Urs Grütter and Gustav Thommen Inducted into Hall of Fame

On the occasion of the 7th charity gala Swiss Supply Chain Hall of Fame, Urs Grütter, owner and CEO of Stöcklin Logistik AG, was ceremoniously inducted as the 16th member into the Swiss Logistics Hall of Fame on September 21, 2022, at the Swiss Transport Museum – in the presence of 300 invited guests. Jury representative Dr. Peter Acél presented the honorary certificates.

(Lucerne) The presenter, National Councilor and President of the Chamber of Commerce of both Basels, Elisabeth Schneider-Schneiter, honored Urs Grütter as a person who has developed Stöcklin Logistik AG into a leading global provider of sophisticated logistics systems. Since 1934, the Swiss Stöcklin Group has been a competent partner worldwide for innovative and customized logistics solutions. As an internationally experienced system integrator of intralogistics systems, Stöcklin supports its customers from planning and project development to the delivery of turnkey complete systems in the field of warehouse logistics & automated warehouse management. With its predominantly self-developed and produced systems and products, the company is able to offer conveying and storage systems for various load carriers as well as industrial trucks, which help to strengthen the competitiveness of its customers in the long term and sustainably. The company is currently successfully operating with various subsidiaries abroad and employs 450 staff, over three hundred of whom are in Switzerland alone.

Patrick Geisselhardt, Managing Director of the Swiss Recycling umbrella organization, posthumously honored Gustav Thommen (1905-1988) as the 15th member. This election was officially announced in the spring. Gustav Thommen is considered a Swiss recycling pioneer. The scrap trading company he opened in Basel in 1936 was the nucleus for the development of a modern and forward-looking business model that placed the recycling of raw materials and the raw material cycle at its center. At the same time, it was the origin of an internationally successful corporate group. The Thommen Group today consists of the brands Thommen, Metallum, and Immark, is active internationally at 25 locations in five countries, and employs around 650 staff worldwide.

Gustav Thommen

Gala proceeds for two charitable projects

The President of the Logistics Switzerland Foundation, Dr. Beat M. Duerler, invited the honorary members former Federal Councilor Adolf Ogi and Roland Brack to the stage for a lively talk. The foundation supports two charitable projects with this year’s gala proceeds: On one hand, the project “Training in Logistics 2.0 and Deliveries” by the organization “réalise” in Geneva. For over 35 years, this organization has successfully trained applicants with little or no qualifications in various industries with high labor intensity. It is a pioneer in Switzerland in developing short and tailored training programs for various employment sectors and trains between 50 and 70 people in the logistics sector each year.

Support from the Swiss Supply umbrella organization

On the other hand, the initiative “National Image Campaign for Supply Logistics Transport” of the new support association Swiss Supply is being supported. This aims to improve the awareness and reputation of our supply services in the public eye and especially among young people. Targeted joint measures are being taken against the shortage of skilled workers in our important system-relevant economic sector.

About the Swiss Supply Chain Hall of Fame

The initiator and organizer of the Swiss Supply Chain Hall of Fame is the Logistics Switzerland Foundation. Its purpose is to support the professional development of individuals in the fields of supply, logistics, purchasing, as well as freight forwarding, transport, and traffic.

Since 2015, the Logistics Switzerland Foundation has been honoring outstanding individuals who have achieved above-average accomplishments in logistics, supply chain, and/or transport issues in Switzerland with the Swiss Supply Chain Hall of Fame. This hall of fame is virtual and can be accessed online at any time via www.shof.ch and has also been presented as a “Wall of Fame” at the Swiss Transport Museum in Lucerne since 2020. The previous members of the Swiss Supply Chain Hall of Fame include: Alfred Escher (1819 – 1882), Hansheinrich Zweifel (1933 – 2020), Alfred Waldis (1919 – 2013), Hans Bertschi (1929 – 2016), Rolf Bertschi, Hans-Rudolf Haldimann (1919-1998), former Federal Councilor Adolf Ogi, Louis Danzas (1788 – 1862), Emile Jules Danzas (1836 – 1917), Helene and Peter Galliker Senior, Gottlieb Duttweiler (1888-1962), Walter Mittelholzer (1894-1937), Roland Brack, Gustav Thommen (1905 – 1988), and Urs Grütter.

The nomination committee and the jury decide on the induction into the Swiss Supply Chain Hall of Fame during an annual election cycle.

For more information visit:

www.shof.ch and www.stiftunglogistik.ch

Photos: © by leistungsfotografie.ch/mr / Image caption Title photo (l.r.n.l.): Presenter and National Councilor Elisabeth Schneider-Schneiter, Urs Grütter, Dr. Peter Acél, Swiss Supply Chain Hall of Fame