A good year with successful projects

04-01-2019

2018 has been a good year for KE Fibertec AS, but regrettably we cannot boast our fifth consecutive record result. The 2018 result will be at 2016-2017 level, however, in the light of  this late summer's economic slowdown on a number of key markets, especially the British and a few Asian markets, we are well satisfied.

This spring we completed the company's biggest order ever for an Amazon central warehouse in Frankenthal, Germany. We have supplied and installed nearly 22.5 kilometres of textile ducting without problems and on schedule. This has definitely encouraged us to pursue other similar large-scale orders including installation.

Our expectations for 2019 are mixed. It is hard to estimate the influence of the political instability on many of our key markets. We know from experience that in case of political turbulence in a country new investments in buildings and machinery are often put on hold.

However, new business opportunities will also emerge, and we intend to go straight for them. For several years we have worked strategically on diversifying our subsidiaries to ensure that a turnover is not based on new sales alone. It will be interesting to see if our new strategy will pass the test in 2019. We expect continued growth in turnover, however, on a smaller scale than what we have seen from 2014 to 2018.

New washing and service concept 

On January 1, 2019 we open the doors to our brand new inhouse laundry facility. For many years we have offered  washing and service of our textile ducts, but solely via a sub-contractor. Having an inhouse laundry will enable us to offer several new service packages as requested by our customers.

Right from day one we can offer four different washing concepts that cover everything from "Basic wash" to "All inclusive". We have experienced that our customers' expectations for washing and service vary a lot. Some need thorough documentation of the entire process, whereas others want us to keep spare sets ready for installation when ordered.

However, one thing they all have in common is their trust in KE Fibertec to deliver special gentle washing of their textile ducts guaranteeing clean air and a long remaining life of the systems.

Challenges in ventilation industry 

A major challenge in ventilation industry is still to convince and document to contractors - both public and private - the value of good indoor climate. By now a large number of research results document the negative effects of e.g. high CO2 levels in classrooms.

Many people know that high CO2 levels (>1000 ppm) have a negative impact on children's learning ability and well-being. The latest research results by the Danish Technological University show that children can save nearly a year of their total school attendance with a healthy indoor air quality.

Nevertheless, there is still a large building stock of especially old schools where the indoor climate is downgraded when refurbishing the buildings. Even in new constructions they experience poorly functioning ventilation solutions and much too high CO2 levels and temperatures. As a society that is not good enough.

For the next election year we therefore urgently request the politicians to show the courage to upgrade indoor climate in our schools and kindergartens and set aside sufficient resources and money to specifically solve this problem.