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CEO Blog

23/05/2017

Premium Distribution

A trend is making a comeback:

...

A trend is making a comeback:

Does shipping logistics only have to become cheaper (and automatically poorer, as a result), just because Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Public feel like paying very little for it? That's no longer true.

The more we invest into our premium logistics (24-hour warehouse operation, more employees, new types of quality control, continual technological upgrades), the clearer the results are: much less damage during transportation, packaging mistakes drop to much lower levels and there is an enormous increase in speed. Combined with the best parcel services and shipping carriers, this ultimately leads to a reduced workload for the customers. Hard cash!

And look here: performance is rewarded. We enforce (of course, still economical) flat-rate shipping charges because we, for example, are also able to serve end customers on behalf of our resellers, the idea being "order and forget" - with colour-printed "original" reseller packaging slips right up to individual packaging tape.

For free shipping elsewhere you get pseudo parcel services who heartlessly toss the boxes into the rusty van when loading it, and who then drop the well-shaken box at the customer's feet. What a treat for the electronic device inside.

On a side note, a part of "premium" also means that sales employees not only register articles, but they also know which product is needed. When we test the competition the answer comes back to the tune of "I cannot help you without an exact article number." Pitiful. But things can turn funny if you ask the "right" questions. I can amuse myself for days like this. Such as during a discussion about a particular receipt printer, when asking "Just how big is it?" or "Isn't that the neon yellow device?" The answer came back "Yes." to both questions. :) So, that speaks volumes about the training level of the other person.

And because of this we are finally seeing slightly growing profit margins in the channel. Of course there are still customers, let's call the company "Audacious Computing", who expect that we deliver with a negative margin. Oh, and even better that we take care of his 30% returned goods. But the best of all would be to send (in advance) free-of-charge demo devices directly to the end customers: but right now, please! That would mean that we are not a "Premium Distributor", but rather a dumb distributor.

We prefer to work together with the 99% of reasonable resellers, and grow together. "Audacious Computing" might be causing a competitor of ours losses, but even they would realize that the supply of distributors is not limitless.

Apparently, the competition is of the same opinion as I am: Auto-ID and POS is not a broad line topic, but must at least be part of a separate department, and therefore always incurs higher costs. We cannot become solutions providers; that is our customers' job. We can, however, continue to push towards being a part of our customers' solution, and contribute as much as possible to achieving this.

18/05/2017

A hardware showroom in center city?

Star Micronics invited us to the grand opening of its store located in the heart of Frankfurt....

Star Micronics invited us to the grand opening of its store located in the heart of Frankfurt. It is a small, quaint store with Star POS printers and POS systems in the display window, and that in the best location.

But, why?

Does Jarltech also need a showroom in the center of Paris, London, or even cooler, Frankfurt? And without selling anything there? Good question. Upon closer inspection, the concept from Star is quite interesting. Not only is Star on-site, but also the software solutions of three previous ISVs. Plus, Star really wants to actively acquire customers in the neighborhood of the shop, and to educate walk-in customers about the solutions of its software provider.

This suddenly makes sense. Apart from the very small increase in "brand awareness" as a hardware vendor, one generates inquiries for his loyal software houses. And also creates a central place for his trainings or for evening celebration invitations for the local shopkeepers.

Apart from this, the showroom is within sight of the Jarltech Networking Dinner, which is always held in the "Mantis" in the heart of Frankfurt, just like last Friday. Yes, the transition is so good that it hurts: in any case, you will find photos and the video of our event from last week on Facebook and YouTube under "Jarltech".

23/02/2017

Value Add

After Jarltech has boomed upwards in 2016 and achieved 18% growth, we are already looking towards the future....

After Jarltech has boomed upwards in 2016 and achieved 18% growth, we are already looking towards the future. One task of a distributor is to reduce the balance of the reseller. We give credit limits, and we store for you. But in times of low interest rates, it is becoming more and more important to look at the bottom line.

