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