News
With the FM60...
With the FM60 Cubera AI, Newland is expanding its portfolio with a powerful built-in scanner for kiosks, self-checkouts and industrial applications. Thanks to its combination of modern AI functions and powerful technology, it offers strong barcode recognition and even reads documents and ID cards reliably and quickly. Its features include AI-supported UIMG and +AIBD technologies, a CMOS sensor, high motion tolerance and OCR support. It also boasts a multi-core processor and an IP52-certified housing.
Order the new Newland FM60 Cubera AI now from your sales representative!
Zebra has informed us about an adjustment to the list prices for selected items....
Zebra has informed us about an adjustment to the list prices for selected items. The adjustment includes price increases and decreases of varying amounts depending on the item and will take effect from 5th January 2026.
What the price adjustment means for your order:
- For all orders shipped by 4th January 2026, the old list prices apply.
- For all new orders from 5th January 2026, the new list prices apply.
- Open orders will be recalculated from 5th January 2026 and will receive a new order confirmation.
- All special prices such as deal registrations, demo vouchers, and promotions are subject to the price adjustment from 5th January 2026.
- Price concessions remain valid until their expiry date.
Details on the SKUs and the exact new prices are available upon request from your sales representative. Do you have any questions? We are happy to assist you with our expertise and service – let us know how we can best support you!
Delight your customers with a mega discount on new Zebra products. It's easy with the Zebra Trade-Up Program!...
Delight your customers with a mega discount on new Zebra products. It's easy with the Zebra Trade-Up Program! This allows your customers to exchange their old devices – even those from third-party vendors – for innovative, new Zebra products.
It gets even better:
Combined with the price reduction on powerful label printers like the ZT111, ZT231, ZT620, and ZD220, as well as on many Zebra scanners, you save twice!
Offer your customers more performance and more efficiency at a special price – with the Zebra Trade-Up Program and the new low price on selected Zebra label printers and scanners!
Experience the perfect blend of technology and excitement in Spain!...
Experience the perfect blend of technology and excitement in Spain! Become a Panasonic TOUGHBOOK top seller and secure your chance to win an unforgettable trip to Barcelona for the F1 Grand Prix. Enjoy a journey including flights, hotel, transfers, and an F1 ticket from 12 to 15 June 2026. Don’t miss this opportunity – showcase your sales talent and with a bit of luck you could win a first-class Spanish adventure!*
How it works:
- Convince new customers with projects requiring rugged devices to choose Panasonic TOUGHBOOK products.
- Register your eligible deals through the Panasonic Partner Portal from 1st of December 2025 to 31st of March 2026 and set up a meeting for the Panasonic PAM/KAM in person or virtually with the end customer.
- For every registered eligible deal, you will receive one raffle ticket – the more deals you register, the higher your chances of winning.
- Bonus for participants of the TOUGHBOOK Partner Conference: your first ticket counts double.
Impress your customers with the powerful Panasonic TOUGHBOOK devices and reap the rewards. Don’t miss this opportunity and ask your sales contact for more details – just give us a call!
If you missed the Panasonic webinar about the incentive on 24th November - watch it again here to find out more!
* The organiser of this promotion is Panasonic Connect Europe GmbH (»Panasonic«) and Panasonic’s terms and conditions apply; please refer to Panasonic’s full terms and condition. The promotion is valid from 1st of December 2025 to 31st of March 2026 for resellers in in Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom. ISVs are excluded from participation. New customers are companies that have not conducted business with Panasonic within the last two years. Deals must relate to main devices and include a minimum order quantity of 10 units to be eligible. Registration for the raffle ticket will only be confirmed after participation in the meeting with the Panasonic PAM/KAM. Deal registration must be completed by the reseller through the Panasonic Partner Portal. Winners will be selected by Panasonic via a prize draw within two weeks after the end of the promotion period. Panasonic reserves the right to amend or terminate this promotion at any time without prior notice or explanation.
Discover the new Zebra DS82 series of handheld scanners for POS in retail and hospitality....
Discover the new Zebra DS82 series of handheld scanners for POS in retail and hospitality. The DS8288 offers the freedom of Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity and a long-lasting battery, while the DS8208 provides fast and accurate stationary barcode scanning thanks to its PRZM technology and 2-megapixel sensor. Both scanners are robust, ergonomic and easy to integrate, making them ideal for demanding POS environments and mobile sales areas. Zebra DNA also ensures future-proof performance and easy management.
Order the new Zebra DS8208 and DS8288 handheld scanners now from your sales representative!
Our top categories
Selected products
Why the training of young people is currently being ruined for us
The vocational training system in Germany has long been highly praised worldwide....
The vocational training system in Germany has long been highly praised worldwide. It is based on the idea that trainees join a company after finishing school while also spending a certain amount of time in a vocational school. For decades, this system worked very well for us.
These days, however, we only take on trainees in absolute exceptional cases, because over the years the system has ceased to be a win-win situation for our company. In the past, trainees were essentially given a gateway into working life, but at the same time they were entrusted with real projects and responsibilities by the companies – just like regular employees. A trainee got things done!
