Polish frame factory drives Romet’s efficiency

The combination of aluminium frame production, a painting line and assembly on one location in Podgrodzie, Poland gives Romet a rather unique market position. Only a few factories in Europe operate their own frame production. What did the frame production bring to Romet, five years after the opening of the facility?

The frame production at Romet across the street from the bicycle assembly is running at full capacity at the time of Bike Europe's visit. The logistic advantages are impressive when making your own frames, instead of sourcing them in Asia, or even on another location in Europe. Still, Romet paints large numbers of made-in-Asia frames, which might sound remarkable. According to Romet, the capacity of frame production is not big enough to meet demand in the assembly. “We want to accelerate the product innovations at the frame factory,” Romet president Wieslaw Grzyb told Bike Europe. “In the future, we want to focus exclusively on the production of e-bike frames, so we can take full advantage of frame production at such a short distance from the assembly lines.”

Frame production operation

All aluminium 6061 used in frame building is sourced in Poland and supplied by two companies only to ensure quality standards are met. “Finding aluminium 6061 with stable quality which matches the specifications was one of the biggest challenges when production started in 2019,” explains R&D manager Jakub Marek. “Today, the production process is fully streamlined. All tube elements are fixed on one single welding table after which the robot makes the welding connections in two steps. All pre-treatment, including laser cutting and hydro forming is done in-house on the same floor.”

For all frame testing the factory is equipped with an in-house testing lab which has many advantages. Of course, all frames are tested according to the EN15194 standard, but with the in-house test-lab, they can easily perform the tests according to different, stricter requirements. For example, the EN15194 requires that all test runs include 5 different tests but to ensure top quality Romet always adds a 6th additional strength test run to ensure quality at the highest level.

Ecology is a key topic in Romet’s production. The company paints all the frames in the factory located in the south of Poland using eco-friendly water-based paints to eliminate toxic chemicals, minimising the negative impact on the environment and human health in the factory. The production waste from in the production process is recycled and reused in subsequent manufacturing processes. The factory relies on renewable sources of energy for its daily operations.

New investment scheme

The bicycle and e-bike assembly combines OEM and Romet branded production. Romet is a historical brand name in Poland, but after a difficult period, the company and brand name were revived in 2006 after the company was taken over by the current owner and President Wiesław Grzyb. This was the start of a gradual upgrading of Romet with investment schemes and production expansion. Only recently, Romet announced a new investment scheme of €23 million in more R&D, to improve the company’s sustainability and modernise the production facilities. The investments should enhance Romet’s product innovations which not only include e-bikes and bicycles but also battery design, recycling and the improvement of the battery life and energy management system. Romet also aims to improve the quality of the current production with the introduction of full automated processes at the production lines, automated packaging, automated warehousing, and paint facilities. Finally digital innovations should bring a new ERP system, more big data, data collection for product improvement and supply chain synchronization with customer needs.

Romet currently operates two assembly lines for mechanical bikes plus one for e-bikes and high-end models in Podgrodzie. Besides this facility, Romet also runs production in Jastrowie and Kowalewo. All combined, some 2,400 bicycles and e-bikes come off the assembly lines every day. Romet generates an annual revenue of more than €150 million. Romet also operates a network of 38 multi-brand bike stores in Poland. In line with the company's expansion strategy, the number of outlets is expected to increase to 48 next year. By 2030, Romet wants to operate no less than 100 stores nationwide to cater for the growing local market, but also to step up its market presence. To serve a wide variety of customers in different markets, Romet specifies not less than five e-bike drive systems.

Export strategy

The company exports to some 40 countries and Romet outlined a new strategy to expand its business in these markets. A team of export experts was appointed to venture into new markets. “Romet is a very strong brand name in Poland and surrounding countries, so obviously we will try to find our first potential customers in these areas,” says Romet president Wieslaw Grzyb. “We have also invested in our national team to support our dealer direct strategy. We aim to expand into our neighbouring countries Czech Republic and Slovakia first. We expect there is room in these two countries for some 300 Romet retailers. Secondly, we are also searching for new distributors and dealers in other EU countries for which we have already stepped up our marketing efforts.”