Why the training of young people is currently being ruined for us
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!
Why do we operate a 3,000 m² Event & Training Centre with a showroom in the middle of nowhere?
First of all: what are you thinking? Usingen is, of course, not in the middle of nowhere – it’s less than 30 minutes by car from Frankfurt Airport....
First of all: what are you thinking? Usingen is, of course, not in the middle of nowhere – it’s less than 30 minutes by car from Frankfurt Airport. And yes, the Usingen railway station is right next door. More importantly, our Event & Training Centre is located almost directly beside the Jarltech campus.
So why do we do it? We do it for you – our partners! Our two-story Showroom, the largest permanent exhibition in our industry, is constantly in use:
- by partners who present hardware and their own solutions to end customers
- by new employees of partners whom we train on the products
- by vendors who hold their sales meetings with us and like to have a look at – and even try out – competitors’ products
- by vendors who present their latest products
On top of that, we host numerous events in our Jarltech Event & Training Centre where partners invite their end customers… large presentations on the 25 m² video wall, dinners with up to 800 guests (standing) or 250 (seated) at round tables, buffets or relaxed gatherings in our beer garden, bar and lounge. For meetings, there are also eight meeting rooms available for breakout sessions.
And, to be honest, we shouldn’t forget that we also use it ourselves – for training sessions as well as for celebrations. From the Jarltech Summer Party to the Christmas Market, networking dinners or our after-work events. We’ve had just about everything in the hall already: from a go-kart track to tightrope walkers to whisky tastings. And one regular guest every year: me, as Father Christmas.
So, you see – yet another value add from Jarltech that helps drive your business forward. By the way, the Showroom is also available virtually on our website. See you soon in Usingen! And be sure to think about how your company can profit from our investment.
Distribution Mechanics: Reservation Costs and Inventory Pre-Financing
For large purchase volumes, our vendors generally grant special prices, known as »project prices«....
For large purchase volumes, our vendors generally grant special prices, known as »project prices«. When we receive a project order from one of our resellers, we typically reserve the available stock until the agreed delivery date and order any missing goods from the vendor.
What »some« may not realise – and what »others« might consider commercially absurd – is this: we always purchase the goods from the vendor at the same price, namely the standard distribution purchase price. If, for example, our purchase price for a printer is €100 but the project price is only €50, we actually sell the product at €50 below our own purchase price.
Naturally, once the project has been delivered, the vendor reimburses us the €50 difference. So far, it’s fair.
However, if the delivery stretches over several months, we finance the full €100 value in the meantime. While the system integrator has sold 10,000 printers for €500,000, we are carrying inventory in our warehouse worth €1 million – because we have paid for it upfront.
That explains why distributors always push for projects to be delivered as planned and not postponed 20 times by the end customer – because that is very expensive. With the typically slim distribution margins (yes, here comes the usual complaining), financing costs can easily »eat up« the entire margin within just a few weeks.
With our resellers, this is rarely an issue: they generally only place orders with us once they have received a firm order from the end customer.
It becomes amusing – and particularly costly – when a vendor says: »This project is definitely coming the week after next. Unfortunately, the end of the quarter falls in between, and we need to place the goods into your warehouse tomorrow – so please hold them for now.«
In the best-case scenario, it works out. In the worst case, the reseller is not even aware of the project yet, and the end customer has not fully committed to the vendor. We have seen it all before. So at Jarltech, we have become somewhat more cautious in such situations. Of course, it is part of our job to anticipate deals from time to time – but buying »hot air« indefinitely is not a sound strategy either.
So please have understanding if our sales or purchasing teams occasionally ask a few more detailed questions about the actual status of a project. Because remember: pure »hope« can be expensive.
Safety gone mad: Health & safety thinks we’re all half-wits!
…or at least incapable of surviving on our own....
…or at least incapable of surviving on our own. Health and safety is important, no question. Safety comes first. But there is such a thing as taking it too far.
Here’s the showstopper right at the beginning:
Our colleagues in the purchasing department are now required to wear safety goggles (eye protection) when leaving their desks. Reason: There are plants in the department with sharp-edged leaves. (Pause.) Seriously?! Yes, seriously. That’s pure slapstick.
Another good one: Our facilities team has just cleared snow. But careful! Cones must be placed around the area where the shovelling is taking place. Someone might otherwise walk into the moving shovel. Quite honestly, anyone not looking where they’re going could just as easily trip over a cone.
And in the kitchen, washing-up liquid has to be locked away. Dishwasher tablets? May only be used by people who have received proper instruction. So yes, that means training for dishwasher tablets.
Desks tend to have corners. Highly dangerous! Therefore, every corner must be fitted with rubber protectors.
Are we in nursery school?
Is it even worth getting worked up about it anymore?
At least that was all within the company. In our private lives, on a construction site, work was immediately halted. Reason: Outside temperature below five degrees Celsius, and the portable toilet wasn’t heated … In a comfort-obsessed country I can almost understand that. I hadn’t even thought about it because I didn’t know heated ones existed. I had it replaced. But do you really have to stop construction over something like that?
I fear the health and safety brigade will soon be paying a visit to our restaurant as well. Without chainmail gloves, handling knives will probably be banned. For guests too, since steak knives are clearly instruments of the devil.
Enough on that subject. I’m going home now, hoping I don’t trip over the dog. He’s stubbornly refusing to wear a high-visibility safety vest.
(Not satire.)
Distribution Mechanism: Price Protection
We are currently in a phase where manufacturers are significantly increasing their prices....
We are currently in a phase where manufacturers are significantly increasing their prices. And not just once – we expect prices to rise several more times this year. They may then fall.
It has reached the point where some manufacturers only calculate once an order has been placed and then state the price at which they will accept it – the price is then valid for one day. This is somewhat reminiscent of the coronavirus period. However, there is no alternative – we must persevere. The change is clearly most significant for relevant end customers who plan rollouts of thousands of devices over months and want planning security. That is no longer possible – ordering and accepting delivery is the only solution for price security.
Of course, this often leads to the question: »You still have devices in stock that you bought at the old price. We want to get them at a discount too.« – and that is a false conclusion.
In distribution, there is a mechanism called »Price Protection«. This is supposed to protect us from price reductions: If a manufacturer lowers the price, we receive a refund for any items already in stock. »Unfortunately«, it also works the other way around: If a manufacturer increases its prices, we must pay the manufacturer extra for goods in stock. This could result in a bill amounting to several million. So, as you see, we don't have any »cheap, old goods«. Due to frequent price changes, it is also possible for a particular device in our inventory to be repriced several times. While this is a minor nightmare for our inventory management, it is ultimately fair and the only solution.