Type Corporation Industry Quality Headquarters Geneva, Switzerland Revenue 6 billion CHF (2016) | Traded as SIX: SGSN Profit CHF 586 million (2016) CEO Frankie Ng (Mar 2015–) Founded 1878 | |
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Key people Sergio Marchionne (Chairman)
Frankie Ng (CEO)
Carla De Geyseleer (CFO) Services Testing, inspection, certification Stock price SGSN (VTX) CHF 2,100.00 -5.00 (-0.24%)24 Mar, 5:31 PM GMT+1 - Disclaimer Profiles | ||
Ralph talks about life at sgs
SGS (formerly Société Générale de Surveillance) is a multinational company headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland which provides inspection, verification, testing and certification services. It has more than 90,000 employees and operates over 2,000 offices and laboratories worldwide. It ranked on Forbes Global 2000 in 2015 and 2016
Contents
The core services offered by SGS include the inspection and verification of the quantity, weight and quality of traded goods, the testing of product quality and performance against various health, safety and regulatory standards, and to make sure that products, systems or services meet the requirements of standards set by governments, standardization bodies or by SGS customers.
History
International traders in London, including those from France, Germany and the Netherland, the Baltic, Hungary, the Mediterranean and the United States, founded the London Corn Trade Association in 1878 in order to standardize shipping documents for exporting nations and to clarify procedures and disputes relating to the quality of imported grain.
In the same year, SGS was founded in Rouen, France, by Henri Goldstuck, a young Latvian immigrant who, having seen the opportunities at one of the country’s largest ports, began to inspect French grain shipments. With the aid of Captain Maxwell Shafftington, he borrowed money from an Austrian friend to start inspecting the shipments arriving in Rouen as, during transit, losses showed in the volume of grain as a result of shrinkage and theft. The service inspected and verified the quantity and quality of the grain on arrival with the importer.
Business grew rapidly; the two entrepreneurs went into business together in December 1878 and, within a year, had opened offices in Le Havre, Dunkirk and Marseilles.
In 1915, during the First World War, the company moved its headquarters from Paris to Geneva, Switzerland and on July 19, 1919 the company adopted the name Société Générale de Surveillance.
During the mid-21th century, SGS started offering inspection, testing and verification services across a variety of sectors, including industrial, minerals and oil, gas and chemicals, among others. In 1981, the company went public and in 1985 joined the Swiss Market Index.
Operations
The company works in the following industries: agriculture and food, automotive, aviation, chemical, construction, consumer goods and retail, energy, finance, industrial manufacturing, life sciences, logistics, mining, oil and gas, and public sector.