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CEO Blog

28/09/2023

The world's smallest chef gives a guest performance in Usingen

It's finally back on: Our 3D projection dinner show »Le Petit Chef« will be back in our restaurant »Uwe and Uli« (www.uwe-uli.de) from the 11^th of October...

It's finally back on: Our 3D projection dinner show »Le Petit Chef« will be back in our restaurant »Uwe and Uli« (www.uwe-uli.de) from the 11^th of October 2023 to the 30^th of April 2024. Personally, I always have fun enjoying delicious food with a bit of a show. Come by sometime – it's also great for Christmas parties with up to 20 people. And if you're a customer of ours, why not have your sales contact invite you next time you visit Jarltech? 😊
Have fun with the little chef!

28/07/2023

Use our know-how power for yourself – free of charge!

We have the largest showroom in the AIDC industry in Europe, plus plenty of training rooms and an event location....

We have the largest showroom in the AIDC industry in Europe, plus plenty of training rooms and an event location. If you like, we will be happy to train your new employees or your customers’ employees here. You will find an overview and a virtual tour of the showroom on our website. We built these facilities for you – but apparently this is not sufficiently known yet. We can work together to make your staff better, or we can make our facilities available to you, and you can organise your own training for your staff or customers. Just as you wish. We are also happy to take care of airport or train station transfers. Just get in touch with your sales representative and we will do something for you!

14/07/2023

Pure delight

I am proud of my team! This time I don’t mean the team from Jarltech, but the team from our restaurant »Uwe & Uli – Zuhause bei uns«....

I am proud of my team! This time I don’t mean the team from Jarltech, but the team from our restaurant »Uwe & Uli – Zuhause bei uns«. The gastronomic guide »Frankfurt geht aus« from the Journal Frankfurt and the Genussakademie awarded us first place in the category »Rhein-Main – feine Küche (exquisite cuisine)«. The joke is that we were not even mentioned there before, but achieved first place right from the start, which really doesn’t happen very often. A two-page article was published about us, a pure hymn of praise. For the kitchen, the service, the atmosphere. We awaited the awards ceremony like toddlers, and now we finally hold it in our hands. Years of work, sweat and tears have paid off – finally, the recognition we always strived for. A warm shower on the soul. I am very proud and equally overjoyed to have made this project possible. Initially a necessity, then later a hobby – I am there every day. I am delighted about every comment, and also about the fact that the team constantly works towards providing an even better experience for the guests. Thank you, thank you, thank you – it needed to be said. Feel free to drop by: www.uwe-uli.de

20/06/2023

Checkout innovation at the burger joint!

We are delighted to have opened our burger joint »Uwe & Uli – Nebenan bei Freunden« today....

We are delighted to have opened our burger joint »Uwe & Uli – Nebenan bei Freunden« today. The goal is to create a lower-priced offering in Usingen alongside our fine dining restaurant. And apart from that: we just wanted to open a burger place. However, since there is already a shortage of staff in the restaurant and the job market seems to have been swept clean, it was clear that no more than one person should work there.

However, since we also want to serve many students, we have to accept cash. Therefore, we needed an ordering terminal where the customer can order and also pay in cash. This was not easy to find. We had to put a lot of brainpower into it, together with partners, and now the system works. And it works so well and so fast (unlike some fast food restaurants where it takes forever to order) that we are really proud of our system. Of course, there is a kitchen monitor, a pick-up monitor and everything else that is needed. Anyone who wants to have a look at it is welcome to do so at any time.

Let's hope that we will sell enough burgers now.

To find out more visit www.uwe-uli.de and then click on »Next door with friends«.

25/05/2023

Website dilemma :) and the future

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....

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.

But, first of all, why did we do this? Our old webshop was certainly the greatest webshop of the 90s, but unfortunately it was also based on old technology, and spaghetti code had crept in. In addition, we could no longer ensure the new requirements for security and data protection. Also, the website did not run satisfactorily on mobile phones either.

What we have now is not yet the final word, but it is certainly a real secret weapon within the competition. A shop in a state-of-the-art framework where we can control every bit. And I promise: we will soon have the best website in the industry again. We have a list of features lined up in the next few months that will amaze you.

