News

The Executive Board and management of the Haberkorn Group, E/D/E GmbH and EDE International AG met in Wolfurt, Austria, for this year’s management meeting in the summer of this year. They discussed the economic developments and strategic priorities of the partners to date and, in particular, the expansion of the long-term strategic partnership.

There was agreement on all sides to continue to utilise the potential of the cooperation in the future and to further expand the joint business. Annegret Franzen (Managing Director of EDE International AG) expressed her enthusiasm: “The cooperation with Haberkorn has developed extremely successfully in recent years, both in the warehousing business and in centralised payment. In addition, we maintain very close contact in Austria, Germany and Eastern Europe and the personal relationships with the entire management are based on partnership and trust. Both the Haberkorn Group and the E/D/E Group recognise the potential in working together and the many parallels in the strategic fields.  In this respect, we are very pleased that this agreement will further consolidate and expand our strategic cooperation in the long term.”

The Austrian family-owned company Haberkorn was founded in 1932 and today, with more than 2,300 employees and over 30 locations, is one of Europe’s leading technical dealers thanks to its exponential growth.

For further info: www.haberkorn.com

Great honour for our parent company, Einkaufsbüro Deutscher Eisenhändler GmbH. Alongside 13 regional companies, E/D/E was honoured with the ÖKOPROFIT award for resource-conserving management at a special ceremony in the Remscheid Tool Museum at the end of October.

Jennifer Träptau, E/D/E’s sustainability responsible, happily accepted the certification together with other company representatives: “The pride of the participating companies in having made their contribution to ecological sustainability, which in turn contributes to strengthening the regional economic sector, was clearly noticeable at the event.” He continued: “We are delighted to have received the certification and it encourages us to keep at it and to identify and realise further energy-saving potential.” E/D/E decided to take part in the certification process as one step in its overall sustainability strategy.

ÖKOPROFIT is a programme funded by the Ministry of the Environment, Agriculture, Nature Conservation and Consumer Protection. The aim of the programme is to strengthen companies’ economic and ecological sustainability. The focus is on reducing companies’ energy consumption and waste volumes and increasing their material efficiency.

As a prerequisite for ÖKOPROFIT certification, data from the past three years was first recorded and analysed at E/D/E: electricity, gas and water consumption as well as waste and fuel quantities. As a result, 33 measures for ecological management were identified during the project phase. Subsequently, at the suggestion of ÖKOPROFIT, energy consumption was reduced by around 400,000 kWh through various measures.

What happens after certification? E/D/E will continue to participate in the so-called ÖKOPROFIT Club after the project phase. The experiences can then also be fed into the EDE network to share our sustainability knowledge with all partners at home and abroad.

Congratulations and keep up the positive work on sustainability!

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Haberkorn Fairtool in Hungary, the company organised a customer meeting in mid-September. “To mark the special occasion, we invited our most loyal partners to an exclusive location, the Eiffel Art Studio in Budapest. We supplied the tools required for the workshop here two years ago as part of a tender,” explains Managing Director Lajos Göndör.

A total of 186 guests and 26 supplier partners celebrated with Hungary’s largest tool and industrial safety retailer. “At the event, our customers had the opportunity to find out about the latest developments directly from our most important suppliers and learn more about the possibilities of our dispensing machines,” says Enikő Molnár, Head of Purchasing at Haberkorn Fairtool. In addition to specialist presentations

the programme was complemented by a guest speaker who spoke on the topic of artificial intelligence and its effects.

EDE International also had a stand at the event, where visitors were able to find out more about the FORUM brand. “We congratulate the management on 30 successful years and wish them many more to come,” says Martin Ochelski, Sales Manager Austria, Switzerland, Eastern Europe and Italy at EDE International.

We would like to join in congratulating Fairtool Haberkorn on its special anniversary!

Further information on https://www.haberkorn.hu/

For the third time in a row, the renowned rating agency GBB-Rating has awarded ETRIS BANK the credit rating “A+ stable”, thus reconfirming both the rating result and the stable outlook of previous years.

GBB-Rating, a subsidiary of the Auditing Association of German Banks, is an independent rating agency recognised by ESMA (European Securities and Markets Authority) throughout Europe with a focus on the private banking sector. “The once again positive result underlines the solid positioning and the strategic course taken by the bank, even in economically turbulent times,” Uwe Müller, Chairman of the Management Board of ETRIS BANK, which belongs to the E/D/E Group, is pleased to say.

