A LIFETIME SPENT IMPROVING COMFORT

A LIFETIME SPENT IMPROVING COMFORT
When one looks at how Roca has evolved since its beginnings, one can appreciate how much it contributes to the comfort of an entire country. And one can also see the company's true multinational scope.
Compañía Roca Radiadores, S.A., set up in 1917 by the Roca brothers, initially made cast iron radiators. The company quickly came to dominate the market and this, coupled with its desire to expand, was the incentive to increase the range and research new products.
1925 saw the introduction of the new cast iron bathtubs; 1936 was the year porcelain sanitaryware was launched; 1954 saw the introduction of tapware; and in 1980, the ceramic tiles were brought out. Roca's invasion of the bathroom world was unstoppable.
Now, almost a century down the line, Roca is the market leader almost everywhere its products are sold. The company has factories and subsidiaries across the globe. It is one of the most ambitious business projects worldwide.

BRAND VALUE
The Corporation's consolidation as leader in the bathroom business has contributed even more to a reflection and an awareness of the role the Roca brand plays and the transmitting of values to its different audiences.
Roca is present, indeed sometimes the star player, in the daily lives of millions of people all over the world: from Group employees and collaborators to trendsetters, opinion leaders, partners, distributors and end consumers. The Roca brand is a common meeting and reference point for everyone. This means it is also an efficient medium for conveying ideas and values.
During this period of extraordinary growth, the Group continues to attend to its responsibilities, administering values that represent it in different social, cultural and economic contexts.
Thanks to many years spent attaining knowledge, we have perfected a practical, flexible system for managing the Group's corporate image. Our aim is to facilitate an awareness of our product’s tangible benefits and, more and more, to enrich the intangible elements that make Roca the favourite brand in its sector.
Millions of families use Roca products because they are products they can trust. In some cases, they offer a window onto a better quality of life and prosperity; in others, they are a symbol of distinction and status. At the same time, the Roca brand means progress, wellbeing, innovation, design and sensitivity.

INNOVATION AND DESIGN
The design world is currently experiencing something of a revolution, marked by consumer demands for functionality, technology and respect for the environment. Moreover, as far as bathrooms are concerned, there is also a growing trend towards viewing this space as somewhere private, where calm and wellbeing are paramount.
As well as our desire to discover and provide solutions to the preferences of our consumers, we at Grupo Roca also strive to offer versatile products that adapt to the habits of the different markets in which the Group operates. The company has risen to this challenge by restructuring the design department and creating the new Roca Design Center, with its headquarters in Gavá, near Barcelona, which got off the ground in 2005.

ENVIRONMENT
In the 1960s, Roca pioneered the reduction of toilet cistern water capacity and the presentation of tapware with lower energy consumption. Those first steps, taken in the light of threatened climate change, have in recent years become vital actions if we are to protect the resources of our environment both for today's society and for future generations. As bathroom sector leader, Grupo Roca is assuming its responsibilities and has made water-saving a concept that is intrinsically linked to its business practice as a whole.
The desire to protect the environment is evident in the everyday operation of the production plants, guided by the strictest sustainable development criteria. Furthermore, the demanding global management standards applied by the Group throughout the world go far beyond the requirements set out by the legislation in each country. For example, the Group's factories use energy-saving methods such as converting residual heat into electricity, and using recycled materials in the manufacture of foundry products.
However, the Group's commitment goes further yet and seeks to promote responsible consumption by users, in many different ways. One of these is the development of products that save the maximum amount of water and energy in daily use. These are discreet, simple solutions, such as built-in consumption limiting devices, smaller-capacity toilet cisterns and unique applications in the innovative wellness ranges, while at the same time not compromising on the use of long-lasting, recyclable materials.
The Group has also taken the water-saving initiative with campaigns directed at consumers, and involvement in events such as Expo Zaragoza 2008. Roca is an exclusive sponsor in its sector and promotes the principles of sustainability which the international exhibition advocates, reminding consumers that, in many countries, good water management and good hygiene practices can save thousands of lives every year.
Distinctions such as the European ECOLABEL certification, awarded to Roca Cerámica in 2005, recognise the fine work the Group continues to do in the field of environmental protection. Despite the advances already made, the Group's quest for innovation leads it to regularly review its production processes and to carry on working towards making water- and energy-saving part of its customers’ daily habits.

