Strojírny ROZMITAL celebrates 110 years
On 30 June 1913, a rental contract was concluded between the Prague Archbishopric and the Ferrum Joint Stock Company for the Iron Industry. With this step, 110 years ago, the history of the traditional Czech manufacturer of forage production equipment Strojíren Rožmitál s.r.o. was begun.
"In its 110-year history, the company has gone through many challenges, which it has always been able to cope with. The indomitability of its employees, the will to find solutions in all circumstances and the emphasis on quality products and services are the forces that have shaped the plant and continue to drive it forward today. They form the basis of our values such as tradition, resilience and reliability," says Ing. Lenka Janotová, Director of Strojírny Rožmitál, s.r.o.
During 110 years of its history, the ROZMITAL brand has become a leading seller of forage technology on the domestic market and is successfully expanding abroad. Today the company exports its products to 21 countries on four continents (Europe, North America, Asia and Australia). The most distant destinations include the USA, South Korea and, from 2022, Australia. And all the while, the company's history is being written in Rožmital pod Třemšínem in Central Bohemia.
The production programme of the traditional Czech company today consists of disc mowers - front, rear side-mounted, including models with a lightweight construction, but also mowing combinations (the so-called butterfly). There are also two-, four-, six-, eight- and ten-rotor tedders with working widths from 2.7 m to 11.2 m, single- and two-rotor tedders with working widths from 3.4 m to 13.4 m, universal machines that combine rakes and tedders in one, and we must not forget the roll balers, which extended ROZMITAL's product range in 2021.
However, this was not always the case. In the beginning there was an ironworks, which included a foundry (the history of iron processing in the Rožmital region dates back to the mid-16th century), which was leased by Ferum a.s. under a lease agreement. This company decided to build a machine shop to further process the products of its own foundry - it did so on the basis of a request dated 28 July 1913 and thus laid the foundation for Strojírny Rožmitál.
Before the First World War, Rožmital processed mainly products from the foundry. During the First World War, the company was engaged in the production of metal shoe studs for military footwear. This was followed by the production of electric motors, iron furniture and air-conditioning.
The worldwide economic crisis also affected the engineering works in Rožmitál pod Třemšínem, when the then Ro-Ko company gradually declined until production was completely stopped in 1935. It was restored two years later as Metal Industry Works under the management of the Tomášek brothers. The company restored the original production programme, rebuilt the historical premises and modernised the machinery.
During the war period, the factory produced generators for the production of wood gas for trucks and cars. After the Second World War and the nationalisation of the company in 1948, the company focused on the production of senomets.
In 1950 the plant was renamed Agrostroj and became part of the national enterprise Agrostroj Prostějov. The production programme was expanded to include the manufacture of grain exhausts of its own design. Thanks to the focus on agricultural technology, the 1950s and 1960s marked an unprecedented development and increase in production capacity for the company. The original production premises in the town centre were no longer suitable, so in 1965 it was decided to build new production premises on the outskirts of the town, which are still used by Strojírny Rožmitál today.
At the turn of the 1960s and 1970s, the foundation for the production of forage technology was laid. The production started with a simple fodder tedder and delivery rake SOP-2, it was a take-over production. Subsequently, a licence was purchased from the Stoll company for the UROS-2 delivery rake and tedder in one (universal machine). Since then, the production programme has gradually focused more and more on forage technology and the expansion of its range.
The revolutionary year of 1989 and the subsequent 1990s were marked by a search for additional production, with attempts to produce motor boats, trolley buses, concrete mixers, balancers, etc. All this culminated in 1997 with the imposition of bankruptcy on the company. Despite this, production and development in the company remained uninterrupted.
In 2000, the former Agrostrojírny Rožmitál was purchased by Ravak a.s. and incorporated into its portfolio as a division of Strojírny Rožmitál. A period of stabilization, investments in modernization of machinery, but also building repairs, investments in new product development and foreign expansion came. In 2022, the division was split off and an independent company Strojírny Rožmitál, s.r.o. was established.
"We thank all the employees, customers and business partners who have written and are still writing our story with us. We appreciate your support and goodwill. I would like to wish Strojírny Rožmitál at least another 110 successful years and many satisfied customers working with ROZMITAL technology all over the world," says Lenka Janotová.
