REVOLUTIONARY CONCEPT
The story of the company begins in 1881, when Willem Nooteboom opened his own smithy in the village of Kethel, a stone’s throw from Rotterdam. Very soon the business expanded: from carriage builder to producer of semi-trailers, tippers and cranes. The company continued to grow until it found its specific purpose in 1953. Because in that year Marinka Nooteboom’s grandad came up with the ‘’swiveler’: a semi-trailer with swing-out axles. ‘This meant that the transport operator could simply drive his load onto the trailer’, says the managing director. ‘A for the time revolutionary concept that laid the foundation for the design philosophy we still abide by today: our products must be robust and reliable, easy to operate and have a low total cost of ownership.’
CLEVER DESIGNS
Last year the 350 employees of the ‘trendsetter in trailers’ achieved a turnover of around 85 million euros. These days the portfolio comprises a wide range of semi-trailers for special transport. Marinka: ‘Only by continuing to improve will we be able to stay one step ahead of the competition. For example, an eye-catching innovation was the Super Wing Carrier, developed by our company a few years ago. The latest generation of windmills have rotor blades that can be up to 70 metres long. Carrying those on the existing extendible semi-trailers was no longer an option. So we developed this trailer, combining a huge load capacity with optimal manoeuvrability.’
‘I have always been encouraged to make sure I choose my own path’
Another recent innovation is the MANOOVR, a semi low-loader with an ultra-low load floor and high axle load (see video below the article). ‘From the load floor to the rear lights: our design team gave every detail a great deal of thought. The trailer is extremely manoeuvrable in spite of the large number of axles. And the tyre wear – a large cost factor for transport operators – is minimal, thanks to the clever design.’
CONTINUITY
Before Marinka took the helm – the first woman to do so – in 2012 from her father Henk, she worked in the financial sector for 12 years. ‘I have always been encouraged to make sure I choose my own path and I see it as added value that I bring knowledge and experience from a different sector. I started out as managing director in a time of crisis and of course we were affected too. Fortunately we have now found the way up again.’
FAMILY BUSINESS
To what extent plays the fact that Nooteboom is a family business a role in this? ‘In theory we are no different from a ‘normal’ company. But perhaps we are a bit more interested in the long-term perspective. This is also one of the reasons why we pay so much attention to the development and training of our personnel: ultimately the innovation capacity lies in our people.’ Ready for the next 135 years then? ‘As far as I’m concerned – definitely!’
This article is part of the dossier ‘Made in NL’. At MT we believe that the Netherlands should be more proud of its manufacturing companies. With ‘Made in NL’ the MT wants to promote the sharing of knowledge within and about the sector and to provide a platform for the manufacturing companies. So that we are rightly proud of the hidden champions of the manufacturing industry. Joining MT in this mission are the following partners: Centraal Beheer Achmea, MBCF, NIBC, Salesforce and TNO.
