With growing demand in the technology sector in Belgium, SACI TECHNOLOGY is pleased to announce the opening of its new branch in Brussels in 2024. This strategic expansion aims to strengthen our presence in the Belgian market and offer local support to our partners.

Our team in Brussels will use its cutting-edge expertise to meet our customers’ technological challenges, providing tailor-made solutions and local service.

INTERVIEW WITH ALEXANDRE ANDRADE, CO-DIRECTOR OF THE TOULOUSE AGENCY

Can you tell us what led you to co-direct the new SACI Sud-Ouest branch?

A.A. First and foremost, it was a meeting of minds. Michael, with whom I’d worked for several years, told me that SACI Technology wanted to set up in Toulouse. Enthused by the challenge of addressing all the industries in the region, I met Bernard. That meeting confirmed that we shared a common vision and, above all, the same human values.

What sets your agency apart from others in the region, and what are your core values as co-directors?

A.A. It was certainly the human adventure that convinced us to embark on this project. We want to create an environment of trust with our employees, by being attentive and caring. As far as possible, we want to offer our employees assignments that match their career aspirations, to support them as they develop their skills, and to give them the role of the company’s first representative to our customers. Each employee will have a real role to play in the development of SACI Technology Sud Ouest.

We also want to develop a relationship of trust with our future customers by developing and offering strong technical expertise, thanks to our employees.

What are your short- and long-term objectives for the agency in the South-West?

A.A. The first objective will be to recruit and develop an experienced team with strong technical expertise in the various strategic businesses we have defined.

In order to surround ourselves with trustworthy people and experts, we meet and talk to former colleagues and acquaintances that Michael and I have come across in our past experiences. Several of them will be joining us very shortly.

In a second phase, we will be recruiting less-experienced staff and providing them with support to help them develop their skills, thanks to our experts.

In a few years’ time, we hope to have several dozen consultants joining the SACI Technology Sud Ouest family, enabling us to address all the region’s industries, including aeronautics, space, rail and pharmaceuticals.

What are the benefits of using your services?

A.A. Technical expertise and experience in various engineering and project management professions. Michael and I have spent part of our careers in the technical field. This is very important to us, because it gives us a good understanding of our customers’ expectations and a very good knowledge of the market. A relationship of trust is also based on transparency and an ability to respond to our customers’ challenges, such as end-to-end approaches and process innovations.

What are the main services your agency offers in this region and how do you plan to meet the specific needs of the local market?

A.A. We address different areas of activity, such as manufacturing engineering, engineering and digital, in order to meet the challenges faced by local manufacturers, such as ramping up production, reindustrialisation and the ecological transition….

This will involve technical expertise, innovative ideas, digital solutions and, above all, pragmatism to define high added-value solutions to very specific industrial problems.

What are the key values you look for in your team members and how do you ensure they are integrated into the company culture?

A.A. Listening, transparency, helping each other out, especially when it comes to pooling skills or developing new ones. Michael and I both love team sports. This notion is also important because it is what will help us to surpass ourselves, to support each other and to move forward together to achieve our ambitions. Our model of technical expertise cannot be based on individuals.

What message would you like to pass on to readers who are discovering your agency for the first time in this region?

A.A. SACI Technology Sud Ouest is a team of enthusiasts who share the same human values and have a wealth of expertise. We are convinced that, with these ingredients, we will be a serious player in solving the region’s industrial challenges.

INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL RIBIÈRE, CO-DIRECTOR OF THE TOULOUSE AGENCY

Can you tell us what led you to co-direct the new SACI Sud-Ouest branch?

 M.R Having heard of SACI technology’s desire to set up in the regions via mutual friends (thanks to Antoine Chauvigné and Brice Comment), Bernard and I met to discuss the opportunity of opening an agency in the south-west, a region that is not only booming with aeronautics and space, but also with industries such as railways, food processing and pharmaceuticals. We very quickly realised that we shared many common values, in particular the vision that industry is above all a story of men and women, of encounters and a passion for technology, to name but a few… On this basis, everything followed quickly and naturally, in particular with Alexandre, with whom I have worked for many years and who quickly wanted to take up this challenge with us!

What sets your agency apart from others in the region, and what are your core values as co-directors?

M.R Our wish is to develop SACI Sud Ouest on the basis of simple principles that are dear to our values, namely benevolence, skills, commitment and transparency, whether with our future employees or our future clients! The idea is to match our future employees’ wishes for assignments and career development as closely as possible with the needs of our future customers, in order to develop a SACI Sud Ouest mindset in which each employee is not just a number, but a player in the company’s development by acting as an ambassador for our customers and also for candidates wishing to join us! The idea is to be recognised for our skills and reliability in a spirit of co-construction between SACI Sud Ouest, its employees and its customers.

What are your short- and long-term objectives for the agency in the South-West?

M.R In the short term, the idea is to build up a solid base of skills and experience that will enable us to respond quickly to our customers’ technical challenges… Following the announcement of the creation of SACI Sud Ouest, a number of profiles, met by myself or Alexandre over the years, have contacted us to discuss opportunities to join us! Two former colleagues, experts in their respective fields, have already decided to take the plunge and will be joining us in the next few weeks!

Gradually, we will also be integrating young engineers and technicians, who will be able to benefit from all the experience of this initial base in the form of accelerated apprenticeships, training or consultancy. In 3 years’ time, we plan to have around fifty employees and a diversification of business lines in the various industrial sectors of the South West.

What are the benefits of using your services?

M.R Professionalism, experience (the first 4 employees of SACI Sud Ouest have a combined total of over 70 years’ experience in engineering in the broadest sense (design, calculations, from R&T to series follow-up, including product development), project management, team management, etc.), responsiveness, know-how, adaptability and transparency are our greatest assets. With SACI Sud Ouest, the idea is to offer our customers turnkey, long-term solutions… The technical expertise of our start-up team, our knowledge of the market and the various businesses that make it up are all added values that will enable us to quickly stand out from the crowd!

What are the main services your agency offers in this region and how do you plan to meet the specific needs of the local market?

 M.R The declared desire to re-industrialise France, the necessary ecological transition, the digitalisation of companies and the arrival of AI, the return to common sense following the realisation that the financialisation of industrial companies to the detriment of technical aspects has its limits, as Boeing has unfortunately demonstrated with its setbacks over the last few months, as well as the quest for meaning among employees multiplied by the Covid period, are all factors that allow us to be optimistic for the development of SACI Sud Ouest…

Supporting these changes requires a bold, unwavering commitment combining expertise, experience, technical and digital skills to deliver high added-value solutions to our customers.

What are the key values you look for in your team members and how do you ensure they are integrated into the company culture?

 M.R Commitment, benevolence, altruism, pedagogy, the desire to grow and achieve, and a collective spirit are the key values that we look for in our future employees…these values, coupled with the fact that our ambitions are based on quality rather than quantity, will enable us to build long-term relationships of trust with our future customers and with our future employees.

What message would you like to pass on to readers who are discovering your agency for the first time in this region?

M.R The creation of SACI Sud Ouest is above all a human adventure initiated by seasoned professionals who share sound, solid values… Setting up in Toulouse, France’s first industrial city, with its plethora of service companies, is a real challenge that only our differentiation will enable us to meet!