Manfred Rothlehner with a DL22N in front of the production site in Massing

• What are the core competencies of the Rothlehner Group?

As a trading and service company in the area of ​​work platforms, we are represented in Germany, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia with our own companies as well as with sales and service in the south-eastern EU countries.
The product range covers all common categories of working platforms.
Our core competencies include a solid needs assessment, delivering quality products, comprehensive and long-term care, and reliable service. All from one hand.

One must see the achievements of “Rothlehner” as a company group with seven individual companies. Last but not least, our strengths are the result of many years of know-how from our foreign subsidiaries and the service division, which has grown over decades, and which is probably unique in its form.

Short to the history:
In 1976 I started with used equipment in the work platform industry. Many services up to 45m working height we have e.g. mostly self-made with truck turntable ladders. Thus, valuable practical experience was gained in the craft, tree service and in the work platform rental.

The number of DENKA•LIFTs grew in the rental fleet at the beginning of the 1980s, and in 1988 we took over general sales in Germany for this brand. From 1991, the focus was already exclusively on the trade and customer service. At the time, my brother took over the lease and developed it independently under “Rothlehner Konrad – Liftverleih”.

After the fall of the Wall, an exciting pioneering work began in the new federal states. At the same time, from the beginning of the 1990s, I founded subsidiaries in Austria and in neighboring countries to the east. The origins of the service company Lift-Manager also date back to this time. This was founded in 1991 together with Roland Jäkel as “Roland Jäkel GmbH” and initially provided the service for the devices sold by Rothlehner in the new federal states.
In 2001, the service merger of Rothlehner in the old federal states with the service structures in the east of the country and the renaming into “Lift Manager GmbH”.
Today, Lift-Manager employs around 80 people. More than half of them are technicians with different focus training for different brands.
With Lift-Manager, our customers in Germany have a nationwide workshop network, more than 20 mobile emergency vehicles, spare parts supply for various brands and much more. to disposal.

At the beginning of the 2000s, we introduced new product lines, most notably GSR truck bodies, of which we have so far brought and cared for around 1,200 units.

• How did it happen that you have been producing the DENKA•LIFT models yourself since 2013?

After more than 30 years of close cooperation with DENKA•LIFT, we took over the production of these devices in June 2013. Not least due to the frequent changes of owners, investors and managing directors, the Danish manufacturer experienced considerable turbulence.
For us it was an opportunity to take over the rights and parts and to maintain and develop this prestigious brand DENKA•LIFT.

Since 1988, we have sold more than 3,000 new DENKA•LIFTs and are able to take care of the customers with devices of old years and to deliver spare parts reliably.
We continue to offer new products, parts and technical support to our worldwide customers. Even though a considerable part of the trailer segment has shifted to 3,5to truck platforms and tracked platforms, we see the market for our DENKA•LIFT products as a stable niche and even notice a certain return to this device concept.

Various tradesman sectors and end user areas still ideally cover the vast majority of tasks with trailer platforms. Many customers still see the DENKA•LIFTs as flexible all-round devices, easy to operate, stable and reliable, and high value retention.

Technical innovations such as new controls, modern charging technology, auto-leveling and a range of useful optional extras have been implemented over the last few years.
Lift-Manager is assigned the task of international spare parts supply and technical support.

• The DENKA•LIFT DL22N belongs to the “narrow special devices”.
What kind of work platform is this?

Rothlehner co-developed the concept of the DENKA•LIFT Narrow in collaboration with DENKA•LIFT in the 1990s. These are narrow self-propelled aerial platforms with low floor loading and minimal dimensions. With a clearance height of less than 2m and a minimum width of 0.89m, the devices fit through all standard doors. The stability and longevity of the DENKA models are shared by all Narrow versions with 19m, 22m, 25m and 28m, which also originate from the DENKA modular system.

The battery-powered, lightweight devices can be variably supported and built in very tight spaces. Especially for special indoor applications in atriums, shopping malls, airports or churches, the Narrow has its advantages: low floor load, small passage width, variable support and a high lateral reach.