Jubil

Interview
16
“We can efficiently apply our technical expertise
in different markets.”
Mr Spiegelberg, what do a ropeway
and the system in an amusement
park have in common?
At first glance it‘s very difficult to detect
the common features. But they
both use similar technologies. It
makes little difference whether you
transport a cabin up a mountain or a
huge tree trunk at dizzying heights.
For us as a company, it means that
we can ideally bring into play our
technical expertise on difference
markets.
But the tree trunk then falls down
at a great speed and is only braked
at the last moment. With a ropeway,
that would be deemed the precursor
to a catastrophe.
Yes, that’s right. But the passengers
in the said tree trunk, our “Donnerbalken”
or “Thunderbar”, are looking
for a totally different kick than
those who take the cable car up a
mountain. And as for the falling tree
trunk: At no point is this fall uncontrolled.
The tree trunk is pulled
down, so to speak. The principle is
very much like that of a ropeway.
What gives you the greater technological
challenge?
There are tough nuts to crack with
both systems – neither of them, if
you like, is a piece of cake.
For instance?
With the said system, the 3.5 tonneseat
hanging on a cable needs to be
decelerated from a speed of 26 km/
h and brought to a full stop with a
deceleration of 5 m/s 2 . In contrast,
with a ropeway in Chur we had to integrate
an optical waveguide in the
track rope. Both proved to be quite
tricky.
Why does Bartholet Maschinenbau
AG solve problems like these better
than other companies?
We have our roots in both mechanical
engineering and mechanical
production, where we have decades
of experience at all levels, from
planning to technical implementation.
At our company, all these services
come from one source. That is
our greatest strength.
Over the past 15 years, your company
has enjoyed very strong growth.
What are the reasons for this?
It is down to a generation change in
the owners’ family and a new direction
in our strategy. At the time, the
management decided to develop and
expand the construction of ropeways
and the facilities for amusement
parks more strongly. The intention
was to have two business segments
in addition to the company’s traditio-
nally strong job order production that
make it possible to have a greater
influence over development, production
and sales. In short: to have more
control over the product itself. Even
back then, both markets already had
great potential. We managed to
acquire a good part of this for our
company.
In the last few years, the ropeway
construction industry has undergone
an intensive process of concentration.
Many smaller suppliers
have been taken over by larger
competitors. Are you afraid something
like that might happen to your
company?
I could well imagine there being
companies interested in taking over
our company. But seriously, we have
plans for a totally different direction.
We intend to grow further, and do so
with our own strength.
What role does your company play
in this market?
There are two competitors that have
grown through acquisitions, and there
are also a few small niche players.
You could say we are in the middle between
the big ones and the very small
ones, with a growing market share,
which is, however, still far away from
the one of our two big rivals.