Rösler Oberflächentechnik GmbH has been a global leader in the field of surface treatment for decades. MFN had the opportunity to sit down with Rüdiger Böhm, Head of Global Research at Rösler, to find out how Rösler managed to become a market leader and to consistently maintain its leading position over so many years.

(?) MFN: Rüdiger, your company has been in business for a long time and during this period has become a global leader in surface refinement — be it surface preparation for coating and painting, shot peening, surface finishing, high-tech cleaning, etc. How was Rösler able to become such a dominant player in the fields of mass finishing, shot blasting, and industrial cleaning, and maintain its leading position for such a long time?

(!) R. B.: Our founder, Mr. Roland Rösler, started the business in the 1950s by manufacturing mass finishing media. Even at that time, he didn’t want to offer the cheapest products, but goods that represented the best value for our customers. He recognized early on that our customers were not just looking for a commodity, but for optimal, cost-efficient solutions to their surface treatment problems — be it simple deburring and edge radiusing, or tasks that required sophisticated surface smoothing and high-gloss polishing.

(?) MFN: So, your business began with just offering mass finishing media?

(!) R. B.: We started out producing ceramic media and quickly expanded our production to plastic media and chemical compounds. But we recognized very quickly that, to provide the best surface finishing solutions, we had to make the equipment as well. I am proud to say that today — from very modest beginnings — our company offers the most comprehensive range of mass finishing machinery in the world.

But this is not the whole story. We did not want to just offer equipment and media, but wanted to provide processes that were tailored to the customer's needs. This meant that we had to invest in a costly test lab that allowed us to develop all kinds of finishing processes from scratch.

Of course, in all our product development activities, we always kept our focus on a clean environment. This is why we quickly developed solutions for the eco-friendly treatment of the wastewater created by mass finishing operations. And in this respect, recycling of the process water had a very high priority. The development of innovative cleaning centrifuges allowed us to recycle the process water and reduce the freshwater consumption of mass finishing processes by up to 90%.

(?) MFN: So, is it fair to say that right from the beginning, Rösler did not just want to be a supplier of hardware in the form of machinery and media, but a solutions provider for surface finishing problems, including wastewater treatment?

(!) R. B.: That is exactly right! The idea of being a solutions provider became an essential part of Rösler’s DNA and, to this day, is at the center of our company philosophy. We have invested many millions of euros in the establishment of demonstration and development labs at our German headquarters and our subsidiary companies around the world.

(?) MFN: Aren’t you calling your labs “Customer Experience Centers”?

(!) R. B.: Yes, we do — for a very simple reason: practically all our customers want to be involved in the development of their surface refinement processes. Above all, they want to be sure that the finishing processes we develop really work under actual production conditions. Therefore, our test labs are also an important meeting place with our customers, where we demonstrate our equipment, exchange problem-solving ideas, and jointly decide which processing trials need to be conducted. That is why, a few years ago, we renamed our test labs as “Customer Experience Centers.”

(?) MFN: But you offer a lot more than just mass finishing solutions…?

(!) R. B.: Of course we do! Over the years, our customers frequently confronted us with surface treatment problems which, at the time, we could not solve with our current product portfolio. So, in the spirit of our philosophy of being a solutions provider, we expanded our product base. That is how we established a shot blasting equipment division, built custom-engineered industrial washing machines, created machinery for the post-processing of 3D-printed components, and even developed a complete range of industrial wastewater cleaning systems.

(?) MFN: Isn’t this a rather broad and, therefore, risky approach?

(!) R. B.: There is an old proverb: “Without risk, there is no reward in life!” But seriously, everything we do revolves around the field of surface refinement and our desire to develop solutions for our customers in this field. If this requires the development of innovative consumables or engineering new machinery, we, of course, do it. And so far, our success has proven us right: today, we are not only the leading supplier of mass finishing products, but also of shot blast equipment and innovative post-processing solutions in the field of additive manufacturing.

