History

In 1975 Piet Noordzij establishes a trading company in steel profiles in Zwijndrecht under the name Kontinex Steel (KS). In a short time the business is blooming. Client demands are becoming more specific and additional operations such as punching, slitting and folding are required. In order to be able to offer customised solutions, Piet purchases his own profiling line in 1978, with which a team of his own employees would produce U and L-profiles from strip steel up to 500 x 4 mm. Subsequently, also C-profiles are produced.

In order to be able to meet the specific needs of the clients, KS starts making its own tools for the profiling lines. From our own tool shop, each client receives their own set of customised tools.

KS’s growth continues and the ambitions are high. The market share for KS increases significantly when 5 profiling lines of Thomas Regout from Maastricht are taken over. This means a significant expansion of the product range, which can serve an even greater number of clients. The production of increasingly complex profiles is expanding rapidly, as is KS’s specialist expertise.

The number of clients in Europe is growing strongly. That’s why in May 2005, KS Profiel GmbH is founded in Wuppertal, Germany. This sales office focuses mainly on the German market. In November of the same year, KS opens a new branch at the Transitoweg in Moerdijk. A new slitter for strip steel is installed in this factory in the pre-painted and thin thickness range from 0.4 to 4 mm.

For founder and director Piet Noordzij it is time to share the management of the company. After having gained extensive experience in all departments of the company in previous years, his son Leendert Noordzij joins the Board of Directors. At that time, KS had approximately 90 employees and half of its turnover came from abroad. There are 12 profiling lines for punched standard and complex profiles and spring laser welding is also possible. In addition, a state-of-the-art slit line and a fully-fledged tool shop are in full operation. KS makes is increasingly known as a client-oriented all-rounder with profiles and the demand for specific, specialised profiles increases. The Research & Development department is started. Thanks to metallurgical and structural know-how, engineering ingenuity and in-depth client knowledge, new innovative profile solutions are developed here, both on request and on our own account.

The knowledge and experience with profiling lines has grown to such an extent that KS Profiel decides to build the next profiling line itself. The profiling line is designed and drawn from the engineering department, which has grown considerably in the meantime and has now been renamed the Profileertechniek department. The control software is also developed in-house. The construction of the line is carried out entirely in-house, so that the profiles can be produced exactly as desired by the clients. The maintenance of the profiling lines is also is also carried out in-house.

In order to unburden clients as much as possible, KS Profiel increasingly supplies added materials to the profiles, such as connectors, bolts and nuts, base plates, complete stairways, and so on. The demand for these Special Products is increasing to such an extent that a separate Special Products department is created. The Special Products department also takes care of urgent deliveries of profiles, which have to be folded instead of roll formed. All system parts for a construction up to fully assembled elements are delivered to the clients. This department quickly demonstrates its existence with extremely rapid growth, where it also independently products to clients without profile orders.

KS Profiel has become an industrial company whose turnover has doubled since 2013. KS Profiel employs approximately 250 people and more than 80% of its turnover is generated worldwide. In order to further shape this strong growth, KS profile sets new standards for the future. There is more focus on strategic client groups, which will be served even more broadly. Extreme customer orientation is the strategic starting point, expressed in the new slogan ‘Profile solutions you really want.’ A new distinctive corporate identity in the form of a profile-styled elephant reflects this vision. The Band and Plaat unit are named KS Service Center and becomes independent as a new entity that serves its own client portfolio.

Sustainable production is an important part of Ks Profiel’s corporate philosophy. Ample time and attention has been paid to minimising and sustainably processing waste flows for some time now. In the summer of this year, 3,100 solar panels will be installed on the roof of the Apolloweg production site. These are supplied by the company Van der Valk, a client of KS Profiel. The energy generated by these panels accounts for one third of the energy consumption.