most important Swiss armaments supplier to Hitler's Germany.

Logo used until 1972.

At the general assembly on May 29, 1962 the company changed its name from Gesellschaft der Ludw. from Roll'schen Eisenwerke AG to Von Roll AG . This was justified by the fact that the designation "iron works" had become too narrow in view of the greatly expanded production program and too complicated to use in practice. The economic crisis caused by the 1973 oil crisis dealt a severe blow to Von Roll, like all Swiss industry. The company thus developed into a restructuring case.

In 1988 Von Roll took over the Isola-Werke in Breitenbach from the United Technologies Essex Group , which had taken over the Swiss Isola-Werke in 1982. In the 1990s the difficulties increased year by year. The Monteforno steelworks in Bodio , Canton Ticino , acquired by Von Roll in 1977 , was closed on January 31, 1995.

In 1996 Von Roll parted with its traditional core business, steel production in Switzerland. From the factory Gerlafingen was created using the Von Moos AG , the Swiss Steel , the 2003 Schmolz + Bickenbach has been adopted. Schmolz + Bickenbach in turn sold Stahl Gerlafingen AG to the Italian Beltrame Group in 2006 . Von Roll also sold the cable car division in 1996. The buyer was the Austrian cable car company Doppelmayr .

In 1997 von Roll had completely withdrawn from the steel business after the New Jersey Steel Corporation in the USA was also sold. In addition, the monorail , hydraulic , electrical cable , and filtration businesses were sold in the 1990s .

In 1997 Von Roll acquired the Voith Guss GmbH foundry in Heidenheim an der Brenz , which was founded in 1911 by the Voith mechanical engineering group . After this subsidiary Von Roll Voith Guss GmbH became insolvent, it was repurchased at the beginning of 2005 by a Voith subsidiary, Heidenheimer Gießerei GmbH & Co. KG .

The area of ​​rail maintenance and public transport, particularly strong in the area of ​​the production of rack railways, was transferred to Tensol Rail in Giornico in Ticino in 2000.

As the three core areas of the "new" von Roll, von Roll Inova with environmental technology, von Roll Isola with electrical insulation materials, industrial composite materials, technologies for the electronics industry and insulated special conductors , and from Roll Infratec with construction castings / industrial castings, pressure pipes / industrial castings, Fittings, machines / conveyor technology and the construction and agricultural machinery manufacturer Robert Aebi AG in Regensdorf .

21st century

Von Roll still had to fight for survival in 2003 after equity had dropped to just CHF 10.5 million at the end of 2002 due to the accumulated losses in previous years. Von Roll became a restructuring case. In cooperation with the lending banks, it was decided to sell the vonRoll infratec (casting, water and gas infrastructure and IT) and Von Roll Inova (environmental technology) divisions. As a first measure, vonRoll infratec was sold to a group of entrepreneurs led by Jürg Brand in April 2003 . The vonRoll infratec companies have been independent since then, but continue to use the founder's name within the company, supplemented by the additions 'casting', 'hydro', 'infratec' or 'itec'. In October 2003, the second restructuring step was the sale of Von Roll Inova Holding to the A-Tec subsidiary Austrian Energy & Environment (AE&E), under which it kept its name until the introduction of the single-brand strategy in June 2010. At the end of 2010, AE&E Inova AG was sold to Hitachi Zosen Corporation , giving the company a new name, Hitachi Zosen Inova AG . Von Roll achieved the turnaround with the strategic realignment implemented in 2004 with the focus on expanding the insulation business . In 2005 Von Roll Isola was renamed Von Roll . Von Roll was now fully focused on the insulation business.

In January 2008 Von Roll completed the purchase of the Chinese Shenzhen Mica with 1000 employees, in August of the same year Von Roll became the 100% owner of the Indian companies Pearl Insulation Pvt Ltd. and Pearl Metal Products (Bangalore) Pvt Ltd. ; In October 2008, the Israeli transformer manufacturer Enerco Enterprises was also taken over.

On April 7, 2008 Von Roll Holding AG moved its headquarters from Gerlafingen to Breitenbach, the headquarters of Isola.

To vonRoll infratec are now the vonRoll casting the foundries in Delemont and Emmenbrücke that vonRoll hydro (piping and network monitoring systems) in Oensingen and Choindez that vonRoll itec ( IT services) in Gerlafingen and vRbikes.ch ag (E-bikes , E-trikes, ELECTRANT charging station) in Choindez. The Klus near Balsthal is still dominated today by the extensive building complex that formerly belonged to Von Roll's Klus plant. They are now the headquarters of various other companies. The von Roll bank also emerged from the "old" von Roll . This was originally founded in 2007 under the name “Von Roll Finanz AG” to finance the Von Roll Holding AG group companies, but in January 2009 it was separated from the group and made an independent bank.

