History

In 1923, Coen Nolte senior began an electrical installation company on the Tongelresestraat in Eindhoven. This included a workshop in which mounting hardware, switchboards and installation cabinets were produced for the various installation projects. After the war, this work was expanded to include lamp posts, metal products for Philips Telecommunicate and the PTT, and bolts and nuts for use in the aviation industry and blast furnaces.

In the 1950s, the company began manufacturing emergency lighting systems. This was such a success that Nolte remained the leading producer in the Netherlands for many years. At the beginning of the 1980s, Nolte EMI began to turn its focus towards working as an industrial subcontractor. Océ became an important customer at this time, both for sheet metal parts as well as assembled printed circuit boards.

In 1984 a decision was taken to begin moving away from production of the company’s own products. Several years later the management decided to capitalize on the trend of the large outsourcers to subcontract at module level on the basis of framework contracts. In 1989, Stork took over the Nolte concern. Nolte EMI became Stork Nolte EMT. In 1999, it was decided to split off the PCB assembly activities to form a separate operating company: Stork Electronics. The assembly and sheet metal fabrication company was given a new name: Stork Industrial Modules.

In 2004, Stork Industrial Modules was taken over by VDL Groep and the company has been known ever since as VDL Industrial Modules.