INTERVIEW WITH TEGOMETALL GROUP

The Tegometall Group was founded in 1968 and is now an internationally successful family-run company in the fields of shop fittings and storage equipment. It is headquartered in Lengwil, Switzerland. In addition to developing and producing high-quality shelving systems, Tegometall’s portfolio of services ranges from development to the final inspection of shelving at the premises. The highly specialised Tegometall Group factories are located in Europe and have a total of around 100,000 m2 of production space. To facilitate continuous product development, manufacture large-scale and customer-specific single-unit production, and achieve its sustainability goals, Tegometall relies on cutting-edge production facilities. The in-house water treatment facilities at the production sites contribute to the protection of groundwater, among other duties, whilst Tegometall’s own photovoltaic systems cover 40 per cent of its average power consumption. In addition, environmentally friendly means of transport such as rail and electric vehicles ensure that the company saves around 4,500 tonnes of CO2 per year. In 2022, Tegometall was awarded with the Deutscher B2B-Award 2022 in the “Shopfitter” category for its great price–performance ratio and high level of customer satisfaction. The company has nine sites in Germany, France, Poland, Slovenia and the United Kingdom in addition to its headquarters in Switzerland.

Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?

Tegometall: The two main areas of activity are shopfitting and storage technology. Tegometall provides a comprehensive range of shopfitting solutions for various retail environments. This includes shelving systems, gondolas, display racks, and other fixtures designed to organize and showcase merchandise effectively.

Shelving Solutions: Tegometall specializes in producing high-quality shelving systems suitable for both retail and storage applications. Their shelving units are designed to be versatile, adjustable, and durable, allowing their clients to maximize space utilization and adapt to changing needs. They offer different types of shelving, such as wall-mounted shelving, freestanding units, and specialized display shelves.

Tegometall also assists retailers in store design and planning processes. Their expertise lies in creating functional and visually appealing store layouts that facilitate effective merchandising and customer flow. They collaborate with retailers to develop customized store concepts, incorporating their shopfitting systems and fixtures.

In the field of storage technology, the focus lies on racking solutions and configurations for a wide variety of requirements in the storage space. The efficiency of the overall system always comes first: maximum flexibility is achieved with a minimum of picks.

E.E: What’s the news about new products?

Tegometall: The portfolio is being expanded into two areas. Higher flexibility with Tego R25 and higher load capacity with TegoStrong. In this way, we are responding to customer demand for ever higher floor efficiency.

Tego Strong 

With its compatibility with the renowned Tegometall product range, the new Tego Strong offers increased overall shelf load capacity, including individual shelves. It maintains the same spatial requirements as the previous 8×3/11×3 columns. The product boasts an excellent price-performance ratio and ensures consistently high availability and manufacturing capacity. Furthermore, the utilization of Tego Strong reduces logistics efforts, particularly for customers currently relying on welded stands.

Tego Pitch 25

Tegometall has presented during Euroshop 2023 its shelving system Pitch R25 (25mm) with center back and footboard H10. This system is more and more requested in shopfitting. The French market, for example, is positioning itself exclusively in Pitch 25 and center back panel for store fitting. Pitch 25 has two main advantages: In height it is possible to position a shelf every 25mm.  In depth, the central back panel allows to increase the sales area by another 25mm, because the shelf can be used more effectively in depth. The customer can thus increase the number of products and increase sales. In the case of the R25 column with H10 footboard, the lower part of the shelf can be used more effectively. As a result, a higher number of shelves can be planned.

E.E:What are the ranges of products?

Tegometall: From the planning of the layout to the final assembly, we provide the customer with the complete service package around the shelving equipment. Depending on the area of application, the customer can choose between our tried-and-tested TegoClassic shop fitting shelving or the flexible TegoTwo-in-One solution if pallet storage is required on the sales floor.

TegoClassic is the highly functional standard shopfitting solution from Tegometall. With a total of more than 10,000 possible components, it can be optimally configured to suit the requirements of the individual retail industries and product groups. Open foodstuffs such as baked goods or fruit and vegetables can be presented just as attractively as magazines, toiletries and household items, drinks, tools and building materials. The spacing of the tried-and-tested 50 mm pitch, which can bear up to 460 kg, can be changed to 25 mm using the reversible brackets for this purpose. Users who require their shelves to be placed closer together must therefore no longer resort to less resilient 25 mm pitch systems. This solution is especially popular in food retail, as the reversible brackets let retailers benefit from both the higher load capacity of the 50 mm pitch as well as the more precise mounting options of the shelves.

TegoClassic is constructed simply and precisely, and can be assembled by the user themselves in almost no time at all. Tegometall ensures this in its highly automated production sites, where the tolerances of the individual components are kept to a minimum. As this means there is very little offset, the shelves can be configured to fit the shop floor, right down to the last centimetre, so that the available space can be used optimally and there are no unpleasant surprises when setting up. Upon request, Tegometall can also assist users with shopfitting, as the company’s services include everything from layouting to the final assembly. To do this, the shopfitting specialists first inspect the sales areas and then create a concept for optimum goods presentation together with the user.

TegoTwo-in-One combines different elements from the fields of shop fittings and storage technology to create new and unique solutions and business models.  The TegoTwo-in-One shelves with integration shine the spotlight on Tegometall’s highly innovative approach and the ability to consistently meet the requirements of both retailers and consumers. This combination of the optimal presentation of goods and efficient storage solutions has enabled the company to revolutionise a multitude of hypermarkets and DIY stores in just a short space of time. In fact, these special shelving systems are already providing global retail chains with tangible benefits that deliver the best of both worlds.

E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active?

Tegometall: The market is in absolute flux, the demands for digitalisation and increasingly efficient shops are rising inexorably. At this point, we offer the customer the reliable partner it needs in such times. Our product portfolio offers the right solution for every application. In addition, our perfect delivery performance and high quality contribute to cost reduction in the overall process. This is what our customers appreciate about us.

E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?

Tegometall: The trend in food retailing is becoming more urban. The number of city centre shops is increasing rapidly, which poses special challenges for the entire shopfitting sector, as high space productivity must be achieved here and this only works with the right shelving. For these cases, Tegometall offers various solution systems around the TegoClassic product line, so we can support the customer in the best possible way in realising his goals.

E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?

Tegometall: The R25 product line is not so much an innovation as a revolution. While the full focus was last on the TegoClassic, the customer can now experience the Tegometall core values with a Pitch 25 system as well. With this innovation, we are taking our message of being a reliable, European supplier to new target markets.

E.E: What estimations do you have for 2023?

Tegometall: The dynamics in the market are higher than ever, the overall cost pressure for expansions and conversions has increased significantly on the customer side. With modern production facilities, high capacities and short delivery routes in Central Europe, we are optimally equipped to meet the needs of the market.

https://www.tegometall.com