Category: Company

July – RUGGED Part 1

Just in time for the hot summer, we have welcomed a new system to our range that can easily withstand these temperatures. Since July, our RUGGED Q470E has enriched our product portfolio with its Intel® Core® i5-10500TE processor, numerous expansion options and many different application areas. Thanks to the extended temperature range and two DisplayPort 1.2, the Mini-PC can also be used in the outdoor digital signage sector. The RUGGED also feels right at home in vehicles and is supported by a wide range power input (from 9V to 60V) and numerous extensions such as WiFi, a 4G or 5G module or a PoE module.  

 

Discover the RUGGED range 

 

 

August – RUGGED around the world

In August, we stuck with the RUGGED theme and our RUGGED Tab 10 saw the light of day in the spo-comm world. The tablet opens up a whole new product range, but will soon have more company, that much we can reveal. With its Intel® Celeron N5100 CPU, 8GB RAM, a 128GB SSD and the robust housing with passive cooling, the tablet is ideal for applications in industry, logistics or even use in vehicles or in retail.  

In August, we not only added the RUGGED Tab to our portfolio, but also the BOX J6412. Words such as “energy-saving”, “fanless” and “compact” characterize the Mini-PC with powerful Intel® Celeron J6412 processor and passive cooling. With the ability to operate two screens simultaneously at a resolution of 4096×2160 @ 60Hz, the BOX J6412 is ideal for digital signage applications. The BOX has a COM RS-232 port, four USB 3.2 Gen2x1 and two Gigabit LAN interfaces.  

 

 

Internal updates in September

There have been a few changes in our sales team for the new month. Erwin, who previously worked in the service team, has now moved to our sales department. The current sales team now consists of Chris, Erwin and Kim – we listed how the three of them joined us and how their careers are defined in one of our last blog articles. In addition, our trainee Patricia in the marketing team successfully passed her intermediate examination in September.  

 

Get to know our sales department 

 

In the third quarter, we underwent a number of changes within the company and successfully launched three new products. There was a lot of exciting news again in the last quarter due to travel and trade fairs, and the spo-comm Christmas party is just around the corner.

We will be on vacation from 25.12.2023 to 05.01.2024 and will be back for you from 08 January.

April weather with sunny prospects

Windows 10 Pro was removed from our product portfolio in April of this year. However, the space in our software selection did not remain empty and was replaced by the newer version – Windows 11 Pro. We explain more about the different Windows versions and how they differ in this blog post.

May – time for excursions and certifications

In May, things continued to go well and we once again successfully passed the ISO certification, which ensures that a company complies with certain quality standards.

This season we are very proud to be the official sponsor of High-Octane Motorsports e.V. . To mark the occasion, our two trainees Patricia and Maxim took part in this year’s rollout of the Octanes. Many of our student assistants in production are part of this team and were delighted to welcome us on this day. It was an honor for us to watch them present their FAUmax PI – which, by the way, features a KUMO VI that supports autonomous driving in the vehicle.

In May, however, our product portfolio was also reduced by one of our vehicle PCs – the RUGGED GTX 1050 Ti was EOL.

More about the Octanes

June – Team Day at spo-comm

Once again this year, we organized a team day at spo-comm, where the individual teams were able to exchange ideas and catch up on the latest developments. The short presentations in the morning showed the progress and successes of the current projects. After this exchange, the afternoon began with delicious food from the barbecue.

The BOX N4100 has left our product portfolio, but its place will not remain vacant. The new BOX N6211 was already in the pipeline and was waiting for its big appearance at the end of June. The energy-saving mini PC in a minimalist design is equipped with an Intel® Celeron® N6211 processor and numerous connections. It is perfect for 4K digital signage applications and all this in a housing measuring just 115 x 76 x 27 mm.

Discover the BOX N6211

With the team day, the visit to the Octanes and the ISO certification, the focus during these three months was more on internal topics. A number of new products are already in the starting blocks for the third quarter and are waiting to make their grand entrance.

January – a productive start to the year

We launched a new product at the beginning of the year – the KUMO VI  saw the light of day and has enriched our product catalog at   ever since. With an RTX 3060 GPU, 3840 CUDA cores and the Intel® Core i5-11400H processor, our digital signage professional is the perfect companion for all areas of application, such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence, machine learning and many more.

