SGS (company)
| SGS SA
|
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|---|---|
 |
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| legal form | Corporation |
| ISIN | CH0002497458 |
| founding | 1878 |
| Seat |
Geneva , Switzerland
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| management |
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| Number of employees | 92,661 (2019) |
| sales | 6.6 billion CHF (2019) |
| Branch | Inspection, testing and certification services |
| Website | www.sgsgroup.de |
The SGS SA , based in Geneva, is a publicly traded, international Warenprüfkonzern. The SGS (formerly Société Générale de Surveillance ) offers services in the areas of testing, verification, physical testing and certification. Around 93,000 employees work in the SGS network from more than 1,800 branches and laboratories in over 120 countries.
The main services of SGS are inspections, tests, certification services and verifications. The inspections are about checking and verifying the quantity, weight and quality of the goods being traded. The tests examine the product quality and check whether the relevant health and safety regulations and statutory provisions are being observed. Certification services confirm that products, systems or services meet the requirements set by states, standards providers or SGS customers. Verifications provide evidence that products and services comply with global standards and local regulations.
history
Internationally active traders from France, Germany and the Netherlands, the Baltic States, Hungary, the Mediterranean countries and the United States founded the "London Corn Trade Association" in London in 1878. The purpose of the association was to standardize shipping documents for exporting countries and to clarify procedures and disputes regarding the quality of imported grain.
That same year, the SGS was founded in Rouen , France by a young immigrant from Latvia. He saw the opportunities in one of the largest ports in the country and began inspecting French grain deliveries. He borrowed money from an Austrian friend and checked the incoming deliveries in Rouen as the amount of grain on the transport was decreasing. Shrinkage and theft were the reason. By inspecting and verifying the quantity and quality of the grain on arrival with the importer, he strengthened the exporter's rights. The business grew rapidly. After the two entrepreneurs began their joint operations in December 1878, they opened branches in Le Havre , Dunkirk and Marseille within a year . One of the first innovations was the “ Full Outturn Guarantee ” (FOG), which SGS still offers today. With this service, the exporter is compensated for any loss of grain due to the transport, if SGS can inspect the freight both during loading and unloading.
By 1913 the company had grown into one of the leading grain inspectors. In a network of 45 branches across Europe, 21 million tons of grain were checked every year. During the First World War, the company relocated from Paris to Geneva, Switzerland in 1915 to continue its work in a neutral country. Since July 19, 1919, it has been called Société Générale de Surveillance .
SGS began diversifying in the middle of the 20th century. Since then, inspection, testing and verification services have been offered for a variety of market segments, for example in the areas of oil, gas and ores (this area generates around a third of sales), industry, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. In 1981 the company went public.
The current structure of SGS with ten business areas in ten geographic regions was introduced in 2001. In 2002 the later CEO of FIAT , Sergio Marchionne , led the group out of a serious crisis. The holding company Exor held a 15% stake in SGS, which was sold to Groupe Bruxelles Lambert in June 2013 for € 2 billion .
The fall in raw material prices in 2014/15 gave rise to an intensified search for new business areas. In Chile, for example, SGS is the largest provider of laboratory services, which are primarily provided for the mining industry. With the decline in investments in copper mining, sales also decline here. The strategic considerations for diversification are currently moving in the direction of food safety, consumer protection, e-commerce and data analysis and are aimed primarily at the North American and Chinese markets. In 2017, consolidated sales were CHF 6.3 billion.
Services
SGS provides its services in ten business areas , which are divided according to industries:
- Agriculture - The Agricultural Services offered include seed services that support production efficiency, trading services to minimize risk, inspection & training, supply chain services for better goods control and tracking, and collateral management services.
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Automotive - In the automotive sector, SGS auditing services include the design, construction and operation of vehicles for governments, manufacturers, dealers, financial institutions and insurance companies.
eBay: eBay Motors supports vehicle inspections by SGS Automotive and provides the relevant web links for making an appointment. - Consumer Testing - This segment provides services in the field of quality for which compliance ( English compliance ) and the safety of consumer products. These include, for example, textiles, household appliances, furniture, food and electronics. Services are product reviews, factory reviews, product reviews and shipping controls.
- Environmental - Environmental impact assessments, audits, training courses, studies of air and water quality and services in connection with climate change are part of this business area. Environmental also develops sustainable solutions for governments and industry.
- Governments and Institutions - The services in this division help governments and institutions comply with legal requirements that promote economic growth. The business area increases the efficiency of trade and business development and facilitates “ good governance ”, responsible governance and sustainable development.
