Employees
& Partner

Question: 75 years of the Seifert Logistics Group – how does it make you feel?

Harry Seifert: “75 years is insane, you can only be proud of that. Being able to join a family business is a stroke of luck. I’ve been part of it for 46 years and have developed and advanced the company and its vision. To see where the Seifert Logistics Group is today on its 75th anniversary fills me with courage and pride in equal measure, but also with wistfulness.”

Question: How have you made the company so big?

Harry Seifert: “An entrepreneur takes action. I set myself goals, visualised them and then implemented them strategically – always with the motto of being that crucial millimetre ahead of the competition. Having the right instincts for growth potentials helps enormously – but you have to make your own luck too. We have certainly proven our vision and skill over the past decades. It was not always easy, but it has paid off.”

Question: Where do you see the future of logistics?

Harry Seifert: “Logistics is Germany’s third-biggest industry and will continue to grow in terms of relevance and volumes. Logistics will always be physical, but the processes are being digitised, networked – and that’s precisely where our new headquarters in Ulm Nord come in.”

Question: What does Ulm Nord II mean for modern logistics?

Harry Seifert: “When I think about Ulm Nord I close my eyes. It has been my vision since 1995, my life’s dream. And now it’s becoming a reality. For my team it means a new location in the best location between Stuttgart and Munich, which will be our new base for the years to come. We can shape the logistics of tomorrow here: with a modern suite of offices, think tanks, bistros and a gym. At the same time, the new headquarters will enable us to get young talent on board. So Seifert will remain that decisive millimetre better in future too.”

Question: Mr Frey, you have been with the Seifert Logistics Group since the start of your career. What do you like about the company?

Axel Frey: “I knew I wanted to join a forwarding company once I graduated – Seifert fascinated me immediately. It is this very special spirit that you don’t find anywhere else. The whole team is so committed and dedicated that crucial added value can be generated for customers. In customer service this means: nothing’s impossible. Seifert beguiled me straightaway. In addition, I was able to take on a lot of responsibility here quickly, which of course motivates you as well.”

Question: Which project has had a particular impact on you?

Axel Frey: “There have been so many exciting projects, but setting up the logistics centre in Malsch was the absolute highlight for me. We did pause at first when we won the online bidding at the time – we had never managed an order like that before. But we rolled up our sleeves and built an impressive logistics centre in just two years, which enabled us to take on the order of the century. Today we work with more than 600 colleagues in the region, which makes me very proud.”

Question: As CEO how do you want to steer the Seifert Logistics Group into the future?

Axel Frey: “Our revenue in 2022 will be around 250 million euros; I would like to double this amount in the long term. A target like that requires the right people. That’s why it’s very important to me that our team is happy with us and that we are more attractive, especially to young talent. This means social responsibility, flatter hierarchies and the spirit of a family business, which is there for the employees through the good times and the bad. I see realising this vision as one of my most important tasks.”

Question: Mr Vogelmann, you have been part of the company since 2020. What was your first impression of the Seifert Logistics Group?

Marcel Vogelmann: “The one millimetre different – that’s an impression that’s not quickly forgotten. At Seifert there’s a spirit that I have never experienced before. We make the impossible possible here every single day. With his indescribable energy Harry Seifert has achieved a very special performance standard here, which the entire team works towards. That’s something you sense from the first moment. Without it, the company would not be able to succeed at this immense speed.”

Question: What abilities and strengths do you bring to your position as CFO?

Marcel Vogelmann: “I have already gained a wide range of experience in my professional career and have recorded many successes. I worked as an auditor after graduating and then joined DEKRA as Executive Vice President Controlling. I helped to double revenue there within just a few years. Besides my experience, I bring integrity, directness and the desire to realise genuine improvements.”

Question: Where do you see the Seifert Logistics Group in 2030?

Marcel Vogelmann: “I am convinced that we will be in an even stronger position in 2030. I would like to adjust the previous management style slightly to achieve this: I want to involve the team more closely in the journey, inspire people and motivate them to change something themselves. People should notice that they’re working in a family company. This means flatter hierarchies, performance reviews and empathy. Sustainability is also a big issue that we need to invest in more over the next few years. I am certain that the Seifert success story will gain further momentum.”

