Testimonials

Helmut Berchtold has worked as a consultant for our US-subsidiary Steinbeis Packaging US in Boothwyn, PA between January to July 2004.

The Boothwyn plant has been started in November 2002 and did not succeed in 2003 to reach an acceptable level of quality and productivity.

At the end of 2003 we changed the plant management and hired Helmut to help the new group in restructuring the entire plant with special focus on workflows, productivity, production planning, and administration. With his help production waste has been reduced by 9% and the overall cost structure was reduced by 20%. Customer satisfaction has been brought back to a normal level and the plant achieved its first break even month since start-up.

Helmut is a straightforward, clear thinking and practical person, who is looking for quick results.

I recommend him as a crisis manager for any emergency situation.

Michael Steinbeis, CEO
Steinbeis Packaging Group

 

Helmut Berchtold represents the consummate professional consultant.

His intelligence and broad background contribute to his quick grasp of the client’s process strengths and deficiencies. After only a brief analysis of the situation, Helmut gets straight to the heart of the problem(s) directing analytical work and corrective action wherever appropriate. In this capacity he works tirelessly at all levels of the client’s organization:

• Strategic -- integrating his plans and proposals into the clients overall strategies and/or direction; working closely with top management and its staff.
• Leadership -- works within the client’s leadership structure, coaching and mentoring the various members of the management team regarding their respective roles in the change process.
• Operational -- works directly on the shop floor analyzing needs, developing corrective action plans, coaching shop-floor level personnel in the new and/or revised procedures which he, himself is not above producing directly.

Helmut has the perceptive ability to identify problem areas outside the client’s realm of vision. In so doing he provides the client with a broader vision which usually expands the solution to more completely satisfy the needs of the client.

His language skills permit operating in a multi-lingual environment. (In this case, German) He provided invaluable help to our multi-national Company, readily translating, for interchange, all types of communications (e.g. procedures, drawings, specifications, etc.)

Helmut’s approach begins with developing close professional relationships throughout the client organization, thus winning cooperation from most everyone. It is my conclusion that Helmut Berchtold can be an asset to any organization with whom he works.

Dr. Paul P. Caruso, Ph.D.
General Manager – U.S. Operations
Steinbeis Packaging Group

 

Netupdate, Inc. provides software solutions and services to the mortgage lending industry in an ASP (application service provider) environment. In an effort to preserve our company’s leading edge position, Helmut Berchtold was contracted to review our entire IT environment, our systems scalability, the skill set of our technology staff, and our short and long term ability to provide reliable and highly available systems to our customers.

Organizational framework and infrastructure have a profound impact on the success of the IT department. Although there was minimal downtime recorded in the department, my sense was we were at risk in areas such as outdated hardware, software licenses, and inappropriate employee skill sets. In addition, I was concerned about other areas of potential risk that were not so obvious to me.

Within a very short period of time, Helmut assessed and absorbed the current situation, made recommendations to eliminate risks, improve the hardware environment and streamline the IT operation of our company. Thanks to him, we restructured our entire existing IT resources and hired the appropriate skill sets to complement this new organization.

Helmut Berchtold saved Netupdate a great deal of money! For example, we are now in the process of consolidating a multitude of servers. Not only does that leave us with less, faster, and more reliable hardware but it also drastically reduced our need to purchase/upgrade expensive software licenses. Based on Mr. Berchtold’s recommendation, we replaced an employee that recently left to pursue other opportunities with an appropriately skilled individual at a yearly savings of $30,000 in salary cost. Furthermore, we became aware of an opportunity to consolidate several computer racks at our co-location facility providing us with instant savings of several thousand dollars per year. What we can’t quantify is the cost of the risks that were lurking that Helmut kept us from experiencing.

Without hesitation, I would recommend Helmut Berchtold for an overview or detailed analysis of any Information Technology department in any industry.
Thank you, Helmut!

Diane Holmstrom, CEO
Netupdate, Inc.

