ROWEKO and EMKA – 30 years of partnership

Since 1984, ROWEKO has been producing plastic products “Made in Germany” for a wide range of industries. In the commercial vehicle sector, the familyowned company from Lau en am Neckar, Germany, is one of the leading national and international suppliers of quality products. ROWEKO does not rely on injection moulding machines, but uses the thermoforming process in combination with subsequent CNC milling.

The portfolio is supplemented by many other manufacturing options, such as bending, welding, and gluing, for the production of complete assemblies. Besides the company’s own range of products for commercial vehicles, the company also manufactures technical plastic parts according to drawings or samples provided by its customers from a wide range of industries. In doing so, ROWEKO accompanies the product from the idea to production – regardless of whether it is a small or large series.

ROWEKO has been using EMKA products for several decades now. The  rst contact came about at an exhibition, recalls Alexander Selle, Managing Director at ROWEKO: “At an inhouse presentation of one of our customers, we – at that time still under the management of my father – exhibited our storage boxes with the old locking system. A former EMKA representative recognised the optimisation potential”.

After several meetings, a cooperation was established that still exists today. The decisive factor was, above all, the existing know-how. Closure technology is traditionally EMKA’s most important business  eld. Therefore, the world market leader from Velbert was able to convince us, above all, with the experience of its designers and developers. Another advantage is that EMKA o ers complete locking systems, so handles, hinges, and quarter turns are exactly matched to each other. This speeds up coordination processes and ensures that all ROWEKO containers can be opened and closed with the same quality.

A wide range of EMKA products is used at ROWEKO: besides quarter turns, the scope of delivery also includes cylinder locks and wing knob quarter turns, as well as keys, roller bars, and latches. However, the most frequently used locking solution is a safety quarter turn from the very extensive EMKA standard product range. The design of the safety quarter turn prevents it from coming apart automatically and thus meets the highest requirements for vibration and shock resistance.

This is a particularly important aspect for commercial vehicles that frequently drive over uneven ground on construction sites or  elds. Because of its sealing feature, the safety quarter turn is also particularly suitable for installation inside the seal. The sealing system is mainly used for the storage boxes and the lids of the hose pipe containers. Apart from these containers, there are other products in the ROWEKO portfolio that need a locking solution to prevent theft such as stowage containers on motor vehicles and  atbed boxes on lorries or document rolls which may contain delivery notes or safety instructions.

Here, further solutions from EMKA are used, such as chest handles. Like EMKA, ROWEKO also attaches particular importance to the ability of its suppliers to deliver. The company wants to access the required components from the agreed framework contract at any time without having to store them on-site. To meet this requirement, a customer warehouse for call-o orders or prefabricated parts is a component of EMKA’s standard o ering. This ensures the fastest possible delivery times by ROWEKO. In addition, EMKA is constantly developing its portfolio, which also gives ROWEKO the opportunity to optimise its own products.