KNF Verder
The heart of the Netherlands is home to one of KNF’s long-term business partners. Once just a wholesaler, Dutch firm Verder in Vleuten is now a renowned supplier of solutions for process engineering and industrial pumps and systems. A fruitful commercial relationship between KNF and Verder is first established in the early 1960s after Erich Becker and André Verder meet at an exhibition and immediately realize that they have a lot in common. KNF and Verder are able to effectively pool their expertise and profit from this synergy – and their mutual affinity.
In 1991, the two family-run companies take their business relationship a step further when they found the joint venture KNF Verder Benelux b.v. Now, nothing stands in the way of efficiently tapping into the Benelux market. KNF Verder’s favorable central location enables it to reach its customers by car in no more than two hours, eliminating the need for intermediaries.
A second office is opened in Belgium in 1996 to better meet the needs of the Belgian market and to cover Luxembourg as well. Since 2002, the Belgian subsidiary KNF Verder N.V. has been based in Aartselaar just south of Antwerp. Both the Dutch and Belgian subsidiaries share buildings with the Verder Group.
KNF’s corrosion-resistant pumps soon capture the Dutch market owing to its strong chemical and petrochemical industries. It is also from here that OEM pumps for use in analytical systems and industrial digital printing systems, to name just two examples, find their way to the customers. Liquid pumps gradually take off across the Benelux region and the process manufacturing industry becomes another important customer.
But, of course, it isn’t all work with no play. Emphasis is also put on building a positive atmosphere with a good work-life balance. A beer after work or the friendly football matches between the Verder sister companies in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany are just as important for creating a community feel as the company parties held to celebrate momentous occasions.
KNF and Verder still each own 50 percent of the company today. The joint venture has lasted an unusually long time and the fact that it is still going strong is testament to the close bond between these two family-owned companies in the second generation.
With the second-generation owners at the helm, the story of the joint venture between the Verder Group and the KNF Group has entered a new chapter, in which Andries Verder and Martin Becker are upholding the traditions put in place and building on their fathers’ successes.
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