We want added value to continue to be well paid in our industry. But not by pushing hardware without a trade margin, so that you ultimately need to hope for sales of service contracts or managed services. It also requires commitment on your part: Do I really have to sell the customer what he already knows and always orders - and which will always be cheaper on the Internet? Or should I invest a few minutes in convincing customers of a device that is not found on every corner?

All of our vendors offer innovative hardware solutions for the most varying sectors. However, we have realized that »standard« is frequently purchased. If we still had scanners that I started with over 20 years ago in stock today - I bet there would still be reorders for them.

But change is coming: what was unthinkable ten years ago has our technical workshops today regularly overbooked. We see that as our partners, you want to sell the latest technology to users, and know that your added value is in expertise. And that is exactly where we find the asset - through real added value. So, stay on the ball!

Looking back shortly to the beginning: many thanks for a successful business year 2016 - to you, to our vendors and to our employees.

22/12/2016

Down with PowerPoint

First of all, I can not completely forbid PowerPoint at Jarltech....

First of all, I can not completely forbid PowerPoint at Jarltech. Numbers for banks, as well as technical diagrams, occasionally find their way to the screen via PowerPoint. But principally, we have a "no PowerPoint" policy.

Some visitors facial features noticeably fall when we say "just forget about PowerPoint and tell us something about your company". Or wouldn't we rather hold the product in our hands"? Good presentations are simply too rare. "Yes, this is from the marketing department, and we will just skip this page, and the next" does not sound like preparation. And, if you do show slides, then please without text. Of course one would like to take a look at the factory of a vendor ... unfortunately right next to it is a box with 20 technical facts about the factory. This data, if interesting, has been comprehended after one second - but of course the presenter starts to read these numbers one at a timebeautifully looking away from the audience, always with his eyes glued to the screen. For you see, he does not know the figures, not even roughly, because they do not interest him either.

Particularly with Asian companies you will notice that the presentations mostly contain the company history starting from 1965, but rarely something about the future. If you talked about it, your conversation would get a better result. And, interposed questions are of course to be avoided, because then the whole spectacle takes even longer.

When we meet new customers or suppliers, we will first provide them with a small book about Jarltech. It has lots of pictures, and everyone can linger on the page that most interests him. Even hand-outs are even better than PowerPoint - so the speaker, if he is not completely ignorant, will at least register that his listeners (or fellow readers) have already turned ahead five pages out of boredom. If I am a salesman - and arent we all - I have to remember what the person sitting across from me really is interested in, and then take that route.

This is how time-wasting occurs, caused by PowerPoint (not only during preparation, but especially among the target audience), which is hard to outdo. Since we usually do not serve alcohol at meetings, one can not often effectively block out the happenings around him. I can not sleep with my eyes open. In addition, I snore, so that would be noticeable.

Why is it that just because you have an appointment somewhere, and therefore have driven for three hours, you must necessarily sit together for at least an hour? If you have a message which only takes fifteen minutes, then everything is fine. Or else you need a new message, or maybe several, but you do not have to get on someone elses nerves. Unfortunately, in the IT industry not many people are really funny, to make such a meeting entertaining.

So please, bring us products, talk about content, show us interesting pictures - but please do not read any text from the wall. We can do that ourselves. Has anyone ever tried that? Just put a slide with text up on the wall, then keep your mouth shut and let the audience read for themselves? That would probably go faster. This degrades the presenter to the status of a fool though, since he now may only press the "next slide" button. Perhaps, however he does not talk until he is blue in the face, and has the strength to speak about what is seen.

A nice function is the display of the page number at the bottom right. If you see "Slide 4 of 274" that gives me a signal to suddenly receive an important call, causing me to then leave the room and actually do something meaningful. Do you know the apps that call you back at the push of a button? So, just a little touch of the hand is enough, and 20 seconds later the phone rings and my dog calls me, or whoever, but of course urgently. Try it out!

