It had to be done: We have a new webshop. Completely self-built and with a functioning search function, and it’s also much prettier. However, the reactions were split: some of the customers cheered us, others wanted the old shop back.
We were honoured to host a career guidance session for Rotary yesterday for a local high school at our Event & Training Centre. I didn't think it would be so much fun to answer questions and give advice, together with a panel from other sectors. The students asked very good questions indeed.
On this big day, I can't think of much else but Eintracht Frankfurt. Today is the first Champions League round of 16 in the club's history. Why is Jarltech a partner of Eintracht Frankfurt? We simply fit well together. Everyone plays in the Champions League in their own field. Everyone in the team stands up for each other.
I am looking forward to 2023. I hope it will be a little easier than 2022. All in all, 2022 was good. Despite the many challenges, Jarltech increased its order intake by an even 10% to approximately 825 million euros. We added some promising new manufacturers to our product range, hired more employees and apprentices and rented new space in addition to our campus.
We captured the series opener of our Networking Dinners after Covid in our new Event Hall in a video. Thanks to everyone who joined in the celebration!
There is also a new Jarltech image video available. In case anyone is curious, I highly recommend the movie »We are Jarltech«.
We are all extremely proud of our new event building. Here, we now have a tool in close proximity to the Jarltech campus which will bring us and you new sales and contacts.
Just like at the beginning of every new year, I would like to share our business performance with you. Our incoming orders grew by +79% to 750 million euros (approximately 880 million USD). Due to the large backlog caused by the delivery situation our turnover was somewhat lower. At the Jarltech core: We are now 420 employees strong.
You know, the supply situation is actually better than we thought. Demand continues to be crazy, but we have shipped significantly more goods this year than last year, and even our inventory is higher than it was this time last year. After all, it's no secret that (on average) we have the highest inventory in our industry.
When it comes to prices, our industry has mostly known downward movement. Suddenly prices are increasing for many vendors. So what? Well, we make more turnover and the absolute margin goes up. Even vendors who (despite massively increased freight costs) are somehow still increasing their gross margin (according to the stock market report), are increasing their prices.