In 2020 Lampuga again exhibited at the world's largest water sports trade fair – boot Düsseldorf. Water sports fans from all over the world gather in Düsseldorf every year and focus on topics such as yachting equipment and accessories, diving, surfing, kiting and much more. With around 2,000 exhibitors in 17 halls and approximately 250,000 visitors, the trade fair is one of the leading boat shows.
The boot is an important platform for Lampuga to address end customers and present its own electric surfboards. It is also an important way to get to know commercial customers and resellers in particular and to win them over for partnerships. Due to the close cooperation with Sunseeker, one of the leading yacht manufacturers worldwide, it was possible for us to exhibit in hall 6 at the superyachts for the first time in a partnership booth concept.
As far as it was possible due to this year's travel restrictions, the Lampuga team used the summer months intensively for the expansion of the European sales structures and further development of already existing sales partners on site, among others in the South of France, in Great Britain, in the Masurian Lake District of Poland as well as at Lake Balaton in Hungary. Further successful acquisition visits have been scheduled in Bulgaria, Romania and Greece. Even though in 2020 the summer season prevented a regular sales start with a long delay and a short as well as early end, the response of the first customers was unanimously positive and full of enthusiasm. The anticipation and expectations for a hopefully regular summer season in 2021 are accordingly high.
Customer event of our Polish sales partner ECOGIS Sp. z o.o. at the Mazurski Raj Marina hotel on the Masurian Lake District.
The region impresses especially by its untouched nature. With more than 3,000 lakes, canals and smaller rivers, the Masurian Lakes offer perfect conditions for nature experiences of a special kind. In order to protect nature, water sports equipment with combustion engines is not allowed in some areas, but thanks to its emission-free nature, the Lampuga AIR jetboard offers ample opportunities to explore even remote and protected areas of this landscape. Thus, the electric surfboard Lampuga Air makes an important contribution to environmental protection and can be used without restrictions throughout the area due to its emission-free propulsion and low noise level.
The Côte d'Azur in the south of France is considered one of the most important sales markets for Lampuga, because the marinas of the partly fashionable vacation resorts are lined up here. Fortunately, the presence of Lampuga distributors & dealers here is already well established at the locations Fréjus, Monaco, Cap d'Ail, St. Tropez, La Napoule and Cannes. At various product training sessions, sales events and the feedback was unanimously positive: "Very fast, a lot of speed, very easy to ride: a product for many target groups and ideal for rental & charter bunsiness".
The test event of our partner Boatside Monaco at Lac du Saint Cassien in the hinterland of Cannes was exemplary. Invited customers from the yacht charter segment as well as various skippers of large luxury yachts were able to try out different water toys in ideal conditions: from water bikes to foiling boards and of course the Lampuga AIR Jetboard. The interest in the Lampuga Air Jetboards was enormous and the response overwhelmingly positive. Within a very short time, even inexperienced riders of different age groups were able to master our electric surfboard and enjoy their rides: "Highlight of an amazing testing day". Dealers and customers alike were enthusiastic about the Lampuga Air jetboard and first orders were the immediate result, or are promised for the new season.
Thanks to the good local networks and connections to the authorities, it was also possible to use the time to take some much-needed photo and film material. The exit into the Gorges du Verdun is only allowed thanks to the zero-emission propulsion and the shots in the port of Fréjus were only possible thanks to a special permit from the port authority.
As part of a well-prepared promotional tour, potential dealers were visited at various hotspots in August: Six countries were visited on twelve days and the Lampuga jetboard was presented and demonstrated in Greece, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Romania. The feedback confirms that a moving Lampuga jetboard and the possibility to test drive is convincing! This lead to new and partly very promising distribution partners.
Another hot spot is of course the Balearic Islands which are world famous for water sports of all kinds. Lampuga now works here with eight different dealers from different sectors. On Ibiza, ex-bachelor Johannes Haller from Haller Experience also managed to present Oliver Pocher on a Lampuga jetboard as part of a TV shoot. It goes without saying that this couldn't have been done according to the script without any clamor and silly sayings, but in the end Oliver Pocher was riding on our electric surfboard. The result was shown in the evening program of the channel RTL and is available on YouTube.
