In 1946, Walter Roller founded a company in Stuttgart-Gaisburg to manufacture fin systems for refrigeration technology. As an engineer, he used the existing possibilities of his parents' plumbing business. As a friend of well-known company founders in refrigeration technology such as Göldner, Baader, Bock and Schaufler, who had devoted themselves more to refrigeration machine construction, Walter Roller worked on the transmission of cooling power via various fin systems.

The business, which was initially run by skilled craftsmen, took off very quickly, not least due to repairs to refrigerators and cold storage facilities for the American occupation forces. Therefore, a qualified businessman was needed to handle the commercial matters, which were rather unloved by technicians, and this was found in the person of his son-in-law Kurt Reule (left).

At the Stuttgart location, the space resources were exhausted, so that work could be generously continued in Gerlingen with the construction of an approx. 6000m² manufacturing hall. By 1960, the site had been expanded in eleven construction phases to 17,000m².

The first HV high-performance evaporator with built-in fans and HVT evaporators with the self-developed wire heater defrosting system for the deep-freeze sector are manufactured and meet with an outstanding response from refrigeration system manufacturers.

The products also sold well abroad. First in the neighbouring countries - the air coolers were very popular. Partnerships with the trade and plant construction emerged.

Customers place more and more value on tailored solutions. This is how heat exchanger geometries and special air coolers are created, some of which still exist today.

The American occupation troops stationed in the Baden-Württemberg area were used to air-conditioned rooms. So Roller developed the first air conditioning units with up to 15 kW cooling capacity.

With the introduction of the ceiling-mounted air cooler for small cold rooms, Roller has triggered a trend for flat evaporators. The innovative highlight is the variable use as a ceiling or wall unit.

For many customers, the proven HVS high-performance evaporator, suction, is synonymous with Roller quality. There was continuous further development and in 1983 a major expansion of the product range. In-house produced fans were used.

Joachim Reule, grandson of the company founder Walter Roller, joins the company. Thus, the third generation of the family is active in the company.

The economy is running at full speed, so the increased tasks require a new building for administration, reception and training.

A pioneer of refrigeration technology, who was dedicated to the prosperity of the company until the end, dies at the age of 83. The great tinkerer and technician leaves his successors the aspiration to continue offering customers efficient products that are reliable in the long term. Joachim Reule takes on this task as the new managing director.

To meet the dynamically growing market, Roller develops the modular FHV/T air cooler series.

With the introduction of the digital selection programme, Roller offers the possibility of an precise product design according to individual requirements at an early stage.

The use of inner grooved tubes increases the performance of the evaporator series by an average of 30%.

Kurt Reule retires after more than 45 years of successful work as Managing Director. Werner Rose, a long-time member of the Executive Board, is appointed as another Managing Director besides Joachim Reule.

Roller is one of the first air cooler manufacturers to upgrade its entire evaporator range to energy-efficient EC fan technology. Following the company's philosophy: "High performance with minimum energy consumption".

The different types of corrosion have long been underestimated in commercial refrigeration. Roller is the first company to implement a broad range of standard corrosion protection for these applications.

The logistics centre with its high rack warehouse ensures high availability and rapid dispatch of many evaporator series and sizes, as well as urgent spare parts.

Roller is the first manufacturer to receive a type examination for heat exchangers from TÜV. This certifies the high efficiency of closed-loop systems.

Food cooling and air-conditioning tasks are also reliably carried out at sea. For the AIDA club ships, air coolers for all cold rooms on board are manufactured in a special hygienic design.

Roller makes it easy for its customers and installs the control system at the factory on request. This guarantees quick and easy start-up and maximum energy efficiency of the system.

The sales activities in Asia have a long, successful history, which are now being continued with a joint venture as Roller Thailand Ltd in Bangkok.

Wolfgang Krenn (centre), sales manager for many years, takes over the managing director position from Werner Rose (right), who is retiring. Until today, the company is managed by Joachim Reule (left) and Wolfgang Krenn.

Plant II with its assembly lines for the DLK and HVS evaporator series goes into operation. The aim is to maintain a continuous stock of units available at short notice in the Roller warehouse.

For the use of CO2 in deep-freezing, Roller has developed an optimised heat exchanger system for evaporators that meets the specific requirements of CO2 (PS 80bar!) for small tube diameters of 9.52 mm, coupled with a maximum fin spacing of 12 mm.

Roller puts another assembly hall into operation after only 2 years. The series production units are now manufactured in this hall. The expansion is an important milestone in further increasing overall production efficiency.