ETRIS BANK was founded in 2011 as a 100% subsidiary of the E/D/E Group in Wuppertal. Together with E/D/E GmbH in Wuppertal and EDE International AG, it offers European members, cooperation partners and the joint venture Delcredit España, numerous financial services such as central payment and factoring.

EDE International congratulates its “sister” from Wuppertal on the repeated best rating and looks forward to further cooperation and new joint projects in the international business environment.

More information on all ETRIS BANK financial services at:  www.etrisbank.de/en/

Employees of EDE International, their families and friends around the E/D/E site in Wuppertal, were granted a long-held wish on 18.8.23. Finally, family members and interested friends were given the opportunity to get to know the workplace at the Wuppertal site and gain an insight into the E/D/E working world.

Around 110 curious and knowledge-hungry guests found their way to E/D/E in bright sunshine. In high spirits, an extensive information programme was offered: guided tours through the logistics, lectures on the history and current development of the E/D/E Group and tours of the E/D/E-building. During a knowledge rally, the participants were able to use what they had learned and ” snatch” small prizes. Mia Grbesa (four years old), daughter of Vanessa Grbesa (Central Services Europe), was delighted to receive a so-called “Wimmelbuch” – a child-friendly picture book about Wuppertal.

The physical well-being of the guests, both young and grown-up, was catered for – quite traditionally – with bratwurst and cold drinks, and there was also time for conversation and informal exchange among each other.

The organisation team at EDE International, together with the colleagues from E/D/E’s Facility Management, had been planning the day for many weeks. The fact that the weather remained so sunny and dry by Wuppertal standards as a reward was, according to Annegret Franzen (CEO EDE International), a “special highlight.” She was very happy about the many visitors and promised an exciting insight into the world of the E/D/E.

In addition to the primary goal of getting to know the workplace of one’s father, aunt, child or friend and celebrating a pleasant and informative party together, the aim was also to present E/D/E and EDE International as an employer and training company.

Isabelle Saurwein (HR Business Partner E/D/E GmbH) was busy promoting the event: “Together with EDE International, E/D/E offers all people around Wuppertal and the surrounding area a unique opportunity to actively participate in an international working environment. The versatility of an apprenticeship or a job in a European network with international members, cooperation partners and suppliers in the different areas of a company is really special!”

Thierry (five years old), son of Thanusha Pajdzik (Project Management International Data and Catalogue Projects), found the right words at the end: ” So cool! Finally, I could see where mum works on the catalogues.”

Interesting information on the numerous apprenticeships and vacant positions in the E/D/E Group can be found at: https://karriere.ede.de

The Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG) has been in force in Germany since 2023. The law obliges companies with at least 3,000 employees (from 2024: 1,000 employees) to assume their corporate responsibility for the observance of human rights in global supply chains.

To ensure compliance with the Supply Chain Sourcing Obligations Act (“Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz” – LkSG), E/D/E has been working with the service provider Prewave since 1 April 2023. Prewave is a supply chain due diligence law expert with a focus on Europe and a proven solution – from risk analysis to reporting to BAFA. With a mission to make supply chains transparent, Prewave uses publicly available data from local news, social media and other databases to uncover supply chains and identify risks. The AI-based software solution of the innovative Viennese provider uses machine learning and detects risks in the supply chain. It evaluates information in over 100 languages.

Cooperation with perspective for Europe

This is precisely why Prewave’s service is of great interest to EDE International. Annegret Franzen (CEO EDE International): “In this case, the German legislator has taken on a pioneering role with the introduction of the LkSG. But the topic is already receiving attention in other EU countries through various regulations. For example, the ‘Child Labour Due Diligence’ applies in the Netherlands and the ‘Loi de vigilance’ in France. The advantage of our cooperation with Prewave is clearly that we can offer our European members, cooperation partners and suppliers a strong, simple and effective solution for complying with their corporate responsibility with regard to human rights in the supply chain – even to all companies that are not yet obliged to comply with the German LkSG. This is already very important to many of our European members, cooperation partners and suppliers.”

Experts assume that the EU will not only adopt this regulation but could probably even tighten it. Prewave already offers – in addition to the LkSG – other European areas of law and, based on the current legal situation, is also constantly developing in view of future developments – the focus here is on the EU, not just Germany.

EDE International will gradually introduce the exclusive Prewave service offer to European members, partners and suppliers. If you would like to receive information now, please get in touch with your contact person at EDE International.

