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06/03/2020

Supply Chain and Corona Time

We receive enquiries about the status of our supply chain around the clock. Therefore, it’s time to make a statement. The answer is: a limited all-clear....

We receive enquiries about the status of our supply chain around the clock. Therefore, it’s time to make a statement. The answer is: a limited all-clear. Naturally, we are constantly in contact with our suppliers and forwarding agents. The most important manufacturers have informed us in writing that production is at least »almost« back to full capacity. That's nice, but of course parts from sub-suppliers could be missing and the supply chain gets thrown askew. But this all only concerns China. Trump has brought us some »good luck« here, because thanks to the imposed tariffs, our suppliers have already largely moved their production from China to other countries. Not only because of the imposed tariffs - but also because of the rising labour costs - production in China is apparently considered a »luxury« nowadays.

As far as China is concerned, we are well informed, since we have 30 employees there. In the meantime, business at Jarltech China is back to normal again. The Chinese have decided to be cautious, but not to let their economy be taken away out of fear. Nevertheless, turnover there leaves a lot to be desired.

Another stroke of good luck is that in January we decided to increase our inventory by another 20 million euros. This means that our inventory is now higher than ever before and easily covers two months. Of course, some of the devices are missing because of the Corona situation. But there are almost always alternative products.

Unfortunately, we also have panic shopping. No, nobody has decided to use receipt rolls or labels instead of sold-out toilet paper, yet. Some big end customers simply want to ensure their roll-outs by ordering from stock rather than just-in-time. Some competitors are also trying to buy our stock via front men, but we defend ourselves against any cause for suspicion.

Our import forwarding agents also warn about slightly increased delivery times. A lot of goods are now flown instead of being shipped by sea - but since there are hardly any passenger flights to Asia anymore, there is less cargo space in the passenger planes. However, delays of up to one week at most are expected here.

Apart from the supply chain, we are currently mourning our LogiMAT party more, which was to take place next Wednesday in Stuttgart. Naturally, health comes first, but we would have loved to celebrate a fabulous party with you. Don’t forget though, postponed does not mean cancelled. In this case, we will deliver as well :)

19/02/2020

Corona and the 2020 Euroshop trade fair

Entire booths are vacant because companies could not persuade their employees to visit a crowded venue. There could also be Chinese people there....

Entire booths are vacant because companies could not persuade their employees to visit a crowded venue. There could also be Chinese people there. Maybe even from Wuhan. And everyone else is automatically suspicious, too. Every second trade fair visitor will be wearing a protective mask - if visitors even come at all.

That was the prediction for the 2020 Euroshop. Okay, there truly was hardly anybody there on Sunday, but that’s also because nobody visits a B2B trade fair on a Sunday anyway. On Tuesday though, the trade fair was full, packed even - in the halls it sometimes looked like the 1991 CeBIT. Yes, that was the CeBIT the year I wanted to postpone my high school graduation examination, because the CeBIT was simply more important than schoolwork. Unfortunately, the Hessian Ministry of Education did not cooperate, and I had to arrive and leave before and after my exams, but that's ancient history.

At the Euroshop I saw exactly two people wearing a protective mask. There was disinfectant gel lying around each booth, and some booths didn't offer food because of the Corona virus. No food because of the Corona virus? (Could also have been due to cost reasons.) I don't think that going hungry helps the immune system.

What was striking though, was that more hands were shaken than ever before. I don't know how many industry friends I hugged. Clearly more than usual. This is the new vote of confidence: I know you, you are trustworthy and you won't kill me with your virus. You are clean.

Whether this is medically reasonable remains to be seen. Offering a drop of disinfectant gel to a friend, even if it may not help against viruses, is a nice new gesture. Yet it is unknown whether more people than usual washed their hands after using the bathroom.

02/01/2020

Jarltech 2019 and 2020

The Jarltech group continues its exceptional performance....

The Jarltech group continues its exceptional performance. The order intake in 2019 reached over 323 million euros, which is about 35 million euros more than in 2018, more than doubled since 2014, and five times more since 2010.

Many thanks for this to our employees, our resellers and our suppliers. A large part of the success is due to the fact that Jarltech has invested highly in stocks. By making generous stock reservations for our resellers, together we can anticipate orders better and better and start a roll-out immediately when the »end customer« finally orders. We currently hold almost ten million euros of goods that are firmly reserved for customers. Our investment in inventories will be significantly increased from January onwards.

In addition, we have repeatedly found creative financing solutions for projects.

In 2020 Jarltech will add some new, highly interesting vendors to its portfolio. Further investments in IT, buildings and in our staging department are also already initiated.

We are looking forward to a good cooperation!