 

February – farewell NOVA Q170

While we were saying goodbye to the NOVA Q170, we were working at full speed internally on new highlights. Since we optimized our product launch process last year, we have been able to introduce new products even more efficiently and in a more customer-oriented manner.

 

March – WINDBOX, WINDBOX, WINDBOX

In March, we said goodbye to another of our Mini PCs – the WINDBOX III Evo went EOL. However, we in the spo-comm team were prepared and   so the WINDBOX III Ultra  was already in the starting blocks. Apart from a few visual changes, nothing has changed for our customers, but the successor scores points with its better performance. Our WINDBOX III Ultra now features a spo-comm logo and is equipped with a 12th generation Intel® Core i5 processor and a total of four video outputs.

In the last month of this quarter, the aquisa E-Commerce Week also took place again, in which our two marketing employees Chiara and Patricia took part with interest and a thirst for knowledge, as they did last year.

 

The first quarter was filled with new products for us, so we had less time for internal issues, but the second quarter was a different story. Our trainees went on a little trip and it was finally time for another spo-comm team day!

 

Discover the KUMO VI

Discover the WINDBOX III Ultra

Key Account Manager Christopher Adam

Chris has been part of the spo-comm family for over 2 years. He joined us as a lateral entrant from the sheet metal industry and has since strengthened our sales team as Key Account Manager. We conducted an in-depth interview with Chris back then, which you can find here.

Network with Chris on LinkedIn

Sales & Product Management: Kim Seliverstov

Another member of our sales team is Kim. She started her training as an IT systems management assistant at spo-comm in 2020 and successfully completed it. In addition to her work in sales, she also supports our product management.  

Network with Kim on LinkedIn

 

From technology to sales: Erwin Seliverstov

Erwin is our new, old employee and colleague, so to speak. He completed his training as an IT systems electronics technician in 2017 and has been part of our support team ever since. He has now seized the opportunity and decided to take on the vacant position in our sales department.  

Network with Erwin on LinkedIn

 

Our sales team – consisting of Chris, Kim and Erwin – is there to support our customers and interested parties in all matters relating to our mini PCs, projects and everything that goes with them. You can reach us by phone or e-mail, or you can also write to us via our online contact form or via the corresponding LinkedIn profiles.

Company goals, new photos and barbecue party

Last Thursday, three things were on the agenda for the team event: our day at the spo-comm headquarters began with our various departments presenting to the others what is currently on their agenda. From website topics and product management projects to the conversion of our warehouse: it was very interesting for all of us.

Naturally, we in Marketing seized the opportunity and grabbed all our colleagues to update the photos on our website. We will let you know as soon as the photos are online!

Afterwards – in good old spo-comm style – there was of course a barbecue. During this “unofficial” part of the day, we were also visited by a few families and kids from our team. While they played in the mini pool, we were all able to enjoy the food, the weather and simply being together.

We look forward to more events like this in the future 🙂

You can find out more about our company events on LinkedIn:

spo-com on LinkedIn

2022 or: The year of challenges

Marketing: Hello you two and thank you for taking the time for our little interview again this year. To start with: Can you both summarize the year 2022 in 2-3 words or sentences?  

Michael Sporrer: In a nutshell: very challenging and yet successful. For me, it was the most challenging year in 20 years. Major topics were the shortage of components and the resulting difficulties with our supply chains, coupled with constant price increases. Thanks to our good planning and warehousing, we were able to reduce delivery times to a minimum, giving us enormous advantages over some of our competitors. The focus was very often on these topics. Internally, we have optimized many processes and procedures in order to be even more targeted and faster in meeting the needs of our customers  

Bernd Moosmüller: I would give the year 2022 the headline “Moving into new dimensions”. Our manpower has increased and we have supported many challenging projects. We have overcome many hurdles and tried to control external influences. All in all, I can only agree with Michael: In this year of transformation, we have grown a lot from the challenges.

Reunion with partners

Marketing: Thank you very much for your detailed insights. One more question about last year. What was the highlight for you?

