You’ve already seen a bit of the history of two SoftExpert units here: the United Kingdom and Iberia. Now it’s time to find out about our subsidiary in Germany. Let’s take a look?
SoftExpert Germany started operations in 2018, in Darmstadt. The subsidiary was the first in Europe, opening the way for the company, which gained space, little by little, on the continent with the opening of other units, including in Iberia, the United Kingdom, Italy and France. This branch is currently headquartered in Leipzig and its operations mostly cover the DACH countries (Germany, Austria and Switzerland). This subsidiary’s operations also cover other regions, such as Eastern Europe, the Middle East and some countries in Africa.
As Europe’s wealthiest economy, manufacturing in Germany is highly developed, based on technology used and productive efficiency. Industrial activity is mostly concentrated in the states of Baden-Württemberg and Nordrhein-Westfalen, which hold over half of Germany’s manufacturing companies, which are leaders in the global market.
Markets like Medical Devices, Pharmaceuticals and Auto Manufacturing are very strong in the country and have remained stable throughout the pandemic. Other notable sectors include Financial Services and Technology, which have garnered opportunities for the company in 2021.
We spoke with Tobias Schroeder, the Business Executive at SoftExpert Germany who has been with the company for over 20 years and has helmed the subsidiary since 2020. Tobias notes that the unit has dedicated efforts to consolidating partnerships. “Considering the cultural plurality and variety of languages in the territory we serve, we feel that a local presence through a network of partnerships makes a difference. We currently have 29 accredited partners, 80% of which we gained in the last 18 months,” he says.
This partner network has already started to show results, as was the case of National Electronic Systems, the first customer in Saudi Arabia. In 2021, we also closed some projects in Africa, as well as a GRC project in Liechtenstein, and we are very close to gaining our first Russian customer.
“The plan for 2022 is to focus our efforts on the DACH countries. Each new customer helps to strengthen the SoftExpert Germany operations, but we are aware of the huge potential in the region where we are and this is where we want to lay down our roots.”
European Operations
SoftExpert has seen average growth of 30% over the last two years, driven mostly by the food and beverage, pharmaceutical, and health services segments. The company opened its first branch office in Europe just four years ago and has already surpassed the 100 customer mark, serving such giants as Unilever, Grupo Calvo, Pescanova, Bomi Group, Dinex and Climate Fund Managers.
Tobias points to the work done on the continent, particularly the union and synergy among branch offices and strategic partners, aimed at consolidating the brand in Europe. We expect results to further intensify throughout 2022, geared toward the operation’s sustainability and cooperating to achieve profitability for the organization as a whole.
“We’ve approached the Europe project as a team activity. CEOs at European units are very close and each achievement at a unit is celebrated by everyone,” he adds in closing.
