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Schaefer Systems

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Schaefer Systems Reviews

3.6

51% would recommend to a friend

(146 total reviews)

Steffen Bersch

57% approve of CEO

41% positive business outlook

Schaefer Systems has an employee rating of 3.6 out of 5 stars, based on 146 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Schaefer Systems employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Manufacturing industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

146 reviews
1.0
20 Jun 2013

Would not recommend this company to anyone

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Many neat, one of kind technologies. Most content manufactured in house.

Cons

The neat, one of kind technologies are not accessible to most companies (even the large ones) due to initial and residual expense to maintain. Most don't see an ROI so tough to sell. Management is dysfunctional and yet arrogant. Borders on beng a hostile workplace in the US. German engineering is king here. The company does not really like or respect sales and marketing. Both are underpaid compared to the industry. US engineers must absolutely defer to European counterparts. Recent mass exodus of project management, engineering and sales professionals will most likely have a very negative effect on long-term growth. Schaefer has a true cultural problem.

2.0
3 Jun 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

-The outside sales reps aren't micro-managed, and are given a lot of space to do their job. -Benefits and compensation is pretty good. -Company has a vast product offering, and they manufacture 90% of it in-house.

Cons

-Their sales training is a joke - only covers product knowledge & brief overview of returnable pkg. in the auto industry, but they provide ZERO advanced sales training & they won't reimburse you if you seek this type of training from outside sources. -Management constantly compares your sales numbers with other reps sales numbers, but does not provide any individual performance reviews to assist you in identifying areas for improvement. -Very difficult company to sell for because they are anywhere from 10% - 25%+ more expensive than their main competitor, Orbis. When selling a commodity, it's hard to justify this big of a price difference. -Sales reps/Packaging Specialists are required to be their own customer service rep, handle order status questions, address quality concerns & issues with late orders. This makes it extremely difficult to focus on the reason they hired you to begin with: Sales (prospecting, offering solutions, qualifying opportunities, providing quotes & samples, meeting with potential & existing customer, etc.). Who has ever heard of a multi billion dollar company NOThaving an inside customer service Dept.?!? --They are constantly hiring new sales reps to replace ones that have left, so employee retention is a serious problem (more so in the north than the south). - Overly focused on landing individual orders & not long-term relationships with customers

5.0
4 Dec 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Innovation: SSI Schaefer is an engineering company at heart. Change is a constant at SSI and products are re-imagined every 6-8 months. In my 5 years at SSI, I have seen many iterations of product development with aggressive goals. This pace of product development leaves engineering with a constant flow of challenges requiring innovative engineering solutions. No matter where you are in the organization there is constant need to develop new skills and think of continuous improvement opportunities. This is a dream employer for someone who enjoyed automation, technology, and technical challenges. Comp. and Benefits: SSI tries to stay competitive with other automation OEMs. The total comp. package is pretty good if you factor in benefits, training investments, and work atmosphere. SSI’s merit and incentive plans are based on pay-for-performance. If you are an A player who works to develop their skills and delivers solid performance then you will be well compensated for it. Development and Growth: When I was still at SSI, growth was mostly based on stretch roles. People with high growth potential and willingness to take on challenges are offered additional responsibilities and promotions. If you are an independent self-starter individual who seeks a challenging and satisfying work environment, then you will be successful. In a Nutshell: I had a challenging and satisfying job, felt a sense of accomplishment at the end of each day, met a lot of cool people, learned a lot of technical and soft skills, and got paid well enough to have a good life.

Cons

SSI can benefit from having a more structured training and also better operator manuals.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 146 Reviews

Glassdoor has 165 Schaefer Systems reviews submitted anonymously by Schaefer Systems employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Schaefer Systems is right for you.