They build the roller coaster “Blue Fire”

Heavy steel pipes, supports and many metal parts dominate the picture on the outdoor area of ​​Mack Rides in Waldkirch, Baden. In the background there is a structure that is reminiscent of a piece of roller coaster. And that’s what it should be. Because here on the edge of the Black Forest, every third roller coaster that comes onto the market worldwide is built and designed.

It is mainly the particularly spectacular attractions such as the “Voltron Nevera”, which makes its rounds in the neighboring Europa-Park. “We want to make people laugh – and scream” is the motto of the Black Forest company. When the passengers experience weightlessness for a few seconds before the next rollover, the goal has been unmistakably achieved.

But on Wednesday, an incident on a rollercoaster at Europa-Park caused a stir – the breakdown dominated the headlines. “Blue Fire” suddenly stopped in the air – with 20 people on board.

When we visited a few weeks earlier, no negative news dampened the mood at Mack Rides. The company is building on a tradition that you would not suspect behind these ultra-modern steel structures. The Mack family began building vehicles in 1790. In his day, it was horse-drawn carriages and later carriages. The first rides for showmen were built at the end of the 18th century. As early as 1921, a roller coaster on a wooden track was built in Waldkirch. In addition to the rides, the Macks have long built the luxurious caravans in which the showmen live for most of the year. But these were ordered less and less. At the turn of the millennium, the medium-sized company ran into a crisis. The Macks brought in restructuring expert Christian von Elverfeldt, who took over the management in 2005 as the first manager from outside the family.

“We concentrated on what we do best,” and that is rides,” explains the 63-year-old. His plan to build roller coasters with loops initially met with reservations from the family. The family runs the Europa-Park in the neighboring town of Rust. It is actually geared towards families. The new developments from Waldkirch are traditionally used there first. “Then go for it if you think it will work.” Co-owner Roland Mack is said to have agreed to the plans in 2007. He has no regrets: the medium-sized company with its 225 employees expects a turnover of 100 million euros this year. The return should then be around ten percent.

Roller coasters are created on the computer

A few years ago, the whole of Waldkirch, looking out over the southern industrial area, knew that a new attraction was being built at Mack Rides. Nowadays, planning and design are not just done on computers. The complex details for each individual segment are sent directly from the computers to production.

Robots have now taken over many of the jobs there. They bend heavy, arm-thick steel pipes in several directions over several axes with an accuracy of a tenth of a millimeter. The new roller coaster is only assembled in the respective amusement park. “Every part is individually made,” explains von Elverfeld. The rides are also unique. Attractions like the “Blue Fire” are rarely built more than once with only minor deviations.

Themed cars or decorative figures are first created as models. For example, a track for Legoland in Günzburg. “The challenge later is to build the pieces to the right size so that they fit into a real track at the right scale,” explains sales manager Thorsten Köbele. The models also enable the planners to better coordinate the dimensions of individual details. How big do dinosaurs have to be when visitors go out through “Jurassic Park” in a jeep?

Spectacular roller coasters at Europa-Park

The success of the spectacular roller coasters surprised the entire Mack Group. “We actually thought that the roller coasters were an additional offer for parks that are actually aimed at families,” says von Elverfeld. But the wild ride apparently cannot be fast and spectacular enough for visitors. The established “Blue Fire” already accelerated to 100 km/h in 2.5 seconds. The premiere of such spectacular solutions often takes place at Europa-Park. Economically, the companies are clearly separated. “The park is both a test field and a showcase,” explains Köbele. The “Voltron” rises 30 meters into the air and then begins the 1.4-kilometer ride through hell in a steep descent. More rollovers and launches. The steepest “launch” at 105 degrees is a new world record. The drive of the system delivers 2500 horsepower. It comes from the Croatian sports car manufacturer Rivian.