Question: Mr Wolter, what is your goal in your position as Managing Director (COO) Forwarding?

Mario Wolter: “Forwarding is the foundation of the Seifert Logistics Group. That’s where it all began and that’s why the company has grown. The focus of our work has evolved over the past years, however, towards contract logistics and now also towards being a partner in production. At the same time, we are convinced that forwarding will remain a fundamental pillar of our business in future. With my work I would actively like to strengthen this area and ensure its future viability. It also matters to me that forwarding gets the respect it deserves.”

Question: What do you see as the strengths of the Seifert family business?

Mario Wolter: “As a family business we are closer to people, a company you can approach if you like. Even our owner has a phone number, so he can always be reached. The reliability that you can feel in every single aspect also characterises the family business for me – naturally this also has major benefits for our customers. At the same time, this also makes a noticeable difference for the team: many colleagues would rather work in a family company than a corporation, where they just feel like a number.”

Question: What does the “millimetre different” mean to you?

Mario Wolter: “That’s easy: the team. The performance standard, the spirit, the results – it all only works thanks to teamwork, thanks to the colleagues who live and breathe it all and on whom you can rely completely. That’s why it’s also so important to me to be close to the ground, to communicate with the staff as equals and, in so doing, achieve that millimetre more at the end of the day.”

Question: Mr Seifert, you are the third generation to join the family business. How does that feel?

Julian Seifert: “It’s a fantastic feeling. I have a great deal of respect for what my father has poured his heart and soul into building here. That’s why I’m also aware of the responsibility that comes with my work here. Despite that, in my day-to-day work I don’t see myself as the son of the company owner, but rather as one of many managers. And for this position I have the right expertise to advance the company, especially in the field of digitisation.”

Question: What abilities and perspectives do you bring to the company?

Julian Seifert: “In addition to my theoretical background, I spent lots of time abroad during my studies and got to know the most diverse people and cultures – that had a profound influence on me and gave me new perspectives. I also learnt a lot during my time as a management consultant for a consulting firm. Apart from that, I have good instincts for the right innovations and the drive to apply these profitably.”

Question: Why is comprehensive digitisation so important for the Seifert Logistics Group?

Julian Seifert: “Seifert is a company that lives motion – which is extremely important in the digitisation field in particular, as technologies change quickly here. Everyone knows: if you want to achieve competitive advantages from technology, you have to be ahead of the trends. That’s not enough in my opinion though. What we need – and want I want to achieve with my work – is a genuine digital breakthrough, which helps the entire team. That’s how we can improve process efficiency and make better business decisions, so that we can maintain customer satisfaction at the highest level in the long term.”

Question: What do you think the Seifert Logistics Group should look like in 2030?

Julian Seifert: “I believe that we will have a completely new working environment by then, which is more trusting, more respectful and more open – a bit like the feeling in a medium start-up. Successes are celebrated together here, while strong talents are attracted and recruited and services are created with even more added value. This doesn’t mean throwing away the company’s current values: some things could be modernised and expanded, however. Then in 2030 we could be a company from 2035. This vision gives us the courage to initiate radical change.”

Question: Mr Seifert, what is the best way to describe your work in the company?

Tim Seifert: “I have been part of the Advisory Board of the Seifert Logistics Group since 2020. However, I don’t work in the company, but rather on the company. As a shareholder, I advise on strategic issues and concentrate on steering the company’s long-term development in the right direction. My focus here is on the right approaches in leadership, culture and on effective methods of developing talents in the best possible way. I am always thinking about the employee as a person. I am the sparring partner on strategic issues, especially during design phases.”

Question: Like your brother, you also grew up with the Seifert company. How does it feel to be part of the company group today?

Tim Seifert: “For me “family-company” is one word: it belongs together. Because I am part of the Seifert family, the company is also part of me. We always talked about the business at the dining table when I was growing up, because the line between private and professional life was not just blurred – it didn’t exist at all. So I experienced the growth of the business close up. My father has built a lot here. Naturally, it makes me proud to be part of the company today.”

Question: What do you associate with “one millimetre different”, which has long since become a maxim in the company?