A not-quite-so-funny aspect was that, on the day of the launch, parts of the hardware went into strike-mode – Murphy’s Law. By the way, it was also interesting to hear some complaints that certain features no longer worked that didn’t even exist in the old webshop. But that doesn’t matter, we are taking note of all the suggestions for improvement and sorting them out at the moment.

Jarltech has been using its own ERP system since the very beginning. I remember writing the first version myself in dBase II and the second version under dBase III Plus. It was madness, but it also worked and was sorely missed by some when we started using the much better modern version.

I am left with the hope that with further improvements, we can make all our business partners happy. Now we have to take a breather, because at least it’s working. :)

Remember my promise, we will continue to tackle the issue.

21/03/2023

Career guidance at Jarltech

We were honoured to host a career guidance session for Rotary yesterday for a local high school at our Event & Training Centre....

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. Apart from the most common question about whether our Event & Training Centre can be hired for graduation parties (no), it was very interesting to hear what the teenagers are interested in. They indeed not only care about money, but also about issues such as equality, teamwork and which social skills are needed. The largest group of students 21% want to work in a corporation (oh dear), and 48% want to study after graduating from high school. As the only person on the panel who has never seen the inside of a university, I could certainly add some perspective here. All in all, for me it was a very nice look back at 34 years of Jarltech, with all its ups and downs. I'll be happy to join in again next year! Find photos in our Instagram story and soon also on LinkedIn.

19/11/2019

(Value Add) Why does Jarltech need a restaurant?

Heres a question I was often asked over the last days. As a short intro (not everyone reads the local press from the Taunus): Effective December 1st, 2019 we will...

Heres a question I was often asked over the last days. As a short intro (not everyone reads the local press from the Taunus): Effective December 1st, 2019 we will be operating the restaurant »essWebers« in Usingen in a half-timbered house built in 1704, lovingly restored by the city of Usingen and lovingly cooked and managed by the Weber couple for the last five years. A jewel in a small town in the shadow of the cosmopolitan city of Frankfurt, acclaimed by Guide Michelin and Falstaff, but economically beaten by start-up difficulties and misunderstandings, together with construction sites around the building. The restaurant should go out of business.

No, our core business remains wholesale and yet this new partnership was obvious. Usingen is a city that is sometimes plagued by being »second« in location, compared to the Vordertaunus. Jarltech, on the other hand, is proud of its origins. In our industry we play in the first league in Europe and our »essWebers« can also do that. Because it is done with love. Sometimes its about being something »different« than expected, though sometimes its hard to keep the balancing act between »affordable« and »premium«.

We need a place where we can do business, but also where we can have fun in private. We work hard and the food services industry is an industry that also works even harder. If we come with Spanish business people, and the restaurant opens on a day it normally has off, and then the menu of the day is translated into Spanish, then that fits perfectly to the Jarltech claim. That is truly »premium«.

And if a guest really enjoys the truffle noodles, and we can bring them fresh to the next meeting in London by the glass, then thats just awesome.

Of course we are in a small locality, but thats where we come from and we do not shy away from competition with the rest of the world. If you offer a lunch menu for 12.50 euros, somebody is bound to find it totally overpriced. The fact that our »essWebers« does not earn money with it is due to the claim to be »premium« at noon as well. One person finds this to be exaggerated, the other finds that he actually saves money.

This is not about big money. Jarltech is also committed to its hometown. Our success is based on our great team from our region. Jarltech knows its origins, is proud of them and never arrogant but always generous. Likewise, our cuisine is not over the top, we have no mini-portions and do not require any guest to appear in a suit (otherwise I could never go there). Nevertheless, »essWebers« cannot merely be »simple«, but must always be »premium«. »essWebers« simply wants to make guests happy, just like Jarltech wants to make customers happy.

I think we can inspire each other.

With banquet rooms, »private rooms«, a restaurant, a bar and a terrace, and above all a flexible team, there are possibilities that our customers otherwise only know from our »Staging« department.

We are proud to be able to invite our customers and suppliers there, just as we are pleased to be able to offer this whole range to guests from our favorite city of Usingen. We have a team there that we can trust without hesitation. Now you can also taste and smell Jarltech its about time!

