Corporate values
The corporate characteristics

Our values
Everything we believe in
Health with certainty. It is often the little things in life that are the most important. In everyday medical practice sometimes a single gram can make all the difference in terms of our health. With seca you have a partner at your side supplying you with the basis for your work at the highest level: with ultra-precise, timeless modern scales and measuring systems. Since 1840 we have been paving the way for measuring and weighing, making us the worldwide market leader in our field. This trust encourages us to continue with the same level of commitment everyday.

Our innovations
Real assistance
It is because of our users that we are so interested in inventing new things again and again. Your wishes and criticisms are decisive factors that often put us ahead of our times. As a company filling in the gaps of new market requirements by shortening the time required for routine procedures and avoiding errors, we are advancing product solutions that simplify your work.
Our history
The history of a successful family business

An entire lifetime with seca
Yesterday, today, and tomorrow
Working with the same subject matter since 1840, seca is dedicated to providing high-precision, timelessly modern scales and measuring systems. You could say that we have excessive aspirations because we attempt to come as close to perfection as possible. For over 170 years, we are simply passionate about our work.

1840
The birth of the market leader.
The young and ambitious metalworker A.C.C. Joachims would have been an apprentice with distinction in today's world. His employer was the monk and mechanic Alois Quintenz who had already invented the decimal scale in Strasbourg in 1821. The clever apprentice acquired the necessary knowledge from him and brought it to Hamburg. Joachims went on to found Germany's first scale factory on July 11th, 1840. He primarily produced weigh bridges, decimal scales, Roberval balances, and column scales that he sold all over the world. A small factory developed out of the metalwork shop whose luster faded when Joachims died in 1874.

1888
The takeover by the
current family of entrepreneurs.
Things picked up again with a young businessman. The mechanical engineer Frederik Vogel bought the scale factory in 1888, expanded the product range, and introduced the brand name "seca" which he had copyrighted in 1897. The name is derived from the Latin word "secare" meaning "to cut." Why? Because one cut plays an important role in the measuring accuracy of a mechanical scale.

1904
The move to Wandsbek.
At the start of the industrial revolution Frederik Vogel moved the company from Königstraße in the Altona district to the Hammer Steindamm in Wandsbek in 1904. The headquarters of seca is still located there today. Just about every doctor was already familiar with and using the mechanical scales with the red logo in the first half of the 20th century because they are considered especially durable thanks to their high quality.

1934
The next generation.
seca had already survived World War I and the Great Depression as Frederik Vogel passed the management of seca on to his son Robert. The new CEO carried the company through the difficult time of World War II and started with the reconstruction immediately afterward. His skill paid off, because seca quickly became famous for its groundbreaking developments.

1970
The winds of change with a new concept.
Sönke Vogel succeeded his father as the head of the company after his death. He expanded the market leadership of seca with a new strategic orientation. His concept was to concentrate on medical measuring and weighing with top precision. "When it comes to weighing, use seca scales!" Delivery vans with large advertisements drove through the city presenting and selling the new products, always very close to the customer.

2001
Nice recognition.
Inside and out: seca products are proud to show what they are made of. These efforts were rewarded with the special award for exceptionally groundbreaking design. The seca 664 wheelchair scale was honored with the "red dot design award: intelligent design" by the Design Zentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen.

2010
The fourth generation.
Since Sönke Vogel stepped down from the area of operations into the advisory board in 2010, seca has now been run by the fourth generation. The company is now in the hands of his sons Robert Vogel (CEO Marketing & Sales) and Frederik Vogel (CEO Development & Financing). Thomas Wessels is CEO Finance & Services. seca thereby remains a 100% family-owned company – and market leader.

