Company milestones

Norbert Kordes —
a family business with tradition and experience.

The history of Norbert Kordes speaks for itself. Since 1955, our company has been successfully working on guaranteeing the high quality of our products and the highest levels of customer satisfaction.

Read our timeline for a vivid picture of our corporate history and the personal dedication of everyone involved, on which over 60 years of Norbert Kordes’ success is founded.

1955

Kordes starts producing flexible cables and ready-made connecting leads in Uslar-Sohlingen.

Kordes – Milestones
Women at work on Kordes’ first final product inspection.

1958

Purchase of the Sohlingen site. Kordes begins manufacturing installation cables.

Kordes – Milestones
The Sohlingen plant with factory buildings, administration and residential blocks, early 1960s.

1961

Kordes purches the Lindau plant at auction and relocates the production of installation cables. The company also invests in the first wire drawing machine.

Kordes – Milestones
Factory yard of the Lindau plant before its alteration and commissioning by Norbert Kordes.

1963

The production of flexible cords with injection-molded plugs begins at the newly operational Offensen plant, and successfully continues until 1975.

Kordes – Milestones
Norbert Kordes (l.) with his brothers and employees at the construction site of the Offensen plant.

1970

At its peak, the company employs a regular staff of 369. In 1970, total wages amount to 602,922 working hours; 13.9 kg of product are manufactured for each paid hour.

1975

The problematic nature of labour-intensive manufacturing in Germany forces Kordes to abandon the production of ready-made cables. Cast wire rod is used instead of rolled wire.

Kordes – Milestones
Delivery of cast wire rod in one of the company’s trucks.

1980

The first computer system is bought! Productivity per paid hour has almost doubled since 1970. Kordes celebrates its 25th anniversary.

1985

The first multiple wire drawing machine goes into operation at the Sohlingen plant. In Lindau, the production of PVC granulate is switched from bagged to silo materials, and to an automatically controlled preprocessing.

Kordes – Milestones
An employee at the control panel of the automated PVC preprocessing facility.

1990

The number of employees falls, the number of paid working hours is half that of 1970, but productivity per man-hour quadruples.

1995

Kordes invests to a hitherto unprecendented extent: in a second multiple wire drawing machine for the Sohlingen plant, and in PVC preprocessing in Lindau. Good operational profits result in the payment of bonuses to employees.

Kordes – Milestones
One of the new silos arrives at the Lindau plant.

2000

More investment, this time primarily in logistics: Kordes builds a fully automated high-rack warehouse and optimizes the production process.

Kordes – Milestones
The storage and retrieval system in the high-rack warehouse.

2005

A radical overhaul of the computer system and the subsequent implementation of new corporate software.

2010

The product range is increased, with emphasis given to halogen-free cables.

2015

Modernization and expansion of the machinery, commissioning of a fully-automated drum winder, construction of an additional extrusion line and installation of a new copper drawing machine.

Kordes – Milestones
Fully automated drum winder.

In 2015, Kordes celebrated its 60th corporate anniversary. We are best placed to meet the challenges of the future.