Interview with Elooac transport racks

“When an idea fails, I do something new”

From our editorial board member LISSI WALKUSCH

Rietberg (gl). A good four years ago, Carsten Böttcher took the decisive step. The 52-year-old from Rietberg actually wanted to set up his own business in the field of glass construction. But things turned out differently. “I had noticed that window manufacturers, for example, have problems getting the metal frames back for transport,” he says. And so the idea for a foldable wooden frame was born, which is now marketed under the name Eloorac.

Eloorac transport racks: To encourage entrepreneurs and those who want to become entrepreneurs: Carsten Böttcher, founder of Eloorac, and Aleksandra Blagojevic from Pro Wirtschaft GT.

Want to encourage company founders and those who want to become founders: Carsten Böttcher, founder
of the company Eloorac, and Aleksandra Blagojevic of Pro Wirtschaft GT. / Picture: Walltusch

“At the beginning I totally underestimated how much time it would take”, says Böttcher. Even at the beginning of the company’s foundation, self-employment was not a foreign word for the 52-year-old. After his two apprenticeships as a woodworking mechanic and joiner, he came into contact with CAD (computer-aided design and work planning). A good 20 years ago, he began working as a freelance object and shop fitter. “I was practically a one-man show,” says Böttcher.

The hurdles that company founders sometimes have to overcome will also be made clear at the seventh Pro Wirtschaft GT founders’ forum on Tuesday, 24 September. From 5 p.m. onwards, entrepreneurs and those who want to become entrepreneurs will discuss at Möhler Castle in Herzebrock-Clarholz. Stories such as those of Carsten Böttcher should encourage. “If an idea fails, I simply do something new,” says the 52-year-old. He always has the urge to develop something new.

Eloorac – Böttcher initially wanted to try it out for just one year. “I thought I would make the system known and then I could make a living from it,” he recalls with a smile. But the development alone took more than two years. “I went to customers again and again who then had change requests that I hadn’t even thought of before,” he says.

And then came the patenting of the system. For Europe, China and the U.S. market, a large sum of money quickly came together. “Without financial reserves or an investor, it’s not possible,” Böttcher is sure.
According to the Rietberger, those who want to set up their own business need above all patience “and then staying power”. In addition it is important to have a good Internet presence.”95 percent of my customers find me via the Internet site,” he says. Many pictures are the be-all and end-all.

Eloorac transport racks: Report of the newspaper "Die Glocke" about the Eloorac transport systems founder Carsten Böttcher

System should convince through simplicity

Rietberg (lw). But what is so special about Eloorac? “Window manufacturers have a big problem with transport”, says Carsten Böttcher. The glass is brought on a metal frame. If it is empty, it still takes up so much space that it has to be picked up again by a truck. “This costs the companies time and money. And they must have drivers who are not easy to find,” reports Böttcher.

The patience of those involved is quickly at an end. Because the builders are often annoyed by the metal scaffolding standing around, so they either simply throw it on the lawn or turn it into money.
“This causes the glass industry an annual loss of five million euros,” says Böttcher. His frames, on the other hand, are made of wood, can be taken apart to save space and are robust. “They can be collected and returned to the window manufacturer.”

But the Rietberg native did not fixate on the frame system. He has also developed castors that can be mounted on Euro pallets without further ado and can be released just as quickly. He has also constructed a pallet lifter. “With us everything is simple. We can’t make things complicated,” he says.