Established by Fritz Schaefer in Germany in 1937, SSI Schaefer is a fully family-owned business, Headquartered in Neunkirchen, Germany, with a global reach including more than 55 subsidiaries worldwide and over 10,000 employees.
Sales Director at SSI Schaefer Limited
The early years of the business revolved around the manufacture of steel products and the company is now a major global player in technology and an award-winning provider of automated materials handling equipment and integrated storage solutions, with products ranging from plastic totes to high bay pallet warehouses and warehouse management software.
The organisation offers expertise in the design, build, installation and maintenance of major, and often bespoke, production and distribution centre operations across a broad spectrum of commercial and industrial sectors. Derek Wright, Sales Director at SSI Schaefer Ltd, speaks to Warehouse and Logistics News.
What are your best-known products and services?
As a family owned business for 75+ years we proudly still are committed to delivering the same values and as a group are fully committed to staying this way. Over this time we have been active in developing systems which enable us to provide our customers with solutions specifically tailored to the storage of both unique and generic products. Our product offering is so broad, as a turn key supplier we can offer a single tote, standalone IT systems or a fully automated warehouse and cater for any requirement in between. The past years have seen this portfolio grow with the addition of AGVs and a fully integrated IT offering.
Which market sectors and countries are your customers in? Which ones are growing fastest?
We operate across a wide variety of market sectors, ranging from frozen food and pharma distribution to hanging garment retail and the automotive aftermarket. Outside of traditional economic growth we have been very successful both locally and globally in the fashion sector.
Who are your major customers and what do you do for them?
Because of our wide range of offerings our customers are varied. We are delivering warehouse systems for JLR, BMW & Premier Farnell to name a few, and these projects all involve the installation of multiple product types from static equipment to fully automated services.
How do your products benefit your customers’ businesses?
For SSI the main focus is customer engagement, with this our solutions can help enhance and support the growth of the customer journey. Our solutions are designed to make the most effective use of available space, while at the same time lowering operating costs through the reduction of labour and the introduction of power-saving systems.
Why should customers choose you as their main supplier in your area?
In recent years we would always say it’s the global impact and size of SSI. Whilst that’s still current, within the UK we are extremely proud of the journey we have taken over the past years to become self-sufficient. We have a dedicated team capable of locally delivering every part of the solutions we offer now, and support them into the future with our RM teams.
What’s business been like in the past year? How have conditions changed over this period and how have you reacted?
SSI has had a very good year globally and especially locally in the UK. The market in general seems buoyant despite the uncertainty of Brexit. The UK continues to grow and globally we have made several partnerships and acquisitions to improve our customer offering.
What were the business highlights for you in the last 12 months?
2018 has flown past partly due to everyone being so engaged with successful projects. Over the past 12/18 months we have made some good structural and team changes that have really started to prove their worth. In general the whole team has developed beyond expectation, this helps that we have had many good customers to work with ending in success stories.
What’s been your most outstanding recent project?
It’s hard to pin point one, across the wider UK business we have had many good stories, there are one or two you will read about in the press soon so I will keep my powder dry for now!
How have you fine-tuned your offering in the last 12 months and why?
From a local point it’s been investment in our people, we are reliant on the whole team to offer the customer experience needed. Globally fine tuning is seen generally in Robotics and IT, the whole industry seems to be moving this way.
What recent enhancements have you made in customer service?
Local competence is so important to us, having the ability to be able to deliver the solutions we design locally from start to finish and beyond, is key. We have also introduced SSI Augmented Support – the first multi-functional, mobile, real-time video communication system that provides everything necessary for efficient maintenance and repair work. The system is highly flexible and user-friendly, and as a consequence it improves the working processes in many areas while also saving on time and costs.
What new products have you brought out?
Lots of development in having a standalone IT platform has been provided by the group this year. We can now deliver a fully independent functional WMS (or any other level) system without having to rely on the automation involvement, although obviously we are happy to discuss both!
What factors do you see affecting your business in the coming year? How will you turn these into opportunities?
The forthcoming year is likely to be laced with uncertainty as far as our potential clients are concerned. At the risk of using ‘the B word’, we continue to experience mixed reactions to the Brexit decision of 2016, with some customers holding off decisions on new facilities and systems until a clearer trading picture emerges. Others appear to remain unconcerned and continue to plan for growth. The anticipated post-Brexit labour shortage may well force companies to consider, or reconsider, the benefits of automation. We are ready to help and advise.
Are you planning to branch into any new areas, target new customers and take on more people?
Our customer base is as diverse as our product portfolio, which enables us already to offer solutions to almost all areas of industry. As an organisation in the UK we are continually growing – particularly as we complete more installations which become reliant upon our providing an ongoing support and maintenance service.
Are you investing in new premises and extra staff? What about staff development and training?
To accommodate our continuing business growth, in September 2017 we moved our Midlands-based operation into a brand new building, a much larger premises on the business park which has witnessed four similar upward moves over the last 16 years. In addition to external training, all SSI Schaefer employees undertake our own, intensive company training course which covers a broad scope of topics, ranging from product knowledge through business protocol to health and safety.
Are you involved in any major trade shows or other industry events over the next year?
Yes, most notably we will be exhibiting at IntraLogisteX at Coventry, Southern Manufacturing & Electronics in Farnborough, the British Frozen Foods Federation in Birmingham, Total Supply Chain Summit in Oxford, Temperature Controlled Storage & Distribution in Peterborough and of course, the International Materials Handling Exhibition (IMHX) at the NEC in September. Come and see us!
What big news from SSI Schaefer should our readers look forward to seeing in Warehouse & Logistics News in 2019?
We have a few contract announcements to make over the coming months so watch this space.
And finally, if you had to sum up your company in a tweet what would it be? Global leader for all single source logistics needs #letstalk
SSI SCHAEFER LIMITED
01264 386600
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