Roth Composite Machinery: Engineering Excellence in Brush and Broom Manufacturing

A Conversation With CEO Andreas Reimann and Sales Manager Gernot Müller

With over a century of innovation behind them, Roth Composite Machinery continues to shape the future of brush and broom manufacturing. We sat down with CEO Andreas Reimann and Gernot Müller, Sales Manager Brushes & Brooms, to discuss their approach to custom solutions, technological advancement and the company’s vision for the industry’s future.

What role does Roth Composite Machinery play in the brush and broom manufacturing market?

Andreas Reimann: We specialize in machinery that enables our customers to produce brushes and brooms in the most productive way possible, especially in cases where individual production methods, tools or machinery are needed. Our focus is on meeting the specific challenges and demands of each customer.

How has Roth’s century-long legacy shaped your approach to innovation?

Reimann: While we respect our history, we’re not looking too much backward, we’re looking forward. Our future lies in meeting the challenges and demands of our customers of tomorrow. We need to shape not just our future but the future of our customers. Our goal is to make them happy with our machines, which means providing productivity advantages and increased competitiveness. Our slogan is “Your performance made by Roth,” and that encapsulates our commitment to supporting customers in achieving greater performance from their production processes.

Can you elaborate on your approach to individual solutions for customers?

Reimann: Our task is to make and to keep our customers successful and strong in competition. To achieve this, it’s essential to take a close look at their specific needs and demands in terms of production processes. This varies significantly from customer to customer—everyone has their own demands and challenges in production. Therefore, we develop matching machine or automation solutions, which often results in individual customer applications.

Let me give you a concrete example: Several years ago, we designed a production line for a customer in Scandinavia who was producing staple-set paint brushes. This production line used a pick-and-place robot to pick up brush bodies from bulk storage and process them completely into finished brushes, including stacking them into boxes with almost no operator intervention. This enabled our customer to be highly competitive in Europe’s DIY stores against Chinese competition.

How much on-site interaction is involved in developing these custom solutions?

CIt works both ways. To learn about their needs, it’s always necessary to see how they handle their products and processes. However, all customers also come to our facilities, at the latest, for the factory acceptance test. We typically integrate our customers into the development process as well.

What are some of the key technological milestones Roth has introduced?

Gernot Müller: Our driver is always to have the best possible solution. This means not only having a fast machine, but also looking into the machine itself to reduce wear and tear, and ensuring the machine is as flexible as possible with multi-use opportunities and accessibility.

Two perfect examples are our RoAn technology and the multi-flexible filament box. The RoAn technology — rotating anchor — is an excellent example of how to reduce wear and tear in the tufting tool, which is under steady stress. We reduced the parts that work on staple setting and forming, and by changing the method of cutting and forming, we reduced the forces needed because it’s a consistent operation rather than an interval operation.

The multi-filament box has been developed over the last 100 years through continuous improvement. It must handle all kinds of filaments, like abrasives, natural filaments or plastic filaments. This gives you the choice to run goat hair today and Arenga tomorrow. The flexibility inside this box allows for different properties and easy part changes at the picker unit. Accessibility is crucial as it must be easy to clean and optimized for daily operators.

What’s next for Roth Composite Machinery in terms of development?

Reimann: We need to go with the demands of competition and support our customers in keeping up with world markets. There are certain trends: cheaper products are getting even cheaper, and competition is increasing, especially in Europe from producers worldwide, particularly from Asia. Brush and broom producers are under high cost pressure, so we need to help them.

We’re currently working on developing enhanced HMI software, including design software for the process steps of the machine to define where holes and bristles should be placed, making it much more convenient for machine users. This will be a milestone, especially with the integration of CAD model uploads.

How is Roth addressing sustainability in manufacturing?

Reimann: Our machines have been known worldwide for over 100 years for their longevity, reliability and low energy consumption. Furthermore, the consumption of media like lubricants or pressurized air for pneumatics is quite low. Our machines are already setting standards regarding sustainability.

For our production, we’re planning to integrate all three production sites into one building at one location. With this new facility, we’ll integrate sustainable features like solar modules for generating electricity and heat pumps for low-carbon energy for heating and cooling. When you consider that our sister companies produce such devices — for example, Roth Werke is the world market leader in floor heating systems — we’re well-positioned to implement these technologies.

How do you address the challenge of recruiting skilled workers?

Reimann: We experience this challenge, and our strategy is to train our people. Germany has a very good, highly sophisticated training system, and the entire Roth Group maintains an above-average number of trainees every year. Roth Composite Machinery has about 15 percent of our staff as trainees, going up to 18% during overlapping periods. We provide our facilities with specialists trained in-house and offer further training up to the highest level, giving everyone the chance to increase their abilities and specialization to the degree they want. We have an 18-year average employee tenure, which speaks to our long-term employee relationships.

How do trade shows and industry events benefit your business?

Reimann: Trade shows like FEIBP and ABMA provide excellent opportunities to meet the community and highly interested people in our industry. There’s a chance to learn more about market trends and demands from potential customers, and it’s a very good way to maintain personal contact with the community, customers and prospects. We restarted our activities in the US market this year by attending the ABMA Congress, and this will be one of our keys to staying close to our customers.

What are your thoughts on the World Brush Expo and its impact on the industry?

Reimann: We’ve been attending trade shows for the brushmaking industry for a long time, including the previous Interbrush exhibitions. The World Brush Expo in Bologna was a good event to meet people after the Corona pandemic disrupted our regular meeting schedule. It was excellent to see everyone again and showcase what we and our competitors can provide in terms of services and machinery. We made good leads and new contacts while deepening existing relationships. We’re looking forward to the next event in Belgium.

What aspects of working in the brush industry do you find most rewarding?

Reimann: There are three points I’d highlight. First, the machinery we design is very sophisticated. The internal design and technology are fascinating for an engineer like me. Second, our people are highly skilled, motivated and provide best-in-class craftsmanship. Third, there’s a family-like community in the brush-making industry, especially within associations like FEIBP, ABMA and VDPB. There’s good cooperation between people despite their competition.

Müller: Since joining the company last August, I’ve been amazed by the speed and precision of our machines. When I first saw videos of machines making toilet brushes and floor brooms at incredible speeds, I thought about how users have no idea of the sophisticated process behind these everyday products. It gives me pride to be part of creating something that people use daily without realizing the engineering excellence behind it.

What advice would you give to younger people looking to advance their careers in the industry?

Reimann: Stay interested — be genuinely interested in looking around and understanding how things work. Get actively involved, be engaged in what you do, and show that you want to make positive changes. When you demonstrate commitment and engagement, you’ll be perceived positively and opportunities will open up.

What have you learned throughout your careers in the industry?

Reimann: I’ve learned that the quality of a captain is determined not on the sunny side of life, but in bad weather conditions. This applies not only to sailing but also to industry and business leadership.

Müller: Life is give and take. It’s important that there’s always a balance between giving and receiving. When there’s an imbalance, things become difficult. This principle guides my approach to business and relationships.

Roth Composite Machinery’s commitment to innovation, customer-focused solutions and industry leadership continues to drive the brush and broom manufacturing industry forward. With their combination of traditional craftsmanship and cutting-edge technology, they remain well-positioned to help their customers navigate the challenges of an increasingly competitive global marketplace. Learn more about Roth Composite Machinery at www.roth-composite-machinery.com.