For example, we generally took on 90 per cent of our trainees afterwards, which clearly was a win-win situation. We have always paid our trainees more than what the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK), which oversees vocational training in Germany, stipulated. Trainees were genuinely available to the company quite often, and it used to be completely normal for a trainee to attend vocational school only in the morning and work in the company in the afternoon. Today that is unthinkable! Such a thing cannot possibly be expected of an 18-year-old! Practically torture!
And we were successful: for instance, one of our former trainees is now on our executive board, and several others earn six-figure salaries with ease – all of this largely without A-levels or a university degree.
Now everything is different: these days, trainees are to be treated like »royalty« within the company. And it is difficult to explain why a trainee has significantly more rights than an ordinary employee.
Today it feels as though a trainee spends the first six weeks at vocational school learning about their rights and what they absolutely must not do in the company, as well as everything the company is required to do for them. In the past, we were still able to adjust the number of hours in training contracts, and the IHK approved it. The same applied to certain holiday rules. None of this is possible anymore. Of course, under-18s need special protection – but at 18 one is fully legally competent and should be treated as such.
On average, our trainees now have more annual leave than other employees and significantly fewer working hours. On top of that, there are absurd framework training plans that nobody here truly understands. It makes no sense whatsoever that someone training to become a graphic designer must, according to the plan, spend four weeks in the warehouse and then perhaps another four weeks in accounting. Similarly, it is perfectly sufficient for a future salesperson to know what happens in the warehouse and how procedures work there. Naturally, they should take a look and help out briefly – but three days would be enough. And why should an accountant spend four weeks learning in the marketing department?
If you strictly follow this framework plan, a trainee is available to their actual department for maybe eleven to twelve months over the course of three years once holidays are deducted. This must be a joke!
On top of that, everyone complains that young people can no longer add up or write properly. Yet vocational schools include subjects such as PE and ethics, which in my view have absolutely no place there! And then there are school trips whose purpose we also fail to understand.
In the end, one thing is clear: if we are to train young people the way the IHK and the state envision it, then we really ought to send the government an invoice for it. And trainees must understand that training is not about games, fun, and sport, but preparation for working life!
Dear doctors, what exactly is going on with sick notes these days?
The average number of sick days is rising… relentlessly....
The average number of sick days is rising… relentlessly. Soon the amount of sick leave taken by employees will even exceed the statutory minimum holiday entitlement. And yet it was assumed that, because of the extensive working-from-home rules, the number of sick days would actually go down on average. But they aren’t. This leads to an enormous economic burden. And do doctors share some of the responsibility?
First of all, if doctors are all so good, why are people ill so often? And secondly, shouldn’t we perhaps point out to the doctors – typically high earners – what their actual position in the economy is? Here’s the hard truth: doctors generally make no contribution whatsoever to net economic output. Doctors are paid by the collective of health-insurance contributors – a compulsory levy. Even the taxes doctors pay in abundance are, in the end, funded by the same insured community.
So why do doctors harm this very community so often? Because it costs them nothing? I’ve just looked at around 200 sick notes in my company. Why do they always run from Monday to Friday? Wouldn’t Monday to Thursday be enough sometimes? I’ve never seen that happen.
And what I also have never seen are »restricted« sick notes. A doctor can quite easily classify an employee with an injured foot as »unfit to drive«, which would allow the employer to have them work from home or pay for a taxi. Or a doctor could give a recommendation such as: »The employee is suffering from a contagious illness but can easily work five hours a day, should be allowed to sleep in, and must avoid contact with other people.« An employer is bound by such a note – and may or may not still be able to make use of the employee.
But as I said: I have never seen anything like that in 33 years as an employer. Frankly, it’s a scandal – and perhaps it’s time to consider whether employers might, one day, have a claim for damages based on such omissions. I’d be in favour of that!
LinkedIn is great… except for…
Dear friends, I love LinkedIn. It’s the last platform that still manages to give me an interesting news feed....
Dear friends, I love LinkedIn. It’s the last platform that still manages to give me an interesting news feed. And I truly enjoy seeing what my business partners are up to.
But there’s one thing missing: a defence mechanism. I receive around ten connection requests EVERY DAY from coaches, brokers, consultants, and intermediaries. Why on earth? Does the fact that I appear to be a successful business consultant mean that I urgently need a life coach who has fewer than 100 followers?
For weeks, my tagline has read: »Requests from people who only want to sell me something are welcome. By sending me a request, you agree to pay a €500 invoice in exchange for a 10-minute call.«
But no one seems to care. These people just click without even bothering to read my text. It drives me mad. Prospecting without preparation is pointless. Honestly, good leads cost money. I could name ten people right now whom I’d gladly pay €500 for a 10-minute call with, even if I didn't want to sell them anything.
But seriously, how delusional do you have to be to think that a businessman is waiting for your cold request as a part-time life coach or sales trainer?
@LinkedIn: Please fix this! I'll even pay if you let me set a filter that says: »No requests from strangers or from people who don’t share at least ten connections with me.«
Ideally, people with fewer than ten mutual connections who want to sell something should offer something in return. This would make them valuable leads. I’d even pay for that. I'm vain enough to want to be approached with effort, creativity, and individuality, not with a one-click approach.
