Tim Rane, president and CEO of Parthenay, France-headquartered GSE supplier SOVAM, says that the company, which had some tough times prior to its acquisition by new owners in July 2017 (most specifically, lacking working capital to expand, or even support current operations), is back on the path to sustained success
“Business [since the acquisition] has been really good,” Rane says. “We put the right capital into the business and the company has grown.” SOVAM had 48 employees in July last year; it now has 67, and the expectation is that a few more may be added before 2018 is out.
Sales have grown strongly over the past year, with demand for the company’s cargo tractors, small tugs, toilet and water, stairs and maintenance platforms having been particularly healthy. “We looked at what the business did well – notably specialised GSE chassis – and focused on that,” Rane says. And that strategy certainly appears to be paying off.
“We are starting to see some profitable months now,” he points out. In fact, all months would now be profitable were it not for the investment in people, equipment and facilities that is ongoing (and naturally has an effect on the bottom line), Rane remarks.
SOVAM currently has three facilities at its French base. The main plant undertakes assembly work, another is used for parts storage and a third is fully equipped for refurbishment work. All three are experiencing significant growth.
Looking forward, priorities include modernising some of SOVAM’s product to ensure it is compliant with the latest regulatory and market demands – such as the stringent emissions control that governs GSE production in many regions of the world and ‘soft approach’ systems for interfacing with composite aircraft.
Another SOVAM priority is to expand its existing hybrid and electric models to reach across all product categories – to have electric and diesel engines for all GSE types, Rane informs.
Further staff will be taken on, particularly engineers. “We have already increased engineering capacity [ie, staff] by 50% but expect to double this over the next year,” he promises.
The focus will continue to be on SOVAM’s traditional markets in Europe, the Middle East, Russia and Africa, but another newly added string to the product portfolio bow that has been especially popular of late is its GSE rental offering, Rane says.
This offering is actually provided by the GSE rental specialist that Rane owns independently, airGSE (as well as being president and chief executive of SOVAM, Rane has continued in his previous role at the head of airGSE).
“The vendor-financed programme that we offer is a great asset to us,” he says. SOVAM and airGSE are two completely separate businesses that stimulate growth in each other’s areas, he concludes.
