/ Vision 2022: Ulm Nord with an additional 100,000 pallet bays
/ From Berg to East Germany, Eastern Europe and the world
/ From the timber and paper industry to a broad range of industries
/ From pig transport company to a full-service provider of contract logistics
/ From a business of 5 to 2,500 people.
To satisfy changing requirements in the market in the best way possible, the business model of the Seifert Logistics Group is constantly being updated.
Entry into supply chain management: investments in 3D printing enable Seifert to expand its business model to include production processes.
From 1996, Seifert accepts orders for contract logistics for the first time.Progress is rapid thanks to the facility in Malsch, and the portfolio is expanded over the years to include numerous added-value services.
Seifert is involved in forwarding from 1968 onwards. The company cements its status with the takeover of the silo forwarder Köhler in September 1981 – it thus completes its first company acquisition.
When the company is founded in 1947, Franz Xaver Seifert registers it purely as a haulage business. The initial consignments are limited to animals, but timber and various other goods follow in time.
The company’s development is not only apparent from the facts and figures, but also from its changing visual presentation, the corporate design. The logo has seen some changes in 75 years of company history. From the ornate font of the small transport company to the modern, multifunctional logo of the Seifert Logistics Group – here are all the visual milestones at a glance.
Choosing the new colour concept in 1981 took a lot of courage and caused a little conflict between Harry and Franz Xaver Seifert at the time. The fact that the design is still being used over 40 years later and that it still has a modern and stylish effect shows that the colours and pictogram were ahead of their time.
In the logistics industry everything revolves around motion – it has also changed radically over the last few years because of this. Speed, digitisation, networking and technical advances are becoming ever more important to maximise performance in the long term. The “millimetre different” also applies to the clock.
The heavyweight equipment is also kept up to date. Seifert gives its drivers brandnew trucks every couple of years, so they are as safe and efficient as possible on the road.
While many competitors still have drivers using phone booths to get their routes, Seifert was one of the first logistics providers to equip its team with mobile phones.
Seifert uses various low-code applications in its
warehouses to make processes faster, digital and also
easier for employees. The company develops its own smart mini apps, which are connected to the company’s own data structure. This means documentation can be digitised with (partially) automated approval and business processes.
By adopting 3D printing, Seifert is opening the door to the next evolution of its business model: the company is expanding its range of production processes, so it can respond to customer needs with greater customisation.
In order to lead the field in digitisation, Seifert invests in future-proof technologies and countless start-ups. New image recognition systems which make inventory easier are just one of the many resulting innovations.
The team also has the newest technology away from the road:
from the latest machinery and supporting robots, so-called co-bots, to futuristic wearables, everything is designed for performance.
Using drones to check stock is just one of many examples of the company’s future-oriented pioneering spirit.
There are some enormous cantilever shelves at the Logistics Centre Ulm Nord, which Seifert bought many years ago. Here’s the interesting part: The shelves were bought second-hand and were in situ just two weekends later, fully loaded and ready for use in the hall – just one of many anecdotes that demonstrate the Seifert spirit.
Vision meets drive – How Seifert stays ahead of his time.
When Julian Seifert was around ten years old, his father Harry drove him and his brother Tim to Ulm Nord. “The company headquarters will be here one day”, prophesied the entrepreneur. Some twenty years later, the groundbreaking took place at the exact same spot – the new headquarters is being built. The new logistics centre will not only fulfil Seifert’s vision, but will also enable the company to adapt its business even more quickly to changing market requirements in the long term.
With its perfect location between Stuttgart and Munich and its impressive 100,000 pallet bays, the new logistics centre will be the medium-sized company’s next solid mainstay.
Yet it is so much more: it is also the catalyst for continual change at the Seifert Logistics Group, a driver for that “millimetre more”.
Young talent will shape the logistics of tomorrow in town halls and creative workspaces on their
own “campus”. Agile processes, modern thinking and the continual exchange of ideas will keep the company on the right course for the long term. Multiple investments in future-proof technologies and partnerships with innovative start-ups will give Seifert that digital edge.
