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Award winners Europe Slovenia

ROTO, one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of

rotationally molded plastic products, is a great

example of a family business from Slovenia that

has thrived in the global economy. Run by the

second and third generations of the Pavlinjek

family, ROTO is a firm believer in family and employee stewardship. And because many of the

family members and business leaders at ROTO

are pilots of helicopters or airplanes, they like to

say that their business decisions are taken from a

“helicopter perspective.”

Europe

North America

Latin America

Asia-Pacific

Štefan, Irena, Matjaž and Nuša PavlinjekROTO

“Our long-term objective is to increasingly focus on foreign markets.”

Štefan Pavlinjek, CEO,

ROTO

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molded products include fuel and water tanks for motorcycles,

tractors, trucks, sailing boats and motorboats, caravans and

motorhomes, and components for many different machines.

ROTO works to increase its products’ value by enhancing their

design, intelligently using materials and modern production

technologies, and ensuring a high-quality finish. The company also takes great pride in its after-sales service.

Development

The company offers a complete range of services from 3D

computer-aided design (CAD) through to tooling project

management as 3D printing of prototypes and sand molds

for alu-casting or CNC machining. ROTO is also very keen

on innovation. It employs 20 people at its own research and

development department, which invents over 100 new products

a year. The company also places a lot of emphasis on staff

training. In 2002, the company set up the ROTO Academy,

which was designed to improve the skill levels of ROTO’s staff

through a series of training initiatives. ROTO also helps to

pay the tuition fees of postgraduate students. The company’s

commitment to its staff has won it numerous awards.

History of the company

“Company history began for ROTO in 1949, making us one of the

oldest family businesses in modern-day Slovenia,” says Štefan

Pavlinjek, the second-generation Chief Executive of ROTO. “My

father embarked on an entrepreneurial venture in a small

workshop, and I grew up surrounded by a business environment.

That was a great inspiration. Demand for [our] products was high

after the Second World War, and this is where my father started

the entrepreneurial journey for the family.”

ROTO’s headquarters are in the Slovenian city of Murska Sobota.

The company employs more than 330 people and had revenues

of €37m in 2015. Production is organized in six locations in four

countries, and ROTO exports to 52 markets around the world.

Run by the Pavlinjek family, the company has built a global

reputation for the quality of its products. And ROTO’s success

is testament to a family that has been committed to innovation

and entrepreneurship for more than 60 years.

ROTO makes more than 4,000 different products, all from plastic.

Many of them are made using rotational molding, a plastic-molding

technology ideal for making hollow products. Indeed, ROTO is one

of the market leaders in its industry. It has been responsible for

many innovations in plastic-molding technology during the last

40 years and has worked closely with universities, institutes and

plastics industry associations.

The company’s main production segments produce ROTO-

branded products for agriculture, ecology, gardening and sport.

The company’s products include water tanks, sewage-treatment

equipment, oil separators, go-kart safety barriers, wine barrels,

wheelbarrows, silos and playground equipment. And using plastics

composites and the latest production technologies, ROTO also

makes kayaks, canoes and high-performance sailing boats.

Manufacturing as a custom molder, ROTO serves a wide variety

of industry sectors, including construction, automotive, nautical,

logistics, aquaculture and agricultural machinery. Its custom-

Štefan says that his wife Irena played an important role in the

success of the business in the crucial years when things were

getting going. Irena, a chemical engineer who has since retired,

was responsible for the finances of the family business and for the purchasing of raw materials. Irena and Štefan’s daughter

Nuša is now Head of Sales and Marketing, and their son Matjaž is Head of R&D and Production. “Since both my children showed

interest in the business, I have gradually shown them the ins and

outs,” says Štefan. ROTO is still completely owned by the family.

Many family members are pilots of different aircraft, such

as helicopters and airplanes. And the family has begun to

describe its way of leading the business as taking a “helicopter

perspective.” “I’ve learned many lessons throughout my

But it was the second generation, led by Štefan, which really

took the business forward. In 1974, Štefan opened a workshop

and started a new company, under the name Kovinoplastika,

which manufactured advertising signs. During the 1980s, the company started using plastic-molding technologies, such as

thermoforming, rotational molding and injection molding.

Family members

“A turning point came for us in the year 2000,” says Štefan.

“That was when my children joined the company, and we [started

to focus] on exporting and on expanding our sales network

outside the EU market. In the following years, we took over

many competitive companies.”

Award winners Europe Slovenia

Young Štefan with his brother and parents, the founders of the company.

ROTO makes more than 4,000 different products, all from plastic.

The company has been present in the domestic and foreign markets for more than 40 years as a successful manufacturer of plastic products.

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“It is what I have learned as a pilot that best guides me as an

entrepreneur. A pilot needs to multitask, and to fly the helicopter in often tough conditions. The same is true with our business strategy.”

Štefan Pavlinjek

business career,” says Štefan. “But it is what I have learned as

a pilot that best guides me as an entrepreneur. A pilot needs

to multitask, and to fly the helicopter in often tough conditions. The same is true with our business strategy.”

“When flying an aircraft, I have the chance to learn a lot of skills that I think are entirely applicable and transferable to the

world of business,” adds Matjaž. “I’m particularly interested in the discipline that pilots have to follow when it comes to

communication. Effective communication in the skies, as with

business, is obviously important.”

Nuša was the first female civilian helicopter pilot in Slovenia. She says that finding the right people for the business is like selecting a copilot. “In business, we choose people that can be

relied upon to take care of the company’s best interests.”

Growth is important for any business, but so too is a realistic

view of how to achieve it without losing focus. “Future

generations will no longer differentiate between domestic, local

and global markets,” says Štefan. “And our long-term objective

is to increasingly focus on foreign markets.” As part of its long-

term strategy, the family is taking steps to bring a more robust

governance structure to the business, particularly around the

issue of succession. And a family constitution is currently being

drawn up.

ROTO is a great example of a family business that has emerged

from the former command economies of Europe and never

looked back. The Pavlinjek family’s commitment to innovation,

and its stewardship of the business over three generations and

beyond, suggest that ROTO will continue to be an inspiration for

family businesses in every part of the world for many years to

come.

Award winners Europe Slovenia

They are developing numerous new products; on average, two new

products per week.

The family has begun to describe its way of leading the business as taking a “helicopter

perspective.”

ROTO has penetrated the African market, where they see a future in the

supply of water tanks and sewage treatment plants.ROTO owns one of the biggest 3D printers available to create custom moulds.

Štefan Pavlinjek

CEO

Nuša Pavlinjek

Head of Sales and Marketing

Matjaž PavlinjekHead of Research & Development and Production

Company name: ROTO

Generation(s): Second and third

Founded: 1949 in Murska Sobota,

Slovenia

Industry: Plastic molding

Employees (2015): 333

Revenue (2015): €37m