HUMAN RESOURCES
The Group’s rapid expansion and strategic decisions made during 2005 have had a notable impact on HR management. It was a very intense year, with two objectives being taken on: on the one hand, to contribute to increased agility in processes for change, and on the other, to preserve and extend the corporate culture and coherency of the HR policy.
The worldwide acquisitions and investments programme means that the Human Resources Department must be efficiently managed, keeping in mind both qualitative and quantitative aspects. Hence, when the Group acquires a company in another country, it employs professionals from other social and cultural backgrounds there, with different work habits and business cultures. In addition, integration processes are executed as gradually as possible. Occasionally though, there is the need to incorporate large numbers of people into companies whose collective agreements and organisational systems have to be adapted in a very short space of time.
In the interests of efficiency, HR management takes a pragmatic approach. The Group uses a dynamic model for improvement based on respecting and maintaining what works, changing only what is necessary and, at the same time, identifying those processes that are managed optimally in the various units, businesses or regions, including them in the collective knowledge base.
While adhering to a completely international management structure, HR policy depends to a great extent on the local environment as regards legislation, usage and customs. In fact, the Roca Corporación is a large industrial company that manufactures in the areas surrounding the markets where it sells its products. Over 40 factories all over the world confirm the reality of local operators. The percentage of employees working in production (factories) is higher than the number with commercial or management roles. Roca's intervention usually improves effective working conditions, particularly with regard to factories, by incorporating state-of-the-art technology and more efficient, more ergonomic systems.

TECHNOLOGY, A KEY FACTOR FOR COMPETITIVENESS
In 2005, Grupo Roca took a decisive step forward in applying technology at different stages of the production processes. Nowadays, ambitious plans for opening new factories and extending and improving existing ones can only be undertaken when based on innovative excellence. The aim is to develop precise work systems that respond to the immediate nature of the market and uphold the demands for quality that have made the Group market leader in the bathroom business.
In recent years, investing 2% of turnover in R+D+i has enabled the Group to maintain maximum autonomy, which is evidenced by the development and perfectioning of its own technological solutions. In 2005, this autonomy had two different faces: progressive automation of production chains and identification of better processes, with the collaboration of all of the Group's factories.
Investing in state-of-the-art technology has brought the automation of process to heights that were unimaginable just a few years ago. The best examples are the automation of toilet casting in the Group's factories in Spain and Portugal, and the facility in Wilhelmsburg, Austria for pressurised casting of large pieces. Advances of this type have enabled us to increase productivity, guarantee that all pieces are of uniform quality, and improve conditions for our workers.
Using the most suitable and most technologically advanced resources has meant that production capacity has doubled in our factories in Gliwice, Poland and Anadia, Portugal. The Group's new factories in Tosno, Russia and Suzhou, China incorporate the very finest in technology, making them two of the world’s most advanced production centres for manufacturing porcelain sanitaryware and acrylic and cast iron bathtubs, respectively.
We have also initiated a research programme into best practice in the Group's porcelain sanitaryware factories, which has made it possible for us to share knowledge and to discuss the most efficient work systems. The result is the creation of a Technology Department, which aims to continue to perfect the process of integral development and manufacturing of new products, keeping Roca at the forefront of industrial and technological capacity.

Roca Sanitario, S.A.

infosan@roca.net

Cerámicas del Foix, S.A.

info@roca-tile.com

A LIFETIME SPENT IMPROVING COMFORT

BRAND VALUE

INNOVATION AND DESIGN

ENVIRONMENT

HUMAN RESOURCES

TECHNOLOGY, A KEY FACTOR FOR COMPETITIVENESS

Roca Sanitario, S.A.

Cerámicas del Foix, S.A.