Today
Present worldwide.
Could the young mechanic A.C.C. Joachims have imagined this back in 1840? Without his sense at that time for the needs of millions of people in the future, seca would not have been as successful worldwide today. We are always trying to think one step ahead. Our high-precision medical products are now exported to 110 countries. Which will be the 111th?
Social responsibility
Everyone can help

Improving the world hand in hand
In only takes a little time...
Those who have must give to those who have less. A voice, an ear, a hand – time. That is part of our social responsibility that we emphasize at seca. We feel that the doctors, nurses, and employees of medical facilities who selflessly pursue their humanitarian mission even under the most difficult conditions are society's true heroes.

Mission in Tsévié, Togo
Dr. Jörg Nitschke- Supporting the fight against Buruli ulcer
Buruli – the little sister of leprosy Buruli ulcer is a gruesome disease, which is often referred to as “the little sister of leprosy”, as it too can cause disfiguration. Buruli most frequently affects residents of remote villages, particularly in West Africa. People there are forced to use stagnant water for personal hygiene and laundry and children usually play in the ponds. The disease is triggered by a mycobacteria ulcerans infection, which is carried by water insects indigenous to rural areas. Like leprosy patients, Buruli sufferers are often ostracized. Approximately half of those affected by Buruli ulcer are children below the age of 15 years.

Two rehabilitation centers in India
Valuable therapy for sick children
Children mean the world for our future. The North German aid organization sponsors an orphanage, a school, and several educational measures in the South Indian village of Myladi. Together with the Hamburg specialist for orthopedics Dr. Jürgen Zippel, the aid organization constructed a children's orthopedic center with a connected rehabilitation center: The Children’s Orthopaedic Centre (COC).

Commitment in Eritrea
Aid for preemies
Survival in Eritrea is a challenge right from the very beginning. In order to increase the chances of survival for premature births, the humanitarian organization "Hammer Forum e.V." has been providing practical aid in an intensive care unit for newborns since 2003: Twice a year a doctor and two nurses from Germany volunteer their services to the neonatal intensive care unit of the Eritrean capital of Asmara. They treat the little patients and train the staff. seca covered all of the costs for flights, accommodation, care, medication, and medical equipment in December 2009.
Sustainability
Why long-lasting success is only possible when working together

Life is valuable
So are our resources
Nothing is taken for granted. Who will save our planet if we don't do it ourselves? No one can afford to be wasteful with valuable resources. When we at seca say that "nothing carries more weight than life" then that applies to more than just our scales and measuring instruments. It also applies to valuing the tireless commitment in doctors' practices, clinics, and nursing homes as well as all of the places in Earth where people come together.
We all have to pull together in order to permanently preserve what is good. We feel that this is a healthy attitude.

In good conscience
Our red is 100% green
When we develop a new product, it has to fulfill many requirements. Not only does it have to perform valuable services for you, but it must also be good for the environment. That is why we are extremely careful when dealing with our planet's resources. So that even the fifth and all following generations of seca can fully benefit from the implementation of innovative ideas.

Keep it clean with environmental protection
Anything else would be garbage
At seca, environmental protection begins as early as the planning phase. From Hamburg to China - in every seca branch worldwide. Everywhere where the materials for our scales and measuring systems are finally produced and machined.

Just don't waste any energy!
Everyone is thinking together at seca.
At seca we enjoy providing incentives for switching over from cars to alternative forms of transportation such as the "Biking-Fun" campaign that connects environmental protection and health. Or with attractive allowances for bus and train tickets so our employees always reach the office free of traffic.

In harmony with nature
A service provider with environmental consciousness
Service means serving. Outwardly as well as inwardly. Valuing property by caring for it. That is how possessions become objects of value. This also includes the sensible use of raw materials. That is why we regularly replace delivery vehicles that have high mileage in our fleet with vehicles with the latest BlueMotion technology. That alone saves on fuel by 10 to 15 percent in comparison.

Delivered as ordered
Everyone bears part of the responsibility
The big picture is made up of many little pieces. Each part has to fit to get the best possible result. That is why we only work together with partners and suppliers who have internalized this requirement and want to continue to develop together with us. This includes compliance with the set framework and working conditions as well as measures for the continual improvement of occupational safety. Naturally child labor, corruption, and discrimination are out of the question in all areas.