SAB-profiel › History
EnglishSAB-profiel in 20 milestones
Before 1973
Steel construction company Bentstaal from IJsselstein imports and sells profiled steel panels from Germany.
1973
In IJsselstein, Bentstaal-owner Sybrandus Adrianus van Bentum (yes, that’s where the abbreviation SAB comes from) opens the first company in the Netherlands to produce profiled steel panels. Its first products are 35, 40 and 96 profiles. The first two of these are still being made today. Very quickly, a setting shop is added and a roller to produce structural liner trays. As the company grows, the number of profile-roll bending machines increases too. Right from the start, SAB commits itself to high product quality, to being a reliable business partner and to intensive collaboration with suppliers and customers.
1980
When the first profiled cladding crosses the border into Germany and Belgium, the company slowly starts to develop a dealer network in Germany.
1988
A first in Europe: a production location for sandwich panels is built in Nieuwegein. SAB-profiel becomes part of Koninklijke Hoogovens. A coincidence? No, it makes the company the biggest buyer of painted rolls from IJmuiden
1993
The company continues to grow: a second sandwich-panel line is added. Besides PUR and PIR panels, line 2 produces rock-wool panels for many years.
1995
Two acquisitions give SAB-profiel international status: Montana in Switzerland and Cladding & Decking in England. The company’s name can also be found in the geographical centre of Germany: SAB-Profil in Niederaula.
1998
Another first: SAB-profiel is the first panel and profile factory in the Netherlands to obtain ISO-9001 certification for quality management. And yet another: Europe’s first profile with a height of 205 mm and a working width of 750 mm, suitable for spans of up to 10 metres.
The whole product range now includes almost 60 profile shapes, including the symmetrical SAB 45/900 profile. Big customers place orders. These include Shanghai airport, which needs more than 400,000 m2 of perforated aluminium sinusoidal panels.
1999
Koninklijke Hoogovens and British Steel merge to become Corus. Montana becomes a sister company and Cladding & Decking is integrated into Corus Building Systems UK.
2003
Who better to approach to supply the exterior cladding for the office of the future than the supplier of the future? The panels to be used for the ‘Living Tomorrow ‘ office are given a special two-tone coating.
2005
Stronger and stiffer than any other structural liner tray on the market: SAB-profiel introduces new geometry for structural liner trays.
2006
Red and black, the club colours of professional football club AZ. And also of the façade panels that SAB-profiel supplies for the stadium in Alkmaar. What makes these panels special is their 50-um PUR coating and long guarantees.
2007
Tata Steel buys Corus. SAB-profiel is now part of the Tata Steel Building Systems group, together with Montana in Switzerland, Fischer Profil in Germany, Monopanel in France, Tata Steel Building Systems Scandinavia and Tata Steel Building Systems UK.
2009
The new airports in Qatar and Dubai learn about the quality SAB-profiel has to offer when they order more than 200,000 m2 of profiled cladding. SAB-profiel innovates again with the development of the 106 profile. Its new shape makes it stronger and stiffer than any of the 106 profiles already on the market. The company also experiments with phase change materials (PCM), which earns it a Tata Innovista Award and a presentation to Ratan Tata.
2011
SAB-profiel is the first company to produce and supply long roof panels to the construction industry. Thanks to special vacuum lifters developed with ViaVac, fitters no longer have to manually lift the heavy panels out of the package. This gains SAB-profiel a place in the finals of the FNV Arbo competition. The following new design profiles are developed: Pyramid, Pagoda and Diamond.
2012
SAB profile is certified for EN 1090-1 (the CE marking for structural steel profiles). The first projects with Carrier sandwich panels are a fact.
2015
SAB-profiel is the first panel and profile factory in the Netherlands to be certified for ISO 14001 (environmental management). And to achieve an Rc value of 4.5? SAB-profiel comes up with the solution, in the form of a new structural-liner-tray design, in collaboration with Isover.
2016
Sustainability is gaining ground. And SAB-profiel is leading the way by supplying and constructing the very first logistics hall to be completely demountable: Fokker 7 at Schiphol is built in line with the cradle-to-cradle principle.
2018
Another certification advantage. SAB-profiel becomes the first panel and profile factory in the Netherlands to be BES-6001 certified (responsible sourcing). ‘FM Approval’ opens up the US market as well.
2020
The time has come to extensively modernise and expand production. The new factory opens in Geldermalsen, with two advanced production lines to produce improved sandwich panels. The factory is gas-free and the 4,500 solar panels on the roof supply almost all the energy the factory needs. The first new products to be made at Geldermalsen are thicker sandwich panels, a sinusoidal roof panel and eco sandwich panels.
2023
After almost 20 years, we are introducing a new, modern, recognizable and fresh SAB logo! A new logo in which the shape of our building in Geldermalsen is reflected. The font and colors have also been adapted to this time.
2023
Other sustainability improvements are achieved: SAB-profiel is the first panel and profile factory to obtain a CO2 Performance Ladder certificate. We have reduced CO2 emissions by 65% in just three years!
Fifty years of innovations at SAB by Rene Timmerman
Fifty years of SAB-profiel. If there’s anything that SAB-profiel has been passionate about throughout its 50-year history, it’s innovation. In products, production facilities and now – most importantly of all – in sustainability. Innovation has made SAB-profiel the company it is today: one of the Netherlands’ top three suppliers of profiled cladding and sandwich panels and very popular with its neighbours in Germany as well. Innovation has been the driving force behind the company’s growth in the last half century and it can’t afford to be complacent now.
SAB-profiel today
Presently, market leader SAB-profiel has around 160 employees in the Netherlands and counts the whole of Europe as its sales area. Our range is wide and comprises wall and roof panels, deep deck profiles, shallow deck profiles, liner trays and various kinds of facade profiles. For intermediate processes, clients can also come to the right place: perforation, slitting and embossing are carried out in house.
The future: Innovation and development
SAB-profiel is happy to take advantage of the ever increasing requirements by continuing to put the emphasis on quality, flexibility and a high service level for our customers. New developments and innovations will play an ever greater role in the future.