ROMA Benelux takes the lead

(RE)CONSTRUCTION MEETS EXPECTATIONS

The ROMA Benelux building in Zevenbergen has been substantially expanded and remodeled. This was necessary because ROMA is growing like crazy in the Benelux. Turnover has increased sixfold in five years. Toon van Osta is not the man to let this success go unnoticed. He proudly shows Z&R around the completely renovated home base of ROMA Benelux, while passionately talking about the sun protection industry and ROMA's role in it. 

Among other things, the new building is a pilot for ROMA because of its color scheme and furniture. As it is now in Zevenbergen, it is to be in other ROMA branches in Europe. Previously, ROMA Benelux had a rectangular building, now three closed and one open, roofed wing enclose a beautiful courtyard garden with a pond. There is even room for a bronze statue, a gift from ROMA KG's big man, CEO Roland Thoma. 

Appreciation is expressed for Toon van Osta's contribution to ROMA's success. Not only with the continuous growth in sales in the Benelux, but also, for example, because in the past Van Osta has strongly supported the introduction of screens in the ROMA product range, a product group that is now extremely successful and impossible to imagine life without. 

Multifunctional and modern

First of all, the new building provides space for the entrance and showroom, which are located in the same place as before. There is also space for three offices with three times six workstations and a room for theory training and a room for practical training, where eight students can be trained at the same time. The latter space also has all the facilities for working on corner setups and facilities for engine training. Adjacent to the offices is another fine meeting room with a substantial round table, where the UN could well hold a summit. The canopy provides sheltered space to host outdoor activities as well, with a view of the courtyard garden, where the mowing robot - even when Z&R is visiting - continues to work tirelessly. 

All rooms have acoustic ceilings and great attention has been paid to climate control. To block out the sun, the windows in the facades are equipped with screens or exterior blinds where necessary. On the one hand to save energy and on the other hand to create healthy living conditions, ROMA Benelux's new building uses numerous advanced techniques and installations, such as a hollow-core slab floor with longitudinal circular channels. As a result, the floor not only has a relatively low dead weight, but also a function in climate control because air can be fed through the channels to heat or cool the building. 

ROMA's new building has a modern heat pump system and ventilation system with heat exchange and extensive filtration system, so that all rooms are always supplied with clean and fresh air. The system also includes water buffers for the underfloor heating system so that it can respond quickly. 

The building depicts the success of ROMA Benelux. It is doing so well that the company cannot fulfill the export function it also has at the moment. There are still many interesting markets waiting, believes Toon van Osta. Among them are the Scandinavian countries, Australia and New Zealand.   

For now, however, exports to those countries are on the back burner because the time is currently lacking. "Scandinavia, for example, has a lot of potential because many affluent consumers live there and these countries themselves hardly have a sun protection industry. Roma Benelux customers in these countries have two things in common: they are very satisfied with ROMA quality ánd their sales have skyrocketed in all cases." 

To meet the vastly increased demand for its screens, ROMA has planned a major new building in Germany. This includes 24,000 m2 of production space with powder coating plant and 8,000 m2 of production space. This project is designed to meet the ever-increasing demand from Germany, but also from the Benelux countries. ROMA is faced with so much demand, that even large customers who want to order large numbers of hundreds of screens will only be supplied if they also want to become ROMA customers. According to Toon van Osta, no manufacturer can handle such quantities and still maintain short delivery times of four to five weeks. Except ROMA. 

To cope with its growing business in the Benelux, ROMA Benelux is steadily expanding its workforce. In May of this year, for example, Geerling Persen joined the company as account manager for the Netherlands. ROMA Benelux has also already hired a new office manager this year, and two more inside sales staff will follow. 

In the ROMA Benelux showroom, Toon van Osta - as everyone knows him - speaks proudly and passionately about ROMA products. He also talks about ROMA's struggle to get all suppliers to deliver on time in the current rush. "All parties that manage to keep up their delivery commitment will not be forgotten and will have an edge in the future," Van Osta said. Indeed, at its production sites in Germany, ROMA hardly keeps any stock, so parts and components must be delivered just-in-time. Everything that arrives in Burgau and other ROMA production sites is processed immediately and leaves as a complete product on the same day. Suppliers must be able to keep up with this in order not to disrupt the process. 

Toon van Osta is pleased. Proud of the new building and proud of ROMA's leading position as a supplier of shutters, screens and exterior blinds in the Benelux.  

The cabinet against or in the facade

We are neighbors, the Belgians, the Dutch and the Germans, but we all build differently. That, of course, has its charms. Suppose you are dropped somewhere blindfolded. When the blindfold comes off, you can usually tell from the buildings where you are. Or at least where you are not. 

If the shutters, screens and outdoor blinds are built into the facade, you can pretty much be sure you are not in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, front-mounted systems are still mostly used. "While there are such beautiful built-in systems," responds Toon van Osta. "But then we have to take that into account during construction." 

The first problem is that traditionally constructed exterior walls in the Netherlands are too thin. The walls have traditionally been designed primarily to keep out weather influences and less to insulate against cold and/or heat. But the construction method also makes installation in Germany or Belgium easier. In Germany, construction involves cutting out a rectangular opening in the wall, into which a frame with or without a built-in product is slid. Then the whole thing is plastered inside and out. In Belgium, they make a larger opening in the inner wall than in the outer wall and the window - possibly with built-in product - is placed from inside to outside behind impact. 

In the Netherlands, a wall hole for a window is also rectangular, but frames are installed from outside to inside, with exterior masonry and interior stucco. The brick exterior wall reduces the space to place a solid built-in product with a well-insulated cabinet. 

From the point of view of energy efficiency, an attachment product is always better, than recessed, because the building envelope is not breached. But a recessed system is nicer because there is no cabinet and guides against the façade. "With the right recessed systems and some modifications to the Dutch building style, the effectiveness of pre-wall systems can be approached," concludes Toon van Osta. "Then a house or building can be made more aesthetically pleasing and still meet BENG regulations."