Bicycle boom and parts shortage

In the Covid era, cycling experienced a huge boom, the warehouses of bicycles and their parts were sold out and even people who were not interested in cycling before pedalled. However, after the various measures were dropped, the warehouses of ordinary bicycles filled up again. At the same time, demand for electric bicycles, which have been in short supply recently, has increased significantly. In addition, some components are missing. The component manufacturer WTB, and its European subsidiary WTB Europe, knows this.

Warehouses are filling up, components are waiting

WTB Europe General Manager Petr Ladman describes the problematic situation on the market for wheels and components: 'When individual wheel brands assemble their products from components from different manufacturers, it is often the case that some components are missing and others have to be stored. They wait for the shortage to arrive. Just-in-time production simply doesn't work. So we have to store our components for the manufacturers for longer than expected and the goods pile up." Their long-time logistics partner Geis has been able to help them with this situation on more than one occasion. They promptly offered to expand their warehouses, and together they adapted all the related processes flexibly.

Moving production from Asia to Pilsen

The desire to produce locally where there is a market, rapid growth, the pursuit of more environmentally friendly processes, economic scale, but also greater independence from China, led WTB to move part of its production right into the heart of Europe. Geis, which transports and stores goods for WTB, has thus allocated part of its space in Ejpovice near Pilsen for a production line that is entirely under WTB's management. Geis employees on site still help to ensure that the rims are finished in a final form suitable for shipment. This is the first joint production partnership for Geis and the first production in Europe for WTB.

Local support

Supporting the local community and working with local suppliers is also important to both companies. For example, WTB uses a nearby firm for materials analysis, even though it is not entirely necessary and could handle these matters centrally. Geis plants trees in the vicinity of the Pilsen office to help restore the surrounding landscape.

Expansion mastered

Mutual cooperation between the companies has been in place for many years. Pavel Křížek, Director of Logistics at Geis, comments on the cooperation: "Inventories are growing not only due to unexpected circumstances, but also due to the overall expansion of WTB. And we are trying to facilitate that growth as much as possible." WTB's Peter Ladman is also satisfied: "Thanks to Geis for being able to react as a company. It was confirmed once again that they treat us as a partner. Nobody expected such growth. It is clear that we are working with professionals."