The last chance for the traditional Swiss company Stokys is digitization
For 75 years, children and adults have been using Stokys metal parts to screw together anything their imagination can come up with. However, the company can only survive because of idealists; the metal building sets no longer bring in a profit. The crowdfunding campaign that has been launched is intended to preserve the traditional company and herald its transition into the digital age.
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Stokys is a piece of Swiss history: the company was founded in Lucerne in 1941, when the Second World War made it difficult to obtain toys. Since then, the metal parts have been used to create all kinds of models, from toy carousels to peanut slingshots or smartphone stands to computer-controlled machines. To this day, idealists are committed to keeping the metal building sets alive with volunteer work.
In the meantime, Stokys no longer makes a profit. The company is supported by managing director Beat Schaufelberger and part-time employees Ernst Schmid and Ernst Leimbacher. The latter, as well as other Stokys fans, is committed on a voluntary basis to making the metal parts available to the next generations.
For the niche manufacturer based in Bauma, existence in the global mass market has become increasingly difficult. Instead of outsourcing production to Asia for higher profit margins, Stokys continues to focus on sustainable and high-quality manufacturing in Switzerland. To make this possible in the future, the crowdfunding campaign Stokys 2.0 was launched on Wemakeit on Tuesday (Link).
A successful campaign not only saves the future of the traditional company, but also enables it to move into the digital age with an online platform. Its members benefit from various additional services such as the free replacement of consumables, but above all they exchange ideas and models virtually and develop them further together.
The real encounter will take place this weekend at the 75th anniversary celebration of Stokys: From March 24-26, the most unusual models will be on display at Technorama Winterthur, and senior citizens will pass on their decades of Stokys experience to children. Here it becomes clear how the creativity of tinkerers, grandparents and children breathes life into the metal construction kits.