Bernd Moosmüller: For me, it was that we could finally see our partners again. Live and not via a video conference. In fall 2022, we had a visit from MSI IPC at our headquarters after the pandemic break. The icing on the cake: We received the MSI IPC Award again this year.

Michael Sporrer: (reflecting) The whole year was a highlight. We have acquired great, long-term customers and have grown professionally and personally on many projects. It is particularly noteworthy that we were able to close the year very well despite many uncertainties and are looking ahead to 2023 with great optimism.

New products, product updates and consulting services

Marketing: What’s on the agenda for next year? What can our customers look forward to in 2023?

Michael Sporrer: There are definitely some exciting new products and product categories in the pipeline. Among other things, the MSI portfolio will receive updates and the RUGGED series will also see some action.

The RUGGED series

Bernd Moosmüller: In addition to the new products, we are already working on expanding our consulting services. We want our customers and interested parties to be able to get in touch with us more easily, for example when it comes to projects that require intensive consultation. There will be more information on this very soon.

Favorite PCs from Bernd and Michael

Marketing: That sounds very exciting, we’re looking forward to it. Speaking of products: What are your favorite PCs from the spo-comm range as of early 2023?

Michael Sporrer: Last year it was the KUMO V for me. Now it is definitely its successor model, the KUMO VI. The PC is simply not an off-the-shelf product, that’s what makes spo-comm special.  

Bernd Moosmüller: Still the WINDBOX II Pro.

On December 16, we were finally able to hold our annual Christmas party again. This time it was not at the spo-comm headquarters, but at Cucina Italiana in the heart of Nuremberg’s old town. Afterwards, we rounded off the evening with mulled wine at Café Rizzo.

We would like to thank everyone who attended and are already looking forward to the next Christmas party.

If you have already found your Mini-PC, then simply contact us!

Get in touch with us 

 

Please note: Due to our inventory, the last possible delivery date is 21.12.2022.

Until then, we wish you all a Merry Christmas, relaxing days and a Happy New Year.

We would like to thank our partners and customers as well as the entire team for their trust and cooperation. We look forward to spending another year with you and are already excited about all the projects and innovations that await us in 2023!

Marketing: Hello Patricia & congratulations on one year at spo-comm! How did you feel during this time?

Hello and thank you! Time has passed so quickly, so much has happened and changed, it feels like I’ve only just started here.  

On the whole, I was and am doing great at spo-comm! I get on really well with my colleagues, I can laugh a lot but also talk about serious topics and ask a lot of questions 🙂 I was welcomed with open arms right from the start – for which I am super grateful.  I’ve already learned so much for being fresh out of school and not yet familiar with working life, and I’m looking forward to broadening my horizons even more very soon.  

 

Marketing: You started with us as a student & now your apprenticeship starts in September. Why don’t you tell us a bit more about it?

With pleasure. I started a dual study program last year in October, after I had been doing an internship here at the company since August. At the beginning, I put my heart and soul into it, but at the end of January 2022, after a lot of thinking back and forth, I decided that studying was simply not the right path for me personally. 

After discussions with Michael and Bernd, who were both very understanding, it was clear that I – like Chiara – wanted to train as a marketing communications specialist at spo-comm. Despite failing my studies, I am very happy to have received so much understanding, encouragement and help from my colleagues. This is not a matter of course and has shown me: Everyone goes their own way and mine is definitely that of an apprenticeship!  

At the end of September, I’ll be at vocational school for the first time for two weeks and I’m already excited to see what impressions I’ll get there.  

 

Marketing: Of course we wish you all the best and look forward to working with you in the future ?  

P.S. Has your choice of favorite spo-comm PC changed?

No way! So far, the CORE 2 is and remains my personal number 1. As a computer at my workplace, it does an excellent job and I also like its design – clean but still chic, it fits my style perfectly and has all the necessary interfaces.  

Discover the CORE 2

Until then, we wish you a Merry Christmas, relaxing holidays and a Happy New Year.

We would like to thank all our partners and customers who have placed their trust in us again this year and look forward to many exciting projects in 2022.

In the meantime, discover the perfect Mini PC for your application

Our spo-comm Mini-PCs