ROMA: 'We match all cabinet sizes. It becomes a clear story now!'

"It will be a clear story, which it was not at all until now," says ROMA Benelux general manager Toon van Osta, speaking as usual without flour in his mouth. "When Roland Thoma, now 42 years ago, started ROMA GMBH, there was a large leading manufacturer operating. That one had defined certain cabinet sizes and in order to be compatible, these sizes and corresponding designations were adopted. Problem: they made no sense at all!" 

To give an example. A 165 cabinet at ROMA had dimensions of 169 x 169 mm. "More than once, this caused problems during preparatory work to integrate the cabinets into a construction or renovation project," Van Osta knows. "That's why ROMA now adjusts all cabinet sizes as well as the names associated with them. The cabinet 165, for example, will now become a cabinet 170 and it will be exactly 170 x 170 mm! The new dimensions and naming will apply to all enclosure shapes: Rondo, Pento and Quadro." 

"Until now, intermediate cabinet sizes were not provided, but from now on all consecutive cabinet sizes are available. However, cabinets with the smallest or largest sizes in a range may be missing because they - almost - never occur. The range of cabinet sizes available is: 110-130-140-160-170-190-210 mm. 

Van Osta notes that this is a gigantic operation requiring substantial investment. "But ROMA is prepared to do it, and we are capable of doing it, because we are now a leader in the field of roller shutters. For our customers - and certainly also for architects and other building professionals doing structural preparations - nothing is more convenient than that a 190 cabinet is also 190 x 190 mm!" Incidentally, a Rondo cabinet will always be slightly deeper - often 8 mm - because the hinge at the center front of this cabinet requires more space than the hinges at the corners of the front plate of the Pento and Quadro." 

In addition to changing the dimensions of the cabinets, the hinges and side covers have been reconstructed and therefore improved. "ROMA wants to produce all its products chip-free," Van Osta said. "Our zipSCREEN department is already this far. No drilling is ever done there; all machining is done before coating." 

"The new cabinet line also makes more technically possible," Van Osta concludes. "For example, a roller shutter over part of the product width. Think of a roller shutter for a window 4000 mm wide that consists of 3000 mm fixed glass and a 1000 mm pivot window. That can now be fitted with a roller shutter of 4000 mm width in one piece and an insect roller screen of 1000 mm width. Previously, a combination had to be installed, which entailed additional costs and looked less attractive."