And, by the way, that is what the market wants. Business conditions are becoming ever more challenging. There are enormous cost pressures, increasing quality demands, global competition, and rapid innovation. A good example is the automobile industry. The switch from the combustion engine to electric drive systems, and increased competition from Chinese and U.S. car manufacturers — for example, Tesla — is posing a huge challenge for the European automobile industry. In this extremely tough business environment, customers are demanding comprehensive, innovative, and, above all, cost-effective solutions for their surface treatment tasks.

(?) MFN: What point are you trying to make?

(!) R. B.: What I am saying is that the days when a customer just looked for a product like a certain grinding media or a specific finishing machine are long gone. Today, the market is demanding complete, custom-engineered packages for handling specific tasks — be it surface cleaning, deburring, surface smoothing, polishing, peening, or surface preparation for coating. Above all, customers are looking for more or less fully automated systems that perfectly fit into their own manufacturing setup.

(?) MFN: You just mentioned automation. How does automation fit into the Rösler business philosophy?

(!) R. B.: For us, as a supplier of surface treatment solutions, automation has become an essential “bread and butter” technology. It not only ensures zero-fault product quality but also provides the urgently needed reduction in manufacturing costs. Rösler recognized this early on and, over time, developed an impressive range of material handling modules, such as workpiece loading, transfer, and unloading systems. Rösler also utilizes all kinds of multi-axis industrial robots. With our in-house electronic expertise, we program our equipment and the material handling modules into fully automatic, interlinked finishing systems. But that is not all: we also offer solutions that utilize a combination of different surface treatment technologies.

(?) MFN: What do you mean by this?

(!) R. B.: Customers are increasingly pushing the responsibility for elaborate finishing projects onto their vendors. Ideally, they want one supplier to handle entire projects, no matter how complicated these might be. This frequently involves the combination of, for example, mass finishing, shot blasting, or industrial washing machines — all linked by suitable material handling modules and programmed into one integrated, fully automated system.

(?) MFN: Can you give us an example?

(!) R. B.: Most of the time, workpieces coming from machining or stamping centers are extremely oily. Before they can be treated in a mass finishing or shot blasting system, they must undergo a cleaning operation in an industrial washing system. Rösler combines the cleaning and finishing functions into a fully automated, interlinked system with equipment modules — all engineered and built by Rösler!

(?) MFN: How does Rösler cope with such challenges?

(!) R. B.: For us, it is very easy. We have comprehensive knowledge and experience in the field of automation and produce our entire equipment range in-house — be it mass finishing and shot blasting machinery or industrial washing machines. This, along with an excellent engineering team, allows us to quickly respond to technical demands. If needed, we will make engineering changes to existing machinery or develop completely new equipment concepts to meet customer requirements. And we do all this within surprisingly short time periods.

Of course, I also want to mention that, with around 15,000 different types of grinding and polishing media and compounds, Rösler is by far the largest supplier of mass finishing consumables in the world.

(?) MFN: How does this help you in the market?

(!) R. B.: Our company not only develops and produces most of our consumables in-house, but also maintains a comprehensive research lab staffed by a team of highly qualified, experienced chemists and process engineers. This enables us to quickly adapt our products to specific market demands or develop completely new products. For example, in recent years our research lab developed an innovative, non-foaming grinding media, as well as the revolutionary “multi-shape” media that practically eliminated the sometimes extremely costly lodging of worn media in the workpieces. 

Of course, our lab is also equipped with state-of-the-art analytical tools, like an X-ray diffractometer (for measuring residual compressive stress in metal components after peening) or an atomic absorption spectrometer (for analyzing elements in solution), among many others. We do not have to rely on outside sources to provide analytical services. This helps us keep turnaround times extremely short!

(?) MFN: From what you told us, it looks as if Rösler is truly a “one-stop” company?

(!) R. B.: Absolutely. As a provider of complete surface treatment solutions, we have no other choice but to be a “one-stop” operation. I am proud to say that the market has proven again and again that our business approach is right. Whenever a customer is faced with a difficult surface treatment problem, they turn to us because they know we will help them with technically optimal and cost-efficient solutions.

MFN would like to thank Rüdiger Böhm for this interview!

For Information: 

Rösler Oberflächentechnik GmbH Vorstadt 1, 96190 Untermerzbach, Germany

Tel. +49.9533.924-802

E-mail: d.hund@rosler.com

www.rosler.com