"Together with my wife Hannah, I have taken over the management from my father-in-law," he explains. "We have maintained many aspects, but at the same time introduced important modernizations. My father-in-law, who started out very small in his own garage, has always focused on high vertical integration and covering the value chain as much as possible by himself. We remain true to this philosophy. It is an important part of our success. Furthermore, he consistently advanced production, for instance, purchasing a plastic machine early on with which we could automatically produce swimming pool covers. Since joining, my wife and I have increasingly focused on an IT strategy to further automate our processes, make them more efficient, and provide transparency. Here, we have invested significantly. We have also digitally optimized the way we address our customers and our customer-oriented processes. Our customers can now, for example, configure their covers turnkey by themselves. Currently, we are dealing with the topic of artificial intelligence. Here too, we see valuable impulses for our business in the future, such as technical customer support and sales support."

While the majority of swimming pool cover providers offer standard covers, Rollo Solar focuses on tailor-made solutions that are delivered turnkey to the customer. Thanks to the company's high level of vertical integration, products can be assembled quickly and mounted without problems. With its own metal processing, a locksmith's shop, and a technical design department, the cover experts from Bad Tölz are able to respond flexibly and quickly to their customers' wishes.

"We also take care of our systems after installation, taking over repairs and maintenance," says Felix Thormann. "In recent years, we have developed state-of-the-art control solutions that we can tailor even better to the needs of our customers and even enable proactive maintenance, known as Predictive Maintenance. In addition, we continuously develop our products to make them, for example, more robust against environmental influences."

With its own field service team, Rollo Solar not only supports its end customers but also serves as a competent and reliable partner to the specialized trade.

Entrepreneur by Passion

Felix Thormann runs his business with passion. "I enjoy creating added value and making a difference," he explains. "This applies not only to our customers and business partners but also to our employees. We are a family – the Rollo Solar family. It is important to me that our employees feel comfortable with us. Just as we rely on innovations for our products, we are also open to innovative working models. For example, about a year ago, we introduced a four-day work week. Our initial summary is quite positive. Our employees are more satisfied and we have been able to reduce our absenteeism. Our operating costs are also lower. Yet, our availability for customers is guaranteed at all times, thanks to modern digital tools. As an employer, this measure also makes us additionally attractive. There are large companies located in our region. Here, we need to remain competitive. I am confident that we can continue to grow healthily in the future with our strategy and our company values."