Tim Seifert: “I recognise that millimetre different in my father first of all: this limitless passion for the work, the daily drive and enormous desire to go out and get the absolute best for the
company and his customers. In doing so, he ignites a spirit in the team that I have never seen in any other company.”

Question: Mr Brachmann, you were given the opportunity to set up Seifert Polska in 1999. After 20 years – how do you feel looking back at that day?

Jan Brachmann: “At the time, founding a company in Poland had already been a dream of mine for a while. And as Seifert wanted to become international, we took the chance. Even though we did jump in at the deep end in the beginning looking back, and we would do lots of things differently now, I still feel positive when I think about that day. For me as a newcomer to the industry, it was an incredible opportunity, but also a big responsibility. Still, if you look at the position of Seifert Polska today, it is performing well.”

Question: Mr Brade, as someone with a strong background in forwarding, you were appointed alongside Mr Brachmann to provide support on technical questions. Why were those first months abroad such an adventure?

Hannes Brade: “Setting something up abroad always brings challenges. That’s true even with the options for overnight accommodation. As there was hardly any choice, we regularly had to pay 200 deutschmarks a night. To get around that, we spent the night in a barracks, for example, and the next morning we had breakfast with Polish soldiers. Or there was the time our car was stolen. We hadn’t planned for that either (laughs). We had to rethink things in Poland in many respects – and that made it a very exciting and eventful time.”

Question: Aside from the little challenges, did you also encounter difficulties when you were setting up the foreign business? How would you do things differently today?

Jan Brachmann: “Looking back, there are definitely some things we would do differently. When you’re expanding into a new country, you’re working with new people and new ways of thinking. You have to adjust to that and not just by learning the language. Starting from scratch always brings challenges. Because no-one knows the company, you first have to earn people’s trust.”

Question: What are the stand-out milestones for you?

Hannes Brade: “When I really think about it, it was always projects that challenged us – a BASF contract, for example, which required combined transports by rail and road. Or when we had to move freight from Germany on to the broad-gauge rail cars at the station in Poland. The guts we displayed on projects like that really paid off.”

Question: Mr Rederer, how did you end up at Seifert back then?

Karl Rederer: “It was 1960 and I was 25 at the time. I had completed my butcher’s training and worked for a while as a driver for the Adler brewery in Berg near Ehingen. Then Franz Xaver Seifert saw me in the Marktplatz one day – I was trying to get a job at Schwäbischer Zellstoff – and he recruited me on the spot. I was one of the first drivers at the company. There were more of us a couple of months later.”

Question: What was your typical working day like?

Karl Rederer: “So, back then we were still true drivers. We worked every night and on some trips we loaded and unloaded the truck several times. On the timber deliveries from Freiburg, we loaded up to 25 tonnes of timber by hand for each load. That always used to take five to six hours. Our first trucks were not very well equipped. In the winter you had to deal with the cold, in summer it was the heat and the stinky feet of the guy sitting next to you. And despite all that it was a great time.”

Question: What happy memories do you have?

Karl Rederer: “Oh (laughs) there are a great many stories. Once I was on a beer delivery to Berlin with Wolfram Walter and there was a long traffic jam. So he drove in the centre lane, until a helicopter flew over us and ordered us to move back to the right with a megaphone. The trips when “Franzl” was my deputy were also great – we always enjoyed a good wine once we stopped for the night. Oh, Harry Seifert also did his first trip to Oldenburg with me back then (΄76) and shadowed me for two weeks.”

Question: Hello Mr Peichler. How did you meet Mr Seifert?

Hansjürgen Peichler: “It was 2001, whenthe ELPA (European Logistics Partners) was dissolved. We had organised a big tender with several logistics companies as a result. Seifert won the shipping in Alfeld, but some transports went to a competitor. Harry Seifert’s professional approach to this situation impressed me very much. Seifert handles these transports as well now.”

Question: How would you describe your partnership with Seifert?

Hansjürgen Peichler: “Always very professional. We got to know Seifert as a model company, which employs modern management methods and invests, plans and optimises around the clock. Its response times are exemplary and we can also get in touch at any time with smaller problems and questions. It is a real partnership of equals.”

