Online trade is the big winner of the Corona crisis. This also applies to the spare parts and repair market for wind turbines. A Hamburg company, a pioneer in this niche in 2013, is now gaining momentum despite, or because of Corona. Stefan Weber, Founder and Managing Director of Windsourcing.com GmbH, shares his thoughts with PES on how the foundation of a digital trading company came about and how much more importance digitization has gained among the broad masses in the context of the Corona crisis.
I am an Amazon fan. Please do not misunderstand me. It is completely unacceptable not to pay sales tax from Asian suppliers in Germany and to pay little if any company tax at all. No, I am a fan of focusing on the customers and their benefits: the punctual and fast delivery and using the distribution channel Internet. This enthusiasm has driven me already in 2013 when I founded Windsourcing.com. It was clear to me that digitalization does not stop at renewable energies and here the industry and the entire energy industry can learn a lot from Amazon and Co.
Prior to the foundation of the company, I had already been working for many years as external purchaser and consultant for wind farm operators. What was missing was a platform where you could get everything from one source – fast and uncomplicated, like Amazon. Okay, this is about a very special market, a niche. But the spare parts market in the wind industry has also grown to a billion-euro market worldwide over the last 20 years. With the additions made in the last ten to twelve years and various plans around the world, this development will continue and the market will become even more interesting. But how do you serve this high demand, which is quite specific in the details?
Windsourcing.com was and is our answer to this question. We have dedicated ourselves entirely to the trade and distribution of spare parts and repair materials for wind turbines. We mainly use the internet as a sales and distribution channel.
