2022 year of action, 2023 year of growth
Whereas in 2021 I looked back on a year of change, I now look at 2022 as the year we went full steam ahead to get our growth plans in line with the newly developed soft- and hardware. Proud of our colleagues and with a smile on my face, I review all the steps we have taken.
Ties Schaafsma, januari 2023
Product development
Despite being miles away, colleagues in the R&D team in Italy and Uzbekistan have been so close over the past year. They are at the heart of the overall reform of our product and service - offering. Much attention has gone into developing the new hardware as the basis for our combined Fleet & Asset management solutions, namely the XT4, the AT4 and the RFID tags. This hardware in turn allowed us to develop several software solutions that further streamline our customers' business processes.
Unfortunately, the development of the hardware was not as fast as desired, because we too had to deal with the limited availability of components. Every disadvantage also has its advantage, and for us that was that we were able to test the concept more extensively in the market. As a result, our tags now use a variable transmit interval and have thus been able to create greater transmission power, which determines an asset's position more accurately without compromising on distance and long battery life. The extensive tests with different technologies have also shown that with RFID we achieve by far the greatest distance within which a large number of assets can be automatically picked up simultaneously. Compared to other solutions, it also shows that we can confidently guarantee the long battery life.
In putting together the new hardware, we also chose to anticipate now the sunset of 2G in 2025. By equipping the new XT4s with 4G modems for connectivity, our (new) customers are assured that they will not face a mandatory replacement in a few years' time.
Relocation
In October, our head office moved to Tunerweg in Almere. By now, we are settled in the new premises. Unfortunately, here too we are running into a shortage of materials and construction personnel. The grand café will therefore only be completed in the first quarter of this new year. This grand café will be the beating heart of the office. We want to welcome clients and partners here to work together, share knowledge and inspire each other even more. It fits in with the way we are expanding the organisation, based on the philosophy that clients are central and that we contribute to their success with the entire team.
Nomination "Company of the Year"
This philosophy was also named in the jury report of the Municipality of Almere's Enterprise of the Year election. They also praised our distinctive character in social involvement, our sustainable entrepreneurship and our warm heart for Almere. The winner in me was disappointed that we had not won, but I can see that the nomination is incentive enough.
New customers
I also get that stimulus from the growth in the number of clients we made last year. If the new hardware had come earlier, the growth would have been phenomenal. The number of quotations and pilots now outstanding has never been higher. That bodes well for the new year. Not only with asset management in the Construction, Infra, Green and Government sectors. The Transport sector is also embracing the unique combination we make between Fleet & Asset management. Both nationally and internationally. At our office in Turkey, for example, we see that the combination with asset management is seen by international Transport as a low-threshold means of providing insight into truck and trailer combinations.
2023 stands for growth
So this year will be all about growth for us. The production and delivery of all hardware (with the main challenge being : in-time delivery of the latest components) is fully under control and is now running well. Our roadmap of new additional unique software solutions are also being added to our modular platform. Growth will be further boosted by the collaboration with Techdata starting in January. Together with them, we will serve the reseller market that can use our modular system to serve a wide range of types of users; from basic track & trace to the full Fleet & Asset management suite. Everything in it is possible.
As a result, the team will also grow. We are currently looking for account managers, office and service colleagues, IT consultants and installers. A great challenge for the coming period. We will gladly accept it. With this pride, I wish everyone growth, prosperity and, above all, lots of health for 2023.