Question: Do you have a favourite anecdote?

Hansjürgen Peichler: “A sporting event comes to mind, which I watched live in the stadium with Harry Seifert, like two real fans. I got to experience him as a “private person” that day, which was very interesting, as we had only met on a professional level up to then. In any event, it was a really enjoyable day for us both.

Question: Mr Kutscha, when did your partnership with Franz Xaver Seifert begin?

Wolfgang Kutscha: “After many years of successful partnership shipping cellulose and cellulose powder, an investment by Schwäbischer Zellstoff AG in Spedition Seifert was agreed from 1974 to 1988. I had a lot of contact with Franz Xaver Seifert after I joined the Board of Schwäbischer Zellstoff AG. There was an immediate chemistry between us. A stable relationship of trust emerged.”

Question: What do you think makes up the Seifert DNA?

Wolfgang Kutscha: “On the one hand, it’s definitely the fantastic partnership. From the start, I was on the same wavelength as both Franz Xaver Seifert and Harry Seifert. That’s more important than people think, because you can’t have real partnerships without it. Besides that, for me the Seifert DNA is the consistent looking ahead, the constant striving to be even better and the entrepreneurial boldness that has made our partnership so successful.”

Question: Could you describe some highlights of the partnership?

Wolfgang Kutscha: “There was the new paper machine in Ehingen in summer 1991. The particular challenge was to ship the new paper production of some 200,000 tonnes a year to customers with total adherence to deadlines. Thanks to the tenacity of the Seifert team, we managed to supply just-in-time deliveries within 24 hours of an order. That fascinates me to this day.”

Question: Mr Werf, the partnership between Baumit and the Seifert Logistics Group is very close and informal. How did it all start?

Heiko Werf: “It was at the start of the 1990s, when we needed a logistics concept for our new plant in Schönbach. I had already seen the name Seifert in a couple of brochures, but hadn’t really paid the company much attention. The company only came on my radar when Mr Brade called my secretary dozens of times to convince us to give Seifert a try. At the time it may have been a bit annoying, but looking back we’re very happy about this tenacity now.”

Question: How did this initial contact develop into such a vital partnership?

Heiko Werf: “Well, we started out with a couple of test trips and within a month the transports were worth around 300,000 deutschmarks. That was our first deal. Shortly afterwards, Seifert took over all the scheduling for our Schönbach site. Some of the Seifert team still sit in the same building to this day. We are not two different companies here, but rather two departments with the same ideas and the same goal.”

Question: What do you think differentiates the Seifert Logistics Group from its competitors?

Heiko Werf: “For me, Seifert was a Swabian company from the start: traditionally trustwor-thy and, at the same time, extremely flexible and innovative. Seifert was a logistics service provider for us even back in the ’90s – and simply ahead of its time. One call and any problem was resolved. We were able to grow together thanks to our close partnership. That would not have worked so well without the millimetre different.”

Question: Mr Burkhart, how would you describe the partnership with the Seifert Logistics Group?

Andreas Burkhart: “For the Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Seifert has been a reliable partner for logistics services for many years. The partnership is highly professional, exactly as you would wish. The short decision-making paths and the customer-oriented mindset and approach definitely need to be mentioned. They were also crucial in 2017 for the nomination as a finalist for the Daimler Supplier Award in the partnership category.”

Question: Where do you notice Seifert’s claim of always being one millimetre better?

Andreas Burkhart: “Harry Seifert’s claim epitomises the standard we insist on at Mercedes-Benz and also demand of our partners. That unrestrained will to go the extra mile to achieve maximum success for the company drives everything we do. Alongside partners like the Seifert Logistics Group, we are able to realise that effectively. I also think it’s remarkable how Seifert again and again manages to maintain its position and beat the competition thanks to its high quality standards and industry expertise.”

Question: What connects you personally to Harry Seifert?

Andreas Burkhart: “Harry Seifert and I have a very pleasant and cordial relationship. Besides the passion for our work, we also share a love of classic cars – we each have one or two cars in the garage. In 2006 we also took part in the classic car rally from Ulm to Budapest. It was three days along the Danube through four countries. That was certainly a great experience that we enjoyed together.”