Is that rude? Yes, so in the future you should rather have the courage at the beginning to say what you expect from a conversation, and especially what you already know and do not want to hear again. It would be even better to say right with the invitation: Please, no PowerPoint. Not even printed. And in no case an "introductory presentation before the round of talks" - because when I go there, I am already in the mood for a conversation. And, why increase the tiredness of the business partners right at the beginning?

Recently, in a round of managers who have been dealing with barcodes for 20 years, someone actually read three slides explaining what a 2D barcode is and what you might need it for. Why? Because the slides were there from the presentation the previous day. After all, to remain consistent, the meeting cookies were also from the previous day.

17/11/2016

Equipped for the year-end sprint 2016

Perfect timing in the fourth quarter, Jarltech just opened new space for several thousand pallets, as well as an entirely new logistics area, which doubles shipping...

Perfect timing in the fourth quarter, Jarltech just opened new space for several thousand pallets, as well as an entirely new logistics area, which doubles shipping capacity. Our staging department, which by now is running on 24h operation, also received new space.

The next step, which is important for you, is to extend our customer support. Not only will customer support receive 600 square meters of brand new space mid next year (we are still waiting for building approval) we are strongly investing here in service quality. With this we do not only mean the preparation of demo devices and the processing of RMAs, but also concrete support for you during the implementation of your solutions on our hardware no matter if it is Windows or Android. This means a lot of internal schooling sessions are necessary, and also a high specialization of our employees. Even our service app and the RMA software will be further enhanced.

We wish to emphasize that »Value Add« is not just a bullet point in a PowerPoint presentation, but is truly lived and practiced on a daily basis. If you wish to gain further insight into Jarltech, I suggest viewing the videos on our website. There is also a »Jarltech book« about our history and our services one call is all it takes!

That just leaves the hope that there is no sudden onset of winter hailing upon logistics this year as well and that everything runs smoothly!

17/10/2016

From China by train

Until now, we received our goods from China by ship, or sometimes, if we were in a hurry or could just not wait, by plane....

Until now, we received our goods from China by ship, or sometimes, if we were in a hurry or could just not wait, by plane. Now, we are testing the railway connection for the first time. The Christmas presents for our top customers will not be ready in time therefore, shipping by sea would take too long. It's not that air freight is too expensive for our best customers, but the train is just right in this case.

There has been a railway connection for a long time already, but a reliable two-week service even if you don't have a full 40-ft container, that's new. And now that I have told that air freight is not quite worth it and that the gifts are not big enough to fill a container, we could save ourselves the trouble with the Christmas presents. I'm sorry :)

The container will be loaded in beautiful Suzhou, which is not far from Shanghai. To us Europeans, however, it is far but I would like to fly there in November because we are going to participate in the "POS China" trade fair. Unfortunately, Suzhou is the only megacity in China that does not really have an airport. Never mind, China has the best high-speed railway network in the world. Of course, only if you are at the national airport in Shanghai and not from possible destinations when departing from Frankfurt. But I don't want to complain too much.

There is one handy thing though: exactly in this city, Honeywell has its scanner plant, and Elo also has inaugurated a state-of-the-art plant there just last month.

The train's next important stop is Aktogay (which I never heard of) in Kazakhstan. It then continues through Russia Osinki and Moscow. Previously to its transit through Belarus, the container must be loaded onto another train, because of the changing track width. It then continues to reach its last train stop in Malaszewice, Poland. That is to say, the last stop for our presents, as goods destined to Frankfurt are unloaded there and continue their way by truck. The train's final destination is either Duisburg or Hamburg.

The whole trip takes only 14 days, if nothing freezes on the way. My last train ride in Russia was 25 years ago, and yes: I was frozen. On the other hand, ships are becoming ever slower since they seem to be using wind and currents instead of their motors because of the strongly dropping freight prices. Shipping by train is twice as expensive as by ship, but only costs a third of the air shipping.