During the annual meeting of Wasserwacht Sachsen in Görliz, the Lampuga Rescue jetboard was presented to the affiliated members. The handy and quickly deployable Lampuga Rescue jetboard offers an innovative solution in traditional water rescue: In distress at sea, when every second counts, it guarantees quick and easy support in rescuing people in coastal and inland waters as well as in flood operations and flooding.
The members of the DRK Wasserwacht Steglitz-Zehlendorf were also enthusiastic: "The electric surfboards combine the advantages of an inflatable rescue board with those of a jet ski: Fast rescue operations without risk of injury due to open motor screws. Even in shallow waters, which you couldn’t reach with normal lifeboats.
After three years of development, the sales and delivery start of the Lampuga Air jetboard in Europe took place in August 2020.
"We can finally get started," says CEO Nicolai Weisenburger, who has always stuck to his quality and safety philosophy: "Our product should provide customers with the greatest possible fun on the water, but also ensure the highest possible safety.
Managing Director Alexander Pick is convinced that the Lampuga Air jetboard will be well received: "Products made in Germany stand for quality and precision. Combined with first-class fun on the water, easy handling and appealing design, we meet exactly the requirements that are crucial in this industry for a broad target group."
To achieve this quality, thorough testing took place before the first delivery. In addition, measures were taken to ensure product safety. For example, the electric surfboards were subjected to extensive endurance tests: In the long-term test, among other things, the propulsion was tested for up to 1,000 hours. To ensure the highest possible product quality, each electric surfboard undergoes an end-of-line test before delivery, for which a new test facility is currently being built.
But the jetboards are not only thoroughly tested in Rastatt. The sales partner Jetboard Experience, for example, has been using several Lampuga Air jetboards at its rental station directly on the beach in Warnemünde since this season. The feedback so far has been positive all around and can also be followed on their Instagram profile: "We are happy to have found the right partner in Lampuga and to be able to ride this innovative and robust jetboard on the Baltic Sea together with you." Despite all the tests in Rastatt, such feedback from partners and customers is enormously important for the optimization and further development of the boards.
After entering the European market, the company now plans to enter the market in countries outside Europe in 2021, taking into account the lessons learned and helping to achieve the targeted sales volume of up to 2,000 units of the inflatable Lampuga Air jetboard per year.
To see the electric Lampuga surfboard in action, visit our YouTube channel.
In 2020, the Lampuga production team, with the active support of the development department, was able to complete all the necessary assembly stations required for the production of the Lampuga Air jetboard. In parallel to setting up production, work instructions for assembly employees were developed and processes were created and introduced to ensure consistent product quality.
The final assembly takes place exclusively at the company headquarters in Rastatt. The production and assembly facility for the Lampuga Air jetboard was built according to lean production principles: The focus in the construction of the plant is on cost, time and material savings with the highest possible quality. whereby an annual output of 2,000 units can be achieved at the maximum of 14 assembly stations with different value-added steps. Currently, five employees are scheduled to assemble the electric surfboards. The principle of job rotation enables any assembly employee to be deployed at any assembly station.
In 2020, the Lampuga production team was strengthened by two skilled workers who were intensively trained both in production and in dealing with returns. During this process, existing processes were validated and new ones were developed. The validation findings were used as a basis to achieve the best possible result in terms of time, quality and cost in production. The optimization of production processes at Lampuga is ongoing.
In order to ensure that the product meets the required quality standards in production, quality checks are carried out at all relevant assembly stations as early as possible in the production process. This results in defects being detected as quickly as possible and countermeasures being taken at an early stage. The incoming goods inspection represents the first instance of in-house quality inspection. Lampuga was able to make significant progress in this area in 2020.
Planning for the EOL test inspection stand started in January 2020. At the end of October, the time had come: the container facility was handed over by the manufacturer and the long-awaited commissioning could be carried out.
Before delivery to the customer, each individual Lampuga Air jetboard is put through its paces in the EOL test under the most realistic conditions possible in a water tank. Important parameters are automatically queried and evaluated for the assessment, e.g. static thrust, current consumption, motor speed, motor temperature, software status.
