JETI Model: Number One in the World of Modelling Electronics (2. strana)

REGION–PŘÍBOR Dear director, please tell us how you came up with the idea for your business? Since childhood, I was an active modelist and in high school I became interested in electronics. Unfortunately, during my youth it was a big problem to buy anything related to this hobby, so I had to build the receivers and transmitters for the remote controls of the models myself. In 1993, I started a business with my former classmate from university, Ing. Juraj Tinka, in the field of modelling electronics. At that point, the now well-known company name JETI model was created (JElen and TInka, editorial note). What activities does your company do? Many people think that we focus on plane models, but this is not true. We produce around 150 products of modelling electronics, all of them our own realization from design through to the final product. Our offers include transmitters, receivers, telemetry sensors, voltage stabilizers, small modelling electric motors and additional modelling goods. We focus on the quality of materials--our transmitters are made completely from metal, which makes them almost indestructible. How much has the field of electronics changed since you started your business? We started with small regulators for direct current; the first one was called JES10. Then we started making regulators for alternating current. Today, all transmitters for remote control work in the bandwidth of 2.4 GHz. We are the only ones in the world to produce transmitters with two transmission frequencies--2.4 GHz and 900 MHz. This system contributes to greater safety in the model control. Modelists from all over the world long for your products today. Yes, our company was very lucky. In the first years of existence, participation at model trade fairs in Prague was very helpful for us. Businessmen from all over the world came to these events. Thanks to that, we got our first contacts from abroad. The second great advantage was the fact that, in the beginning of the 90s, there wasn’t the competition of cheap Chinese products, which is very strong today. Today, you can find our products in every modelling airport and in thousands of modelling households as well, and all of this thanks to almost thirty years of dutiful work of our employees. To which countries do you deliver your products? Sixty percent of our production travels to Germany. It is an important market for us and our products are considered to be high-quality and very reliable there. JETI model s.r.o. products are bought by people in the USA, Austria, France, Switzerland, Italy, England, Benelux, Japan, Taiwan, Greece, Turkey and even in the Republic of South Africa. We have business partners in forty countries around the world. Was your business affected by the COVID-19 situation? Yes, very much. It is a paradox that the coronavirus rather moved us forward; we expect record sales for this year. It is because people are spending more time at home and therefore modelists have more time for their hobby. What influence do you have as an employer in the town of Příbor? JETI employs mostly only residents of Příbor; the town is quite small and there is no industrial area. Also, the company keeps growing, so we will have our say in the future, as well. What does JETI model mean to you personally? First of all, it is an important period of my life and it is very dear to my heart. The huge demand for our products makes me very happy. We are among the world’s leaders in the modelling industry. What more could I wish for? What place in the Moravian-Silesian region do you consider to be the most interesting? I personally like the Dlouhé stráně Hydro Power Plant the most. It is something fascinating and technically unbelievable. The Dolní Vítkovice Area and Bolt Tower, from which you can see the whole of Ostrava, are also interesting places. Of course, we have many more beautiful places here--the closest being Hukvaldy Castle. Thank you very much for the interview. POSITIV 4/2020 ǀ 93