- Industrial - Industrial Services offers quality and safety services for plants, materials, equipment, facilities and projects. Users are owners and operators of facilities in industries such as oil and gas, energy generation and transmission, wind energy, construction and production, but also banks and financial institutions.
- Life Science - The laboratory services in this business area include a. quality control testing of ingredients in drugs for the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries. Another area is the conduct of clinical studies .
- Minerals - This is about testing services for coal and coke, noble and base metals, steel and raw materials for steel production, biofuels, fertilizers, cement, industrial minerals and diamonds. The business area deals with everything that has to do with exploration, feasibility studies, production, trade, commercial applications, recycling and mine closure.
- Oil, Gas and Chemicals - All services provide assistance in finding onshore and offshore oil fields and analyzing and extracting oil and natural gas from these fields. This applies to the phases of exploration, evaluation, development, production and logistics. Other services relate to the processing, storage and transport of crude oil and natural gas, refining, distribution and retailing.
- Systems and Services Certification - This business area focuses on audit, certification, training and consulting services for management systems in the areas of quality, environment, occupational safety, social responsibility, safety and business continuity . In this way, the department helps ensure that international and local norms or customer-specific standards are complied with.
management
The structure of SGS: SGS is divided into ten business areas and works in ten regions. Each business area is led by an Executive Vice President (EVP). Each region is headed by a Chief Operating Officer (COO). The EVP and the COO together with the functional Senior Vice Presidents (SVP) and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Group, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and the General Council form the Operations Council.
Chief Operating Officers are Pauline Earl (Western Europe), Ladislav Papík (Southern and Central Europe), Dirk Hellemans (Northern and Central Europe), Teymur Abasov (Eastern Europe and Middle East), Fred Herren (Africa), Kimmo Fuller (North America), Alejandro Gomez de la Torre (South America), Helmut Chik (China and Hong Kong), Malcolm Reid (Southeast Asia and Pacific), Dennis Yang (East Asia).
Senior Vice Presidents are Carla De Geyseleer (CFO), Jean-Luc de Buman (Corporate Communications and IR Corporate Development), Olivier Merkt (Legal & Compliance) and Dominique Ben Dhaou (Human Resources).
Executive Vice Presidents are Derick Govender (Minerals Services), Thomas Klukas (Automotive & GIS), vacant (Life Science Services), Olivier Coppey (Agricultural Services), Francios Marti (Industrial Services), Richard Shentu (Consumer Testing Services), Jeffrey McDonald (Systems & Services Certification), Alim Saidov (Oil, Gas & Chemicals), Peter Possemiers (Environmental Services) and Roger Kamgaing (Governments & Institutions Services).
Subsidiaries
The subsidiaries of the German subsidiary of SGS SA include:
- SGS Institute Fresenius
- SGS-TÜV Saar (together with TÜV Saarland )
- SGS Gottfeld NDT Services GmbH
Involvement in corruption affairs
The World Bank recommends, u. a. Pre-shipment inspection (PSI) carried out by SGS as a means of combating corruption and especially for countries with low tax incomes and high corruption rates. In the early 1990s, SGS was also convicted of making illegal payments of millions to government employees and their relatives. Immediately after this corruption affair, the "Code of Integrity" was introduced throughout the group. Among other things, payments were made to the then husband of the Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto , the later (2008-13) President Asif Ali Zardari . The SGS is said to have been involved in further corruption cases in Paraguay and the Philippines .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Investor Relations - Reports and Presentations
- ↑ Fiat owner Exor sells SGS stake for 2 billion euros. In: THE WORLD. June 3, 2013, accessed October 13, 2016 .
- ↑ Jean Pierre Kapp: The Swiss testing company SGS is looking for new business fields worldwide. In: NZZ, International Edition, December 30, 2015, p. 13.
- ↑ SGS accelerates sales growth. In: Handelsblatt. January 23, 2018, accessed July 26, 2018 .
- ^ EBay Motors - Car and Truck Inspections . Retrieved October 2, 2009.
- ↑ Code of Integrity (English).
- ↑ Judgment of the Ehtesab Bench of the Lahore High Court in the references against Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari. Judgment of Zardari, Retrieved February 9, 2010.
- ↑ SGS Société Générale de Surveillance SA v. Islamic Republic of Pakistan (ICSID Case No. ARB / 01/13). Retrieved February 10, 2010.
- ↑ ICSID Case No. ARB / 07/29.
- ↑ ICSID Case No. ARB / 02/6.
- ↑ James S. Henry: SGS, Pakistan, and the "Pre-Shipment Inspection" Racket Transnational Criminals - Part 4. (PDF; 254 kB) Investigation of the PSI industry in the context of fighting corruption.