 

One of our portfolio companies hired Helmut Berchtold to review its IT environment, systems scalability and the skill set of its technology staff. Within a very short period of time, Helmut assessed and absorbed the current situation. He made recommendations to eliminate risk, improve the hardware environment and streamline IT operations. Helmut’s work was concise, actionable and impactful. I would recommend him to any of our portfolio companies.

Mark Klebanoff
Managing Director
Alexander Hutton Venture Partners

 

We at Rainbow Software International (Limited) first met Helmut in Osaka Japan in 1999 during the World Trade Centers International Conference. Helmut was spearheading a drive to bring together technology companies from several countries around the, then ahead of its time, "e-Marketplace" for the World Trade Centers and their 500,000 global members. We found his ability to bring innovation and structure to technology and  multi-cultural relationships exceptional and key to the fast paced development of this very complex project. Attempting to merge technologies and business relationships across borders and cultures is fraught with many unseen pitfalls.  Helmut helped us navigate these pitfalls with uncanny insight and professionalism.

Timothy Straw
Managing Director
Rainbow Software International (Pty) Ltd
Cape Town, South Africa

 

We engaged your company in an effort to guarantee the best possible utilization of our personnel and to streamline our existing work flows. Additionally, we commissioned you to develop and install a planning and reporting system, which would allow middle and top management to undertake effective resource planning. Due to your keen analytical and conceptual abilities was it possible to achieve both goals completely and to our utmost satisfaction.

During the project, we came to value your consulting experience along with your ability to learn quickly and utilize this new knowledge in developing solutions to existing problems. Your down to earth approach, creativity and compassion for all our employees were instrumental in achieving our goals. We highly recommend your services to any of your future clients. 

G. Ohligschlaeger Chairman of the Board VHV Insurance Hannover, Germany

Dr. J. Sabasz Member of the Board VHV Insurance Hannover, Germany

 

When we started up our web site development and hosting company, we needed help in packaging our services into a product that would not only be successful, but profitable as well.

We were fortunate enough to utilize the services of SAGA Systems.

SAGA Systems helped us analyze the current marketplace, aligned our company assets to maximize productivity and guided us through our first year. Based on the solid foundation and proper focus that SAGA Systems gave us, we have been able to grow at a rate above the industry standard. Their expertise in the areas of new business start-ups and e-business structuring for success has proven to be invaluable.

Joseph C. Bergamo
President
Full Service Web Sites, LLC

 

...Mr. Berchtold provided outstanding results time and again.  He was able to motivate his staff to increase productivity to ensure that the goals of the corporation were consistently met and/or exceeded.  His ability to successfully navigate through international business situations became a valuable asset to our group.  

Some of Mr. Berchtold's most notable accomplishments were:

1. Restructuring our foreign currency accounting department resulting in a dramatic reduction in accounts receivables and effective currency hedging.
   
2. Establishing company-wide procedures for the purchasing and leasing of assets. This included negotiating national vendor arrangements and installing asset controls. Also, set-up management guidelines to ensure administrative consistency throughout the branch offices.
   
3. Spearheading a review of the technological infrastructure and communication networks utilized throughout the company.  After recommending a streamlined solution, he led the implementation of a comprehensive, company-wide IT infrastructure and communication network joining 53 US offices. This led to the interconnectivity of our North American offices to our offices worldwide.

Mr. Berchtold's successes while working within our company continue to be utilized and mimicked by our managers and employees today.

Manfred Engst
Executive Vice President, COO
Schenker, Inc.

 

Our company was contracted to design and develop a comprehensive IS system for an international real estate firm.  The system needed to include an intranet capable of supporting their internal administration requirements as well as an internet presence to support their clients externally. 

SAGA Systems played a key role in the design and planning phase of the project. The project involved intranet and extranet design and integration as well as complex database solutions.  Their expertise in choosing state-of-the-art tools and vision for future growth allowed us to propose a viable and cost effective solution. 

We have nothing but the highest praise for the work that SAGA Systems performed and the professionalism that they brought to the project. 

Eddy Solbrandt
Chairman
GPR Dehler