Innovative full-service provider
New headquarters and a new generation in charge at SG Spedition in Beringen. A lot has happened at SG Spedition of late. Thomas and Florian Gabele are the members of the next generation who have taken over the operational business. In addition, the relocation of an industrial building at Anthoptstrasse 4 in Schaffhausen Beringen has adapted the current space requirements and set the course for future growth.
It could almost be a rags to riches story from the USA, but the scene is the canton of Schaffhausen (Switzerland), 1992. Siegfried Gabele ventured into self-employment and founded his own firm.
“My father set up business in the basement of our house and carried out the transport tasks with his Opel Frontera. When we were boys we often rode out with him,” Siegfried’s son Thomas remembers with a smile.
Monika Gabele, the wife of the company founder, took care of all administrative affairs and looked after human resources, a sector she remains in charge of today.
Impressive growth
If you look at SG Spedition today, you realise the enormous steps the firm has taken in its 32 years of existence – without ever deviating from the manageability of a purely family-sized business. With two company headquarters, the head office in Beringen and a base across the border in nearby Gottmadingen, southern Germany, SG Spedition has become a complete provider of logistics services over the years.
The firm’s broad repertoire ranges from warehouse management to customs clearance options, VAT billing as well as the handling of sea, air and rail transport services. In addition it also offers parcel services and the connection to IT processes.
At the Swiss site the company now employs a staff of 19 people; in Germany it has twelve employees. The storage areas have also been steadily expanded in recent years. In Gottmadingen the facilities cover around 30,000 m2 today, in Switzerland a total of 2,200 m2 is available for the storage and handling of goods.
At the same time the company’s processes have been continuously optimised and simultaneously adapted to the latest technological business tools. SG Spedition carries out its transport movements with two of its own trucks, including a brand new all-electric Volvo lorry, and has simultaneously also relied for years on cooperation with various transport companies. This model has thoroughly proven its worth according to Thomas Gabele, and guarantees a high degree of flexibility and accuracy.
Fresh breeze from the next generation
The company’s succession scheme was implemented in 2016, when Siegfried Gabele retired from day-to-day business. He still serves as the chairman of the board of directors, however. First, his son Florian set foot in the business. He is in charge of the core business of building materials logistics, where complete solutions for the Swiss logistics of well-known manufacturers are implemented, and managing all transport and customs matters.
His brother Thomas joined the business a year later, having previously pursued a completely different career path. He was first drawn to business management and IT.
Today, he’s in charge of finance, marketing and IT at headquarters in Beringen. His business background, together with his brother Florian’s logistics expertise, soon led them to a new business field – e-commerce. Today, after only four active years, it already accounts for around 20% of total sales.
Online retailers can hand over their entire order processing activities to SG Spedition, which integrates its own systems into the customers networks with its proprietary focused software. “A mix of startups and established brands use our services, because beyond a certain volume of bookings, time-consuming order-processing would exceed their overall capabilities,” Thomas Gabele explained.
Thomas Gabele has ascertained tremendous growth potential in this field, which also contributes to the diversification of the company. Originally it focused heavily on building materials, but today SG Spedition’s warehouses contain animal feed, textiles, cosmetics, food supplements and much more that has to be delivered to end customers. Thomas Gabele also said that the firm’s warehouse area for e-commerce activities is to be doubled soon.
Thomas Gabele cites digitalisation, automation and standardisation as the key challenges of the future. “We have to continue to optimise processes and adapt them to the latest tools as far as possible.”