Products

Overview

Hydrant from the production of vonRoll.
Manhole cover from the vonRoll factory in Rondez.

The company of the Ludwig von Roll'schen Eisenwerke continuously expanded its range over a long period of time. In 1955, a few years before the peak of this development, the offer was as follows:

The hydrants (now the vonRoll hydro company ) of the Von Roll and manhole covers from the Rondez factory with the correspondingly cast-in Von Roll Rondez lettering are still omnipresent in Swiss streets . Boilers from the Klus plant were also widespread .

Cableways

At the end of the 19th century, von Roll took over the factory of the liquidated Maschinenfabrik Bern AG and built another foundry there. They specialized in railway material and early on in the manufacture of complete funicular and aerial cableways . The machines, cabins and brake cars for the Wetterhorn elevator , one of the first cable cars in the world, were delivered to von Roll'schen Eisenwerke in 1908 by the Bern works. Over the course of the century, the von Roll cable cars became internationally known. With the VR101 system , von Roll developed a detachable single-cable gondola lift in 1944, of which around 110 systems were built worldwide. In 1956, von Roll built a gondola lift for Disneyland in Anaheim , California , called Skyride by Disney . The name Skyride was subsequently used in the USA for all Von-Roll small cabin lifts . The Jennerbahn was one of the last remaining lifts in Europe according to the VR 101 system , while the last lift in Switzerland was the Oberdorf – Weissenstein chairlift . As mentioned under 20th Century , Von Roll sold the cable car division to the cable car company Doppelmayr in 1996 .

Business areas / group structure

Von Roll is the world market leader in the areas of insulation products and systems for the electrical machine industry as well as in the manufacture of composite materials and parts for industrial applications. Von Roll also manufactures heat-resistant and fire-resistant insulation products that are used in the cable manufacture and electronics industry. Von Roll covers the value chain from engineering through production to application.

In January 2008, the Shenzhen Mica works in China were taken over. Another takeover of Albesiano Sisa Vernici Spa in Italy followed in June 2013. Both companies are now part of the core Electrical Insulation business. Today the group of companies is represented in 15 countries at 29 locations with around 1,700 employees.

The operational activities of Von Roll Holding AG are divided into three areas: Von Roll Insulation (formerly Electrical), Von Roll Composites (formerly Industrial) and other activities which u. a. Include the treatment of water / wastewater by Von Roll BHU Umwelttechnik GmbH.

The Von Roll Transformers and Von Roll Solar segments formed in 2008 and 2009 have since been discontinued.

Von Roll Insulation produces and sells electrical insulation materials for large generators, high-voltage motors, wind generators, traction and machine motors for the low-voltage sector and for transformers. The products in this segment include enamel- insulated wires and coils, resins and lacquers, mica insulating tapes, and rigid and flexible laminates . Von Roll supplies individual products as well as complete insulation systems.

Von Roll Composites comprises products and services with a focus on the mechanical, thermal and chemical properties of the insulation material. The segment is divided into the product lines of composite materials, molded parts and cables (primarily fire-resistant cables).

Von Roll also offers various consulting and testing services. Von Roll has laboratories for testing systems and materials in the field of electrical insulation materials and insulation systems. The high-voltage laboratory in Breitenbach specializes in the mechanical and electrical testing of high-voltage materials and systems. The UL laboratory in Schenectady , USA specializes in all types of UL tests for medium and low voltage, mostly the UL 1446 test.

The Von Roll Transformers segment came into being after the takeover of the Israeli transformer manufacturer Enerco Enterprises in October 2008 and comprised the manufacture and delivery of solutions for power transmission and distribution. This included the installation, maintenance and repair services in particular for high-performance transformers as well as for medium-sized and smaller transformers. The offer also included distribution transformers, mobile substations for temporary use (for example in the event of disasters) and special transformers. Von Roll Transformers was sold as of December 31, 2014 and has not been part of the Von Roll Group since then.

In 2009 Von Roll moved into the solar sector (photovoltaic cells) with a newly founded Von Roll Solar segment . In 2012 the solar division of the industrial company Von Roll was discontinued after several months of searching for a buyer were unsuccessful.

At the end of May 2013 Von Roll Holding AG took over the Italian company Albesiano Sisa vernici srl, which specializes in the production of 100% resins and paints. After the company John C. Dolph's in Monmouth Junction, USA was taken over in 2007, Von Roll significantly expanded its market position in the area of ​​resins / coatings with this step.

