E-business helps Rojac onto the Olympic podium

Rojac Tooling Technologies was founded in 1969 and established itself as a market leader in the manufacture of mould tooling, jigs and fixtures, master models, patterns and prototypes.

Much of its core business was within the automotive and aerospace industries with clients including Airbus, British Aerospace, BMW and Rolls Royce as well as Formula One motor racing teams. But the West Midlands company has diversified over the years in order to reach new markets and has embraced new technology too.

This has not only helped Rojac to win new business, it has also improved efficiency and the project management process for all clients. It was this commitment to the use of IT that helped the firm land gold at the last Olympics and should provide inspiration to other local businesses to make full use of e-business.

When it was announced in July 2005 that London would be hosting the 2012 Olympics it sparked scenes of celebration across the country. And since then, businesses all over the UK have been told that there is the potential to win contracts in avast array of areas associated with the sporting showpiece. But many think an Olympic contract, in reality, is beyond their reach and that it will just be large corporations in the capital that win business ahead of the event. Rojac, however, is living proof that Olympic success is achievable for companies outside London as it played a major part in the opening ceremony at Athens 2004. The Olympics & E-BusinessIn August 2003, Rojac received an enquiry via its website that would have a major positive impact on business and raise its profile on a worldwide scale.

“From day one, e-business played a big part in us landing the Olympic contract,” said Duncan Blakemore, managing director of Rojac ToolingTechnologies. “The company that was organising the opening ceremony at Athens 2004 found us through an internet search engine and logged an enquiry. “I am not totally sure what they searched for but it was associatedwith five-axis model making which isa very specialist machine which very few firms have the expertise to use. ”The enquiry basically asked Rojac if itwas capable of helping to create giant statues of Greek Gods to be used during the opening ceremony atAthens 2004. The company accepted the challenge and, once fully briefed, set about designing the statues with CAD. “IT played a part in us landing the contract through the web, but then it was also crucial at every step of managing the project and creating the four statues,” said Duncan.

The first stage was to deliver a prototype of the largest statue. The final version would be 15 metres high but the prototype was just six feet tallbut proved that Rojac had the know-how to deliver.

Because of the logistics of the project, the web-based project collaboration tool OPMcreator http://www.opmcreator.com/ proved a crucial device in the smooth running of the contract.

The client was very often in Athens, but the ability to check progress and liaise with engineers online meant the need for meetings and travel was cut to a minimum.

When it came to the manufacturing stage, it was like a military operation. The largest of the four statues was made out of oasis/foam blocks in five three-metre sections at Rojac’s headquarters in Wednesbury. Then each section was CNC machined to create five giant jigsaw
pieces. The client could watch this process live via a web-cam before the pieces were assembled before being shipped over to Greece for the ceremony.

And the opening event of the games proved to be a proud day for West Midlands manufacturing.
The 15-metre statue stood loud and proud above everything in the water-filled Olympic Stadium before it was exploded into several pieces on which scenes from past games were beamed. In a Russian doll effect, the next statue was revealed by the explosion of the previous one. It was a dramatic start to the Olympics and one of the most exciting moments in Rojac’s history. Duncan added: "It was a fantastic moment for everyone involved in the project. "And it proves that if a company from Wednesbury can land a deal at the Olympics in Athens, there must be hundreds of opportunities for firms in the West Midlands when it comes to London.
"But we couldn’t have done it without our commitment to IT. It helped us win the contract in the first place and then played a major role in the design and management of the project."

Rojac worked on this project as asupplier to Stage One CreativeServices who in turn were commissioned by Jack Morton Public Events.