Rolgear Manufacturing, based in Ashcroft, is living proof of the saying that if you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door. That was demonstrated yet again last week, when the firm received a European patent for the technology that Rob Suter developed for the firm’s ratcheting screwdrivers.
The Journal met with Suter in the firm’s unassuming premises on Railway Avenue. The exterior of the building, which incorporates the former Wing Wo Lung store—the only part of Ashcroft’s historic Chinatown still standing—boasts glass mosaics, plants, and a sidewalk art gallery. There are doubtless many residents who have no idea that within, the building houses the machinery that produces almost all the components that go into the 40 products Rolgear manufactures.
Suter says that the only parts not manufactured on site are the plastic components, which are made in Langley and shipped to Ashcroft for assembly. The Journal is given a tour of the plant, which is quiet on the day of the visit, with just one employee assembling multibit screwdrivers, slotting the bits into the handles of otherwise finished units. The pieces will be inspected (again), cleaned, and then shipped off to customers.
Asked what his title is, Suter laughs and says “Owner-operator, I guess. I wear a lot of hats; too many. Sometimes I’m the janitor, sometimes I’m the CAO.”
The company was incorporated in 2009, and they spent a couple of years developing product lines, prototyping them, and finding manufacturing methods. Rolgear didn’t invent ratcheting screwdrivers, but Suter says he wasn’t happy with those that were on the market, which is where the better mousetrap comes in.
“They just didn’t make sense,” he says, showing The Journal how heavy and clunky one rival ratcheting screwdriver is.
The firm moved into the then-empty former Foodmaster building, which Suter and his wife Angela Bandelli now own. The building’s footprint stayed the same, but they began creating office space and adding machinery here and there, trying to grow the business’s capacity. “Making new products means new machinery, and that’s very expensive.”
Suter also had to juggle manufacturing and marketing. “We tried to concentrate on direct marketing to dealer groups and smaller groups of stores,” he says. “We don’t sell to big box stores; we sell to independent dealers, not through head offices.”
However, he adds that he thinks the firm has a chance to get into Home Hardware’s warehouse, which could be a game-changer. “That would be close to 1,100 stores, and each store would have to take so many pieces. That would mean more new machinery and capacity on the floor, to keep up with demand.
“The last thing you want is to get their attention, get the orders, and then not meet the demand. To add a new vendor costs them a lot of money. You only get one chance, and it would be a totally different situation for us to handle.”
Rolgear products are sold in select stores across Canada, and Suter says they do well in some pockets of the United States, particularly in California. Their latest patent gives them protection in the European market for their ratcheting technology, and Rolgear now has a licencing agreement with Oplast, the biggest tool manufacturer in Europe, which uses the technology in their Kraftgrip ratcheting screwdrivers.
“It’s their handle and our technology,” says Suter, who explains that an Oplast executive met with him when Rolgear had a booth at a National Hardware Show in Las Vegas in 2012. “They produced a first small run of the product this January. Now I just hope that they get good results.”
Suter says that of the 40 products Rolgear produces, the multibit screwdrivers are the most popular. “There are ratcheting and non-ratcheting varieties, and most people buy the ones with double-ended bits; they feel they’re getting more bang for their buck. But we do single-ended ones as well, that can be used as power bits.” He laughs. “I use my screwdriver as storage for power bits.”
He says there are many more competitors now than there used to be. “There are thousands of different types of screwdrivers. It used to be easier to get into bigger markets. I think we’re really lucky how things turned out with our design.
“The response from customers has been amazing, and the reviews are great. We plan to develop more products, and I’m hoping to expand our brand, make Rolgear more national, a known thing. I dream of walking into Canadian Tire and seeing our products. I’ve done it before with other products. It’s our path to the future.”
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