History – The history of Rohbimax AG

Rohbimax AG can look back to over 70 years, and we are proud of our growth.

  • Our company was founded in 1947 by Walter and Fritz Rykart. It was first a mechanical workshop under the name ”Rykart Brothers AG” in Rothrist, in the Swiss canton of Aargau.
  • Thanks to its growth and expansion, the company moved in 1955 to Aarburg on the Bahnhofstrasse.
  • We introduced our first product to the market in 1958. Its name later inspired the renaming of the company: The ”Hand-Rohrbiegeapparat” [manual pipe-bending device]. Rohbi is a name composed of two partial words: Rohr biegen [pipe-bending].
  • Two years later, we introduced a cutting machine, which became the most significant product in sales.
  • We started production of the well-known Rohbi automated precision circular saws in 1963. These continue to be the core of our production; they are fitted to the custom needs of our customers.
  • We went global in 1965, building a network of representatives around the world. We delivered high-quality automated sawing machines to industrial manufacturers in many countries.
  • To cover increasing production needs, a new production building was built on the Alten Strasse in Oftringen, Aargau in 1967. It remains in production today.
  • The Oftringen production operation was sold to Deckel AG in Munich in 1980.
  • Founding of Rohbi Maschinen AG by Sonja Rykart and Friedrich Zimmerli, continuation of development and assembly of Rohbi automated precision circular saws in Aarburg. Within a year, the mechanical controls were switched to PLC systems.
  • We outsourced mechanical production as well as system assembly to Beni Burtscher AG in Schwarzenbach, canton of St. Gallen, in 2002.
  • A year later, Rohbi Maschinen AG changed to its current name, Rohbimax AG.
  • After years of successful collaboration, Beni Burtscher Holding AG acquired Rohbimax AG in 2011.
  • The first machines of the new RKA 90 generation came to market in 2016. They offer a long-lived, flexible system with high precision and short cycle times. We are proud that our automated machines carry the quality label ”Made in Switzerland”.

We have developed and produced our products over decades using great expertise and a lot of sweat – to the satisfaction of our customers in many industries. The high quality of our machines is bundled with our complete service offerings. This has allowed Rohbimax AG to become a leading manufacturer.

”If you need to saw, choose Rohbi.”