16/10/2019

Sterilize your money immediately!

Finally, an e-mail from Asia reaches me about a product I have never heard of before: a »money sterilizer«.

...

Finally, an e-mail from Asia reaches me about a product I have never heard of before: a »money sterilizer«.

No, seriously. »Dirty« money can be found not only in offshore bank accounts or under a pillow, but every day in your very own wallet. The e-mail I mentioned claims that 36,000 Americans die every year from flu-related illnesses. 10% of them have acquired the virus through contact with banknotes. Supported by a study by the »Center for Disease Control and Prevention«. Without me being able to or wanting to check it out now.

Apparently, an American university has also taken a sample and detected more than 3,000 different types of bacteria on one-dollar bills. A European university found 6,000 varieties.

The solution is to treat the money with a plasma ion cluster (whatever that is) and a HEPA filter during the automatic counting process. It only takes 20-30 seconds. In order to then get the clean money into circulation, I suggest that all cashiers should always wear disposable gloves (using new ones for each transaction, because they are also accepting »dirty money«), and the cash drawers should also be cleaned regularly.

Although, perhaps simple contactless payment is a better recommendation instead.

If you are not contactless, but have the appropriate contacts, please make the EU Commission aware of this issue. Either we will do huge business, because we will sell these devices millions of times over, or, because cash would be banned for health reasons, all payment transactions must be converted to cashless - that too is a nice deal. The task of abolishing cash would no longer be handled by the Ministry of Finance, but by the Ministry of Health. Interesting.

21/08/2019

Comment: One competitor less?

Yesterday, an American competitor of ours announced on the stock exchange that it would like to discontinue the distribution of »non-digital products«, i.e....

Yesterday, an American competitor of ours announced on the stock exchange that it would like to discontinue the distribution of »non-digital products«, i.e. hardware, in some geographical areas. Among those areas affected is Europe. The business should be sold. But it is not said to whom, or if there are already negotiations, or when that could be. They want to free up the working capital used in this business into a business with higher margin opportunities.

Since the announcement yesterday, my phone has been constantly ringing. Everyone wants to know what I think about it. Did we win a war? No, we were never at war.

First of all, this competitor and his staff are highly esteemed by me. We occasionally see each other at events and there is no hostility.

Second, of course, selling or discontinuing the hardware distribution in Europe would generate a lot of movement. The message to the employees and the customers is quite clear: your area is not exactly the pearl of the company; our capital is misused there. This area is now the unfavoured child.

Third, is that good for Jarltech? Probably. For long-term things, one or the other dealer might see that now could be the right time for a change of his distribution partner.

Fourth, is that good for the resellers? Sure, it's always good for a reseller to shop at Jarltech :) However, there are still enough distributors on the market who do a good job. The selection is hardly limited.

Fifth, what are the vendors doing? Probably nothing. There are on-going contracts and one will first have to wait and see. Some vendors who like to pump goods into the channel at the end of each quarter, might have less choice. But if the other distributors make more sales as a result, they can also store more. We have sufficient resources in every respect to absorb additional business.

Good news for the vendors: heres one less that can make demands to push for certain benefits in Europe based on their success in the US. After all, most vendors are headquartered in the US.

All in all, the competitor repositions itself and at some day will be no longer our competitor. I do not think that this part of the company will simply disappear. There will be a new owner, the winds of change will blow, and we will see what happens.

Why is this message coming precisely at this time? Above all, why are nearly 500 employees now unsure about their future, without anything being specific? By telling that this part of their business is not really delivering what they expect, will this not have a negative effect on the price when selling this business?

That, I think, is a typical action of an American company which is listed on the stock exchange. At the same time yesterday, the quarterly and annual results were announced. The last quarter was, according to their own statement, »below expectations«. Since analysts can not help but notice that others are evidently growing in the same business and delivering good results, it was probably important to show some kind of activity now. The outlook of freeing up working capital and an overall lower turnover, but higher profits, should certainly drive the stock price, or at least prevent a downward spiral due to the weaker quarter. It could have worked, too: so far, the price has fallen, but only very slightly.