Even from Wuhan, Changsha and Shenyang, there are railway connections to Germany now. I'm impressed, and we will accordingly buy bigger gifts next year, as well as earlier. And, indeed, when I look at the Christmas stollen that are available in supermarkets again, I must admit, we are a bit late :)

06/10/2016

Our new catalogue and the beauty business

We are proud of our new main catalogue, which you should receive any day now....

We are proud of our new main catalogue, which you should receive any day now. Why, because of the fact that our marketing department entirely produced the 400-page tool - whether it is the product photos, drone photos from the premises, ten thousand texts and, of course, the cover.

As an eye-catcher we look for a new model for each new issue, and take photos. That sounds like pleasure, but it's really hard work. Since our "mascot" is also always seen at Jarltech events over the course of one year, is shown at the exhibition stands in China and, of course, on our website, we also need a model that not only looks good, but also fits Jarltech.

This year we are pleased that we were able to win Laura Franziska for our cover, known from the current season of "Germany's Next Top Model. We have never experienced such a professional model before; instead of working for hours on a single take, everything was an immediate success. Whether it was photos with data capture devices or with me in a Santa Claus suit: the smile is always present.

And believe me, this is not a given. It starts with the "casting", where you sometimes really feel like someone is pulling your leg, if - as known from the TV series - girls appear without a portfolio, show up hours too late, or during the test pictures would rather phone with their new love.

Or you choose someone from an agency database and then the person shows up with their whole family. Oh, and then the lady tells us that she will be 14 in just a few weeks. Of course, such a person would not be suitable at a Jarltech event tapping the keg with me, and giving a speech to our partners. However, as a result of this, I am aware of the fact that very talented make-up artists can dramatically change peoples age, and that one should ask beforehand.

The shooting itself, with our photographers and filmmakers, a make-up artist and various helpers, is rather hectic. And sometimes a picture is planned in the sun, but it is raining dogs and cats. Or my son, wearing a Jarltech football jersey, just does not want to smile when he sits next to Laura Franziska, only next to his mom. :)

Many thanks to Laura and the team for the great results! Quite a few pictures made it into the catalogue, or will be appearing soon. Your personal contact at Jarltech will gladly send you the catalogue if you have not already received it. And there is also a great "Making of" video that you can find on our website or on our YouTube channel. Have fun with it!

09/08/2016

The Teichmüllers on holiday!

Every few days on our Facebook page we are currently publishing holiday pictures of our staff (Please have a look at them! Very worth it!)....

Every few days on our Facebook page we are currently publishing holiday pictures of our staff (Please have a look at them! Very worth it!). And since otherwise nothing much happens in the summer, even I had to go on holiday to have something about which I can get excited.

After I spent a completely useless weekend at Wimbledon (I was not allowed to play), the Eintracht did not take me into the training camp (splinter in the foot) and I did not play table tennis at the Olympics in Rio (I had forgotten to register), I ended up in Mallorca. With my family, whom I really like very much, even though they cannot help it that they have to go on holiday with me. I had booked only three weeks before departure, in the brand new Park Hyatt Hotel on the northeastern part of the island, and for almost "nothing". After all, as compensation for my frequent stays in China I always get plenty of bonus points from the Hyatt Hotel group, and I had to use them.

I learned a lot on this holiday, this time about personnel management. Picture this: an upscale hotel opens, with planned prices similar to those of the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, and with a great concept, but it all goes terribly wrong. The near-highlight was my wife's birthday: on that day we were traveling and I had ordered (in writing) a bottle of champagne and a birthday cake. And because I know where, how and when logistics can go wrong (I know that because at Jarltech logistics never goes wrong), I called as well on that day: "We will be back in an hour, is the champagne there?". Yes, of course.