In 2018, a new business unit Von Roll Automotive will be founded for the rapidly growing “E-Mobility” business area, with headquarters in Augsburg, Germany. In the same year, the Institute for High Voltage Isolation opens a new test laboratory for electric drives in electric vehicles in Breitenbach, Switzerland.

structure

literature

  • The company of L. von Roll'schen Eisenwerke and the development of the Jura iron industry. History and statistics. Self-published by the company of L. von Roll'schen Eisenwerke, Gerlafingen 1923.

Web links

Commons : Von Roll  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Annual Report 2019. In: www.vonrollgroup.com. Retrieved June 11, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Annual Report 2018. In: www.vonrollgroup.com. Retrieved June 11, 2019 .
  3. ↑ O. Hedinger: The history of the iron industry in the Jura and the society of Ludwig von Roll'schen Eisenwerke . Written for the Swiss National Exhibition in 1914, reprinted in the commemorative publication: The Society of L. von Roll'schen Eisenwerke and the Development of the Jurassic Iron Industry, 1923. p. 44
  4. ↑ Festschrift 1923, p. 91
  5. ↑ a b Von Roll AG, Gerlafingen: Annual Report 1961/62. P. 11
  6. ↑ Hedinger in Festschrift 1923, pp. 46/47
  7. ↑ Hedinger in Festschrift 1923, p. 49
  8. ↑ Hedinger in Festschrift 1923, p. 73
  9. ↑ Hedinger in Festschrift 1923, p. 79
  10. ^ The Society of L. von Roll'schen Eisenwerke in the 40 years from 1873 to 1913. In: The Society of L. von Roll'schen Eisenwerke and the development of the Jurassic iron industry, 1923. P. 88. - This section is not Drawn by an author
  11. ↑ Festschrift 1923, pp. 94/95
  12. ↑ Festschrift 1923, p. 95
  13. ↑ Festschrift 1923, p. 162
  14. ↑ Festschrift 1923, pp. 165/166
  15. ^ Werkzeitung der von Roll AG, vol. 44 (1973), no. 2 (special issue for the 150th anniversary). P. 6
  16. ↑ Festschrift 1923, p. 193
  17. ↑ Von Roll AG newspaper, vol. 44 (1973), no.2, p. 6
  18. ↑ Von Roll AG newspaper, vol. 44 (1973), no. 2. pp. 6-8
  19. ↑ G. Hafner: Walther Stampfli , 1986, p. 263
  20. ↑ a b History of Von Roll Isola . Von Roll Holding AG. 2007. Archived from the original on June 19, 2008. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
  21. ^ History of Stahl Gerlafingen ( Memento from May 1, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 31 kB), accessed on July 20, 2008
  22. ↑ Doppelmayr buys Roll Seilbahnen . In: Wirtschaftsblatt . July 19, 1996. Archived from the original on March 16, 2016. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
  23. ^ Von Roll Group / Von Roll Holding AG, Gerlafingen: Annual Report 1997, pp. 4–5
  24. ↑ Von Roll Casting: Portrait Von Roll Voith Guss GmbH ( memento of April 16, 2002 in the Internet Archive ) in the Internet Archive , accessed on July 28, 2008
  25. ↑ Voith buys back an insolvent foundry . In: General paper review . January 24, 2005. Archived from the original on December 18, 2005. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
  26. ↑ industrie.de: Voith acquires foundry ( Memento of November 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), February 7, 2005, accessed on July 28, 2008
  27. ↑ eisenbahn-magazin 6/2011, p. 41
  28. ↑ SHAB : 073/2008 of April 16, 2008 (p. 14)
  29. ↑ moneyhouse.ch: Companies domiciled in the Von-Roll-Areal, Klus-Balsthal , accessed on July 20, 2008
  30. ↑ Bank von Roll AG commences business activities - the focus is on maintaining the traditional Swiss banking business . Von Roll Holding AG. January 26, 2009. Archived from the original on March 2, 2013. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
  31. ↑ Von Roll's advertisement in the festival guide to the 16th Eidgenössische Hornusserfest, Derendingen 1955, p. 2
  32. ↑ C. Gentil: Von Roll Bern single-cable gondola system (VR101) . In: Cable car nostalgia . Retrieved October 8, 2012.
  33. ^ Werkzeitung der Von Roll AG, vol. 44 (1973), no. 2. pp. 50–52
  34. ↑ EANS-Adhoc: Von Roll Holding AG / Von Roll founds the Solar Competence Center
  35. ↑ Von Roll Solar does not find any investors. Retrieved June 11, 2019 .
  36. ↑ Von Roll: Business also declined in the third quarter . Retrieved August 30, 2013.
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on July 28, 2008 .