About RASCO

About RASCO

RASCO is one of the leading manufacturers of professional equipment for the maintenance of traffic infrastructure in Europe

RASCO is a manufacturer of equipment for the maintenance of traffic infrastructures based in Kalinovac, near Đurđevac. The private ownership is equally shared by two Croatian owners, Frane Franičević and Darko Paviša. After almost three decades, in 2019, the owners stopped being involved in the company management. The management board of the company today consists of the CEO Ivan Franičević, COO Ružica Petričec Fabijanec and CCO Mario Štefanec.

Today, RASCO is a large metal producer and a high-tech development company that develops, produces and sells its own products in over 40 countries in the world, on 5 continents. RASCO group employs 450 people, and around 80% of the total revenue is earned by export. The revenue on the group level for 2020 was around EUR 20 million (HRK~151.5 million).

History: from a small garage workshop to a modern factory

RASCO was founded in 1990 by two friends and colleagues, current owners of the company, Frane Franičević and Darko Paviša. They started their business in a refurbished garage in Darko Paviša’s backyard, where they serviced agricultural machinery for local farmers. They soon started servicing the local road maintenance businesses’ equipment that, in early 90s, lacked quality after-sales support. The two partners soon realized that the domestic market offers potential for producing their own products, so in 1994 they created their first road maintenance machine: truck trailer spreader RAS, that has since remained part of the company’s line of products. In 1995 they established their first production hall in Kalinovac, where RASCO is located today.

After they started manufacturing their own machines, the company gradually took over an increasing share of the domestic market. Production capacities and the number of employees were increasing in several stages, and the product line was also expanding at the same time.

The company established a foothold in the year 2000, first in the markets of South-East Europe and then also the markets of countries within the European Union. In 2017, RASCO also started exporting to the Canadian market. Thanks to the development of increasingly advanced machines and the construction of a reliable distribution network, RASCO has become one of the leading manufacturers of road maintenance equipment in Europe.

Nowadays: year-round road maintenance machines and technologies

RASCO vehicles and machines are nowadays used in the year-round road maintenance in over 40 countries on 5 continents. The company based in Kalinovac operates on 17.000 m2 of indoor space and 62.000 m2 of outdoor space. The factory in Senta in Serbia operates on 8000 m2 of indoor space and 55.000 m2 of outdoor space.

The complete product line consists of vehicles, machines, upgrade parts, systems for vehicle and machine control and sophisticated software solutions. RASCO products are intended for winter and summer maintenance of all kinds of traffic infrastructure: from motorways, express roads in both urban and rural areas, to airports, parking areas, pedestrian walkways and bicycle tracks, unclassified forest paths, river banks and canals.

For machines from its own line, RASCO offers the possibility of vehicle delivery and turnkey requested upgrade instalment, where buyers, guided by RASCO’s experts, choose the appropriate equipment for their vehicle. After the machine is produced, the upgrade team installs it on the vehicle that, after it is handed over to the buyer, is immediately functional.

One of our business milestones was a small universal vehicle MUVO, whose production began in 2012. Today MUVO maintains over 20 Croatian cities and dozens of cities worldwide, including Budapest, Prague, Munich, Paris, Bergen, and Brisbane.

In 2019, the first Croatian compact sweeper LYNX was introduced to the market, and the same year it won the Croatian innovation award Zlatna kuna. Soon after it was introduced, the development of an electric version of the sweeper has begun, and it was officially premiered in 2021.

Alongside the development of electric vehicles, new technologies such as 5G, IoT, permanent machine connection, remote control and autonomous driving are all part of the RASCO’s research and production portfolio.

The guarantee of quality of every RASCO product that leaves the production facility is also confirmed by ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 quality certificates.

Nowadays: driving force for the development of North-West Croatia

Alongside the production of a sophisticated equipment for road maintenance, RASCO is one of the driving forces for the development of the local community, as well as the North-West Croatia. Today RASCO employs 450 people, 80% of which are working in the headquarters in Kalinovac. The company is primarily focused on the satisfaction of employees, comfortable working conditions, continuous education and usage of new technologies in business. Except for above-average wages, all RASCO employees have numerous material and non-material benefits.

Since 1995, the company has held apprenticeship practice for high school students. Every year an increasing number of students attending vocational high schools in Đurđevac, Koprivnica, Virovitica and Bjelovar come to RASCO for their apprenticeship. At the moment, 48 students are working as apprentices in different departments.

For over 20 years, RASCO has been offering scholarships for students attending faculties of mechanical and electrical engineering all over Croatia, with monthly scholarships of up to HRK 3000. In 20 years, more than HRK 5 million was invested into scholarship programs, and an entire new generation of experts and leaders was created.

The company is also a major investor in the local community. In the last 10 years, around HRK 2 million was invested into education, sport and culture programs among young people.  RASCO regularly donates substantial financial amounts to associations that take care of the most vulnerable social groups in the Koprivnica-Križevci County and other areas.

RASCO has won numerous awards and prizes. Some of the most important ones are two Zlatna kuna awards for innovation (for MUVO in 2013 and LYNX in 2019), which made RASCO the only company in Croatia that won this innovation award twice. In 2017, the company was chosen for the final round of the competition for the prestigious award EY Entrepreneur Of The Year. The leaders of the company are often invited as lecturers at seminars and professional meetings, and the Chairman of the board Ivan Franičević has won several prizes for entrepreneurship.

Lowest total cost of ownership

Buying RASCO products is a safe investment. One of the biggest advantages of the company over the competition is the lowest total cost of ownership when buying a machine.

The total cost of ownership includes the price of the machine, the cost of maintenance and spare parts, possible costs of income forgone due to an unforeseen cessation of operations. The total cost of ownership is the sum of these costs minus the value of the machine at the end of its lifespan. When RASCO machines are compared to the competition, the total cost of ownership is lower, but the quality remains. Winter maintenance machines are designed to be robust, durable, reliable, so that, with regular maintenance, they can endure very difficult conditions without any problem, year after year. This has proven to be true with numerous customers, and many of them work within the Arctic Circle.

Key factors in reducing the total cost of ownership are an integrated manufacturing process and quick and reliable after-sales support. Build quality is reflected in the durability, safety, efficiency, and simplicity of RASCO machines. With exceptional after-sales support, as well as a 15-year warranty on spare parts availability, the lowest total cost of ownership of RASCO machines is guaranteed.

32 years of strong vision, innovation and continuous investment resulted in a stable growth of the company, highest quality vehicles and machines, employment followed by continuous income increase and benefits for employees, education of high school apprentices and scholarship students, numerous donations for the development of education of children and young people, and an impact on the development of the local community.

Today, RASCO is one of the leading manufacturers of professional equipment for the maintenance of traffic infrastructure in Europe. Outstanding business results, an excellent and motivated team, and new and modern production facilities and technologies put the wind in our sails, and we have even greater ambitions for the future. Therefore, stay with us on our journey during the next 30 years.

Subscribe to our newsletter