You will find more information here: www.prewave.com

More than 220 participants met in the heart of Poland on 15 and 16 June for this year’s FORMATplus Dealer Marketplace. Besides the Polish members and the staff of EDE International and E/D/E, more than 30 suppliers found their way to a prestigious industrial location, the old cotton factory in Pabianice.

As is well known, the B2B world is “upside down” at the EDE Marketplaces and so 150 people from the dealer group, were able to welcome around 30 suppliers to their stands. In addition to the member stands, there were also information stands with updates on the E/D/E trade brands (and sales concepts) FORMAT, Fortis and E-Coll.

The event began with an evening event with a supporting programme, where all participants could “warm up” old business contacts as well as make new contacts in a relaxed atmosphere. A creative show concluded the event with an invitation to join in. Many participants responded to this invitation and enjoyed the entertaining evening.

The highlight was the second day with the marketplace itself, where the focus was on the effective and professional exchange about market trends and especially product innovations of the numerous market participants in the usual professional manner. 

In the end, the conclusion was consistently positive: the marketplace on site and especially the personal exchange was very well received by the participants. The FORMAT members particularly emphasised the professional appearance of the contract suppliers throughout, including the wide-ranging product presentations.

In conclusion, Mirosław Stefański von Centrala techniczna STEM expressed his satisfaction: “All in all, a great event!”

See you in Poland again in 2 years.

The success story of the French family business LUQUOT INDUSTRIE SAS, based in Morez, began back in the 1940s, when the great-grandfather of the current CEO, François Luquot, founded the company in the post-war period. Initially active in the local eyewear industry, the company then gradually expanded into neighbouring areas, consistently expanding its ranges and services and is now active throughout the Jura and beyond.

Luquot Industrie has been a member of E/D/E since the end of 2002, is an active partner in the FORMATplus sales concept and has been selling all products from the French industrial supplies catalogue for several years. Today, Luquot Industrie works almost exclusively with professional industrial customers in the field of cutting and advises and supports them professionally and individually through technically experienced sales staff.

Luquot Industrie not only attaches importance to professionalism and customer proximity but has also recently focused on the topic of digitalisation. Thanks to the recently launched online shop, Luquot Industrie not only hopes to acquire new customers, but above all to serve existing customers better and more professionally. “We know very well that our key accounts in particular definitely want to be able to place their orders via an online shop. We wanted to offer this important service to increase customer loyalty. And it’s a question of image, a question of the future, because we know very well today that it’s essential to have a high-performance website,” says François Luquot. Not least because of this new web shop, in which the complete FORMATplus catalogue is integrated, among other things, the company is gradually moving towards supplying the professional end clients of its industrial customers directly with all assortments from the eLC (electronic Logistic Center) in Wuppertal in 24/48 hours.

François Luquot adds: “With a family business like Luquot, with such a small structure as we have, to create a website like this, that’s pretty strong. I’m really proud of that!”

We at EDE International can only fully agree with this statement and congratulate the company on its modern new website.

For further info https://commande.luquot.com/

“Ireland is always worth a visit, and our first Irish member Goodwins in Lucan/Adamstown is certainly a good place to be!” said Freek Dekkers, EDE International Sales Director North Europe-Benelux. He and Monika Ko Ko Win, Internal Support Northern Europe, were amazed when they were presented with the first Fortis Green Rack developed in-house.

Goodwins Lucan Ltd. was founded in 1978 by Billy Goodwin and has been run by the second generation since 1997, when son Jonathan took over. Since then, the specialist for quality hardware and building supplies for specialist trades and DIY customers has developed steadily. In addition to quality, Goodwin’s places particular emphasis on competitive prices, high stock availability and accuracy in serving its customers. The product range is wide and includes hardware, building, fixing, tools, timber and other assortments. All products from the two cash and carry locations in Lucan and Mulhuddart are visible on the company’s website, including information on prices and real-time stock levels.

Goodwins has been a member of E/D/E since 2022 and benefits from access to new European suppliers and products and especially from the implementation of the Fortis Green concept.

Managing director and owner Jonathan Goodwin and Ciaran France, the company’s purchasing manager, are equally committed to sustainability as a family business. Through a recently installed photovoltaic system, the use of electric forklifts and the introduction of electronic product labelling, Goodwins saves on materials and emissions, helping to reduce its own environmental footprint. You can find more information about the company, product ranges and much more at https://www.goodwins.ie/