Bertschi Group expands services and footprint

The Bertschi Group is looking forward to an exciting 2018 that will see the company expand its services and global footprint.

In 2012 the company launched a globalisation strategy, based on a strong market position in Europe. As a result, more than one third of Group sales is now taking place outside Europe, being responsible also for a large part of the achieved Group growth in 2017. Together with an acquisition in Belgium, Bertschi Group achieved in 2017 more than 20% turnover growth to around 900 million Swiss francs.

2017 was also very challenging due to the closure of the Rhine Valley railway. After a failed tunnel excavation under the existing line, the tracks suffered deformation and blocked this main route for European freight transportation for almost two months. For Bertschi around 25% of the European turnover is directly related to services on this line. Thanks to the extraordinary effort of all employees, Bertschi was able to overcome this difficult situation.

The company has a positive outlook for 2018 and in order to ensure it can cope with the demands of its customers it plans to heavily invest in expansion projects. In mid 2017 Bertschi acquired a large industrial site in the port of Antwerp which will be reconstructed into a logistics hub for chemical products. The first phase is currently under construction – a hub for import, handling and storage of plastics from overseas. With the start of this plastics hub’s operations in only a few weeks, further planning steps are already under preparation.

Bertschi hub in Singapore started operations in January with the doubling of its capacity for the storage of dangerous goods to 50,000 pallet positions. In the course of the year a cleaning station for tank containers will be added to the range of services of this hub offering drum filling, storage and distribution of liquid chemicals in South East Asia. Additionally Bertschi will expand its Group container fleet by more than 2,000 units.

A strong focus in 2018 will be placed on the digitalisation of the business processes. CEO and Chairman of the company, Hans-Jörg Bertschi said: “Digitised transparency in the logistics chains will enable us to further improve our service quality for our customers and to optimise our internal processes. The enhancement of our own software as well as its integration with digital projects of our customers and our own smart devices are in the center of the planned efforts”. The company currently employs 40 people in teams for software development. This capacity will be further increased in 2018.

In response to the Group’s strong growth, two floors will be added to the company headquarters in Dürrenäsch in 2018, an office building constructed just six years ago. Hans-Jörg said: “The workforce at the headquarters has grown with over 70 new employees over the last four years. The expansion of the infrastructure will add space for the Group’s future developments. The new canteen, designed modern office spaces as well as outdoor recreational areas will make the company even more attractive for the employees.”

For more information visit www.bertschi.com

19th Feb 2018