We arrive at the hotel: no champagne, but a cake! With the inscription: "Happy Birthday Mr. Teichmüller". No, my wife has the same beautiful surname as I, and also does not know anyone named "Teichmüller". There was also a card from the management, reading: "Dear Mr. Meier, we apologize for the problems with your door." Um, we also do not know them, our door is perfectly fine, but hey, at least there were cookies with the card. Maybe this Meier cannot get into his room because of the door problem and will visit us later.

And the best wife of all, in any case marked from her bad milestone birthday (she turned 25 - or at least she looks it), was not happy. My 8-year old son, on the other hand, greatly. He ran with the cake through the hotel complex and asked everyone who was Teichmüller. No such luck. No Teich, no Müller. Only a Meier who might be detained because of door problems, who is probably locked in his room, and does not even get cookies.

Of course, you can be polite and do not have to furiously storm into the hotel lobby, but it was perhaps not helpful that for an hour no one had answered the hotel phone. Not even the "Emergency Hotline". Everyone was too busy labeling cakes I guess. And then you are always treated as if you only wanted to point out an error to "cash in" on an apology. No, I would have just liked to have had a cake and a bottle of champagne, not 500 Hyatt points as compensation. My wife turned XX years old and here: Darling, happy birthday, I have 500 Hyatt points for you!!!

I realize I'm getting upset again, so every one of you who is now thinking, you know, Jarltech sometimes made a wrong delivery, had better keep quiet. :) Or call ol Teichmüller in the complaints department. You should know though, he is often ill those are the consequential damages of having to constantly eat cake.

Interestingly, my wife (probably out of anger over the cake), left the bedroom at three oclock in the morning, and walked through the living room (we will never know the real reason why). If it was not because of the cake, then perhaps her advanced age (Honey, I know you never read my blog, but just in case: I do not write it myself). The room is dark, the only source of light is a red light next to the door, indicating that we have activated the "Do Not Disturb" sign. And at that moment that same red illuminated door opened, and a man came in. My wife said "Hello" - he said "Pardon" - exit. What the heck did he want?

The hotel says: We have no idea what he wanted and who he was." I say: "Sorry guys, we also sell these RFID room door openers, so I know darn well that you can find out within seconds who has opened the door." Aha. What do you know. It was someone who was to make a repair in room 113. (Maybe he needed to change the inscription on a cake. At three in the morning.) Of course, room 113 is not even in the same building as our room. And of course, "Do not Disturb" indicates on the one hand: "The guests are in the bedroom and are sleeping now, so you can safely clean out the living room.. Or it indicates: "You have to repair something here, but the guests are obviously still in the room and are sleeping, so better call the reception desk and ask.. After all, you have to know whether the Teichmüllers are asleep or not. As I now know,"Do Not Disturb" can have multiple meanings. Up to now I had truly underestimated this sentence.

Oh, and before I forget: the weather was beautiful, the food was delicious, we are very relaxed, and you can never relax better than when you know that you are not responsible for the whole mess.

And again: away after dictation, your Teichmüller.

01/06/2016

This was 2015!

In keeping with tradition, I would like to say a few words about last year, after having also given our financial partners the final documents during our annual...

In keeping with tradition, I would like to say a few words about last year, after having also given our financial partners the final documents during our annual results meeting today.

The group turnover increased by 25%, to EUR 173 million, the EBIT to EUR 4.5 million (by 15% after all). Turnover has thus more than doubled since 2011. Both values lie significantly over budget, as usual. :) It is also nice that we could continue to increase our capital; the ratio exceeds 26% and furthermore continuously builds upon itself.

On average we engaged 200 employees in 2015, and we are further expanding, particularly in logistics and sales. In 2015 we processed 153,000 shipments, totaling more than 400,000 packages and pallets. The average order value surpassed the 1,000 euro mark for the first time.

2016 is already marked by continued strong growth. To support this we are executing two new construction measures in 2016, to expand our 24-hour logistics. As a result, several of our departments will be relocated within the premises, in order to make space for approximately 3,000 new pallet spaces.

My thanks goes to all employees, customers and suppliers. We continue to work hard to expand our position!