Falou, a memory of Sicsoe

August 2, 2016

“The men of yesterday are those who have made today’s company. ”

At Sicsoe, everyone knows Fayçal Maheddine by the nickname Falou. The 47-year-old driver is a man of heart and memory. He took his first steps at Sicsoe in 1994. A time when the company was installed in Floirac and had the ambition to position itself as the key contact for traders and wine producers.

Falou, a memory of Sicsoe

Family beginnings of Sicsoe

While Sicsoe existed for less than 10 years, Falou was hired regularly as an interim worker at the winery. In 1994, the team was barely twenty people, compared to 65 today. The former interim worker recalls a time when there was no 22,000 m2 building in Cenac but a single and unique warehouse:

“When I arrived we were working in a warehouse with very little light. We were coping as we could. We repaired all the machines ourselves. I was a locksmith and I had done mechanics. With a little common sense, you got there“.

These family working conditions made of the employees and managers of Sicsoe a very united team:

“We worked on Saturday and Sunday to complete orders. The men of yesterday are those who made today’s company“.

In 2002, the first change comes with the move to the new premises in Cénac. The first building was constructed. Others came to adapt to the work tool to the growing customer demand. Falou, self-educated and broken by the exercise of organization, offers the then-director to reorganize the manual chain for order preparation and storage.

Sicsoe, from a “4L to a Rolls Royce”

Promoted team leader, Faisal Maheddine oversees a team that grows from year to year. From 2008, the buildings are redesigned. “We went from a 4L to a Rolls Royce! ” smiles Falou, who is hired on a permanent contract that year. This is a new beginning for Sicsoe with unprecedented investments totalling 18 million euros. “That was needed. We work better thanks to the new tools. ”

To develop the wine logistics company, an adequate computer system is set up. A new winery and a safe are installed and working methods are rethought. The conditioning lines are also improved, as the sales platform. Finally, certifications and quality labels are guaranteeing the expertise of Sicsoe. A total of seven years of work and reorganization were needed to achieve the objectives and meet (even) better the clients’ needs.

If the company has experienced strong growth, the beginning’s friendly moments and team spirit remain. “What I look for above all in the business is humanity,” says Falou, a value dear to the living memory of Sicsoe Wine Logistics Solution.