TGW

Source: Exec Digital UK

Date :15/11/2007 05:14:25

TGW’s expansion continues

In January 2007, TGW, a major international player in the area of material flow and

warehouse intra-logistic systems, opened a new TGW Group branch to serve the UK

and Ireland territory

An employer of over 1000 people at sites in Austria, Germany, the USA, Spain and Italy, TGW is a major international player in the intra-logistics market. The group, renowned around the world, has a turnover of more than €225 million and is a truly global success story.

The past year has been highly successful for TGW and provided a host of opportunities for its future. Continuing organic growth, development of international locations, and the clear positioning of the solution provider network for comprehensive logistics requirements have characterised the company’s activities and laid the foundations for a sustained and dynamic future.

Globally, growth potential from the existing strategic position as a sub-contractor for system integrators is limited.

As such, the structural changes that have come about in the intra-logistics market, combined with a growing customer demand for comprehensive single-source solutions, have seen TGW introduce a far broader strategic approach.

As a result, it is now following a clear strategy of development as a solution provider and system integrator, while continuing its activities as a sub-contractor – with the system integration strategy aimed primarily at those markets and market segments in which co-operation with main contractors is not possible.

Achieving close proximity to markets is vital to this strategy and the TGW Logistics Group companies and worldwide offices are the means by which the company is able to do just that.

Indeed, TGW’s international presence is continually expanding and this was boosted considerably with the launch of TGW Limited in the UK on January 1 2007. This was a major step for the company, allowing it to get closer to the end-user in the UK and Ireland.

Growing

Excited by the launch of TGW Ltd, Philip Steeds, Sales Director, tells us more: “The UK operation was opened in an attempt to get closer to end-users in the UK and Ireland, as well as boost our international presence. The group’s global expansion has taught us that different markets need to be developed locally. Different markets mean different people, ideas, languages, practices, mentalities, approaches and, most importantly, a different set of demands for storage and conveyor systems. This was the inspiration behind our formation.”

This move towards what TGW terms “internationalisation” is seen as revolutionary, helping to safeguard its future. It also means that TGW is better placed to meet the demands of different markets, as it is now in a position to develop new and existing partnerships, build up sound partner networks, and act as a local partner with a focus on global thinking.

But what made the UK and Ireland market such an attractive option? “The UK and Ireland are highly interesting markets,” explains Philip. “There are many distribution centres throughout the territory, which demand sophisticated intra-logistic solutions. We needed a local presence to develop and support this market effectively and built the new branch as a result. It has enabled us to gain more direct access to the market and the possibilities are extremely interesting.”

He adds: “It is important to remember that TGW is a well-known brand in the market place, amongst partners and competitors. That wasn’t necessarily true for the end-users in the UK and Ireland as they had not been exposed to TGW directly. Consequently, we have implemented an extensive education and marketing programme designed to assist and inform end-users of our products, solutions and services. This has been a success; we have hit our target for the first six months and the position looks rather encouraging. This has resulted in us accelerating a number of objectives, particularly those around recruitment.”

People

Alongside the undeniable strength of its products, TGW’s employees have been instrumental in its success. “Anyone will tell you a business is nothing without excellent personnel,” says Philip. “Therefore recruitment is very important. The people we have across our business are superb, which is vital as the logistics market is very competitive and it is often your staff, their commitment and talent, which distinguishes you from your rivals.

“People are our leading asset - that is the reality. We promote innovation and we want people to act responsibly, thinking individually and in a unique manner. We want people to come in with experience but we equally want them to grow and flourish within our organisation. The approach at group level is to bring in a mix of experienced industry specialists and suitably qualified and motivated engineers and graduates and then offer them unrivalled training and development. However, we also actively seek to retain existing staff who act as mentors for the younger generation – it really is all about internal development, teaching the TGW way.”

The UK business is developing well and is on target to reach the goals outlined in its plan. It is looking to continue to enjoy sustained growth, strengthening partnerships and releasing new potential. TGW prides itself on its intensive customer support and more users are now starting to recognise that TGW is committed to helping customers achieve improved results.

“From our perspective, we look to build stronger supplier relationships and partnerships. We look to secure our future through collaboration and by sharing in development, as this is the only way to produce outstanding solutions.

“We are on track in this territory and the indications are that we will achieve plan in our first full year of trading. Our financial year runs from July to June and in our first six months we hit our targets. We expect that to be the same for the financial year as a whole. Other parts of the business, for example support services, are areas that are growing in line with our business plan. Comprehensive support provided direct to the customer on site is essential to TGW and was an important part of our strategy for the territory.”

He adds: “We all live in a world where we want items as soon as possible and that puts a strain on logistics businesses and supply chains everywhere, from the retailer right the way through to the producer or manufacturer. From our perspective that means doing everything quicker, more effectively, reliably, consistently and so on.

Those are all things that automation and mechanisation, when applied in the right way, can bring.

Availability of labour and resources is seen as a challenge for the logistics industry, and this could have a large bearing on the business in coming years. “The availability of labour and legislation are issues that are not just limited to our territory though. And these can be opportunities for us too, offering equipment and solutions that reduce the labour requirements and costs in an overall supply chain or in a process; we can improve the end user’s bottom line. If we can effectively demonstrate this reduction then companies will be more likely to talk to us about the other equipment and services that we offer,” concludes Philip.

TGW is now in the position to provide new and existing customers in the territory with even better support and build on the highly successful projects that have been implemented together with its partners in the market, establishing itself as the market leading “partner of choice”.