The real secret behind such attractions is the technology. The rails have to fit together extremely precisely so that passengers are not hit by the transitions. In addition, all parts of the chassis are milled rather than welded. This reduces maintenance costs, because such connections have to be checked again and again for safety reasons. In addition, the track builders save 20 percent in weight with this process. This reduces the load on the rails and supports, which can also be built more lightly. The bottom line is that there is a considerable saving in expensive steel. This is an important point for manufacturers, especially when material costs are skyrocketing, as they have recently. “Roller coasters are sold at a fixed price,” explains von Elverfeldt. A crisis like the Ukraine war and the whole calculation is shaky.

Some details remain secret

Crises such as the corona pandemic can shake up small and medium-sized businesses. “It was a tough time,” admits Von Elverfeld. Since then, the company has been able to manufacture everything in-house. This enables good capacity utilization even when demand – as during the pandemic – should again be in stock. Otherwise, some work can be outsourced to other companies. Software and electronics, on the other hand, come from a partner company located on the same site. Mack Rides is now even involved in this. In many places in production, specially developed and refined technologies are used. “For example, we have converted five robots from Kuka. “They bend our steel rails,” explains Köbele. Details are kept secret: trade secrets.

The special nature of the Mack rides is being persistently used to justify competition – using all sorts of tricks. For example, the state-affiliated technical monitoring organization in China stipulates that all details must be disclosed. Otherwise, no approval is granted. For providers like Mack Rides, this is a balancing act. Until recently, China was one of the most important markets in the world for such rides. But at the same time, the “approval process” is increasing competition. Chinese providers are now entering the market with dumping prices. Park operators can operate the copies of the Mack rides for two years free of charge before they get the bill.

Europa-Park only delivers a small part of the turnover

“We keep the competition at bay with our innovations,” stresses von Elverfeldt. Some developments have therefore not even been registered for patent. The idea is that the competition will spend as long as possible puzzling over how the Waldkirchen-based company has solved the next technical sensation. For example, when a 33-ton train makes a 180-degree turn in just a few seconds and the passengers are suddenly sent in reverse. The heart of this is a rotary switch, which has to work with millimeter precision despite its weight.

Mack Rides claims to have a global market share of around 30 percent. Europa-Park (turnover around 243 million euros) usually only contributes five percent to total turnover. Unless the Mack family, the owners, invested several million in Rust to put an attraction like the “Voltron” on the site. The most important customers come from the USA and Saudi Arabia. Demand from the desert compensates for the slump in China, where the economic crisis is slowing down operators and park visitors alike. In total, seven kilometers of tracks are built in Waldkirch every year. That’s enough for around seven roller coasters.

Inspection of the roller coasters “Blue Fire” or “Matterhorn Blitz”

As a second pillar, the company is building up a division for the maintenance of existing systems. Each train of the “Voltron” alone consists of 25,000 individual parts. In the second factory in neighboring Herbolzheim, attractions such as the “Blue Fire” or “Matterhorn-Blitz” from Europa-Park are also repaired, checked or modernized. Some of the “Wilde Maus” that we know from the fair are also getting a new drive or even a new electronic interior. Since the mobile rides for the Oktoberfest, for example, have increasingly sophisticated technology, the showmen are overwhelmed with the maintenance. “We expect growing business with our customers in Europe,” says von Elverfeldt confidently.

Such new business ideas would have been entirely in keeping with the patriarch Franz Mack’s ideas. In the sixth generation, he has implemented the recipe for success of the medium-sized company of his time in a particularly good way: constantly reinventing. The house of the Europa-Park founder stands on the Mack-Rides site, as if the boss had only taken the dog for a quick walk. The interior has been preserved down to the last detail and exudes the splendour of the 1970s. Celebrities from politics and show business have come and gone here. Many a multi-million dollar deal has been made in the party cellar with its heavy oak decor. The company motto, which Franz Mack and his successors have shaped up to the eighth generation today, is immortalised in a wrought iron room divider: “The wide world is my field”.