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The innovative Rooffox cutting machine: an asset for the roofing trade
Rooffox cutting machine - an idea from practice for practice
Cutting bitumen sheets, i.e. sheets of waterproofing material under the roof tiles - sounds like hard manual work and a lot of physical effort? Not necessarily any more. Because a new technology is bringing a breath of fresh air to the roofing trade: the Rooffox bitumen membrane cutting machine. Not only does it cut precisely, it also performs this task largely automatically, significantly reducing the physical strain on tradesmen. Such progress is also made possible by the Bavarian Innovation Voucher funding program, which supports small companies in putting such ideas into practice.
Tobias Büttgen, Managing Director of Rooffox GmbH, and Anja Härtel, expert for innovation vouchers at Bayern Innovativ, talk about what lies behind the innovation, how exactly the innovation voucher works and how you too can benefit from this funding.
What motivated you to create an improvement for roofers in the form of the bitumen cutting machine?
Tobias Büttgen: Roofing is one of the three professions that are considered hard work. It is very strenuous, time-consuming and there is a huge shortage of skilled workers. My vision is to make the roofers' work easier and also to compensate for the shortage of skilled workers. I came up with the idea for the machine together with my father, who is also a master roofer. We developed the cutting machine together. We carefully checked whether the machine is reliable, precise, safe, time-saving and economical - and whether it is really in demand on the market.
Everyone who now sees the machine in use is delighted - it makes work so much easier.
How exactly does this machine work?
Tobias Büttgen: You insert a bitumen sheet, which is then automatically drawn in. After entering the dimensions and the number of pieces, it cuts the sheets precisely. Variable cutting lengths or gradients can also be entered - the machine automatically calculates the optimum division so that there is as little waste as possible. In the final step, the machine stacks the pieces automatically.
What were the main reasons why the funding was approved?
Anja Härtel: The Rooffox application was a classic for the innovation voucher. Mr. Büttgen is a craftsman or small business owner, has fewer than 50 employees, less than 10 million business figures and needed an external service for his development and therefore had to commission a service provider. It is an innovative idea from practice for practice, i.e. a real industry win in the roofing trade.
How exactly does the application process for the innovation voucher work?
Anja Härtel: The application can only be submitted online; application guidelines are available. The basis for the application is a binding service offer that is to be funded. Once we have received the application, we check the documents. If the assessment is positive, a grant notification will be issued and only then may the project begin. The applicant first makes the payment to the service provider and then submits the proof of use. The funding is then disbursed after it has been checked.
There are two types of innovation vouchers: a standard innovation voucher can be used to receive a maximum of €18,000 in funding and a special innovation voucher can be used to receive a maximum of €40,000 in funding.
Can a company benefit from the innovation voucher more than once?
Anja Härtel: Three vouchers can be granted within two years. You can submit several consecutive applications within a project and receive funding for several project steps. For example: first application for the feasibility study, second for the design, third for prototype construction.
What hurdles were you able to overcome better thanks to the approval of the innovation voucher and was Bayern Innovativ able to support you in any other way?
Tobias Büttgen: The funding was particularly helpful at the beginning and enabled us to develop our product step by step.
Thanks to Bayern Innovativ, we were able to present our product at the International Crafts Fair in Munich. This led to us being selected for the Chancellor's tour, where I was able to present the cutting machine to Olaf Scholz and the President of the skilled trades Jörg Dietrich, among others. In the end, we won the German Innovation Award, which brought us a lot of media attention.
Are further developments or new innovations planned at Rooffox?
Tobias Büttgen: When designing the slicer, we made sure that the machine can be adapted and updated at any time, even for planned attachments. We have another machine in the EU patent application process, which we are currently developing. We have been bitten by the innovation bug and we are looking forward to further cooperation with Bayern Innovativ, whatever form it takes in the future.
The interview was conducted by Barbara Groll, Media Relations, Bayern Innovativ GmbH, Nuremberg.
Listen to the full interview as a podcast:
Promoting the skilled trades: On the roofs of the world - ROOFFOX bitumen membrane cutting machine (06.08.2025)
Have you heard of bitumen membrane cutting machines? This innovation is changing the work of roofers - and for the better!
Thanks to these machines, roofers can now cut bitumen membranes precisely and automatically - and with little physical strain.
And the best thing is: Bavaria has an innovation voucher funding program that helps small companies like ROOFFOX to implement such innovations.
Tobias Büttgen explains what the innovation is all about, how exactly the innovation voucher works and whether you can benefit from it too. He is the Managing Director of ROOFFOX GmbH. And from Anja Härtel, our expert on innovation vouchers.
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