50 years Getriebebau Nord

A success story with future

1965 – The start of a success story

1965
Foundation of Getriebebau NORD GmbH + Co. KG by Günter Schlicht and G. A. Küchenmeister in Bargteheide near Hamburg

Right from the very start, the young company relied on a high level of quality and the latest technologies. Over the years, there was an increasing depth of production, an increasing range of products and the start of an international presence as early as the 1970s – our strategy for success!

Getriebebau NORD started as a supplier of geared motors. In those days the company produced gear unit housings, shafts and flanges, while all other components were purchased externally. With the inauguration of our own gear production in 1977 we took the first step towards increasing our depth of production and ensuring a high standard of quality.

Since setting up our own electronics production in the middle of the 1980s NORD has become a complete drive solution supplier. The establishment of our own motor factory in Italy in the 1990s considerably improved the flexibility of the company. We have always invested in the very latest technology for each new division and have increased our know-how in order offer customers the very highest quality at all times. Parallel to this, NORD has orientated its activities to the international market and founded our first foreign subsidiaries more than 35 years ago in the USA, Sweden and France. Today, NORD is always close to its customers on all five continents, with our own assembly and service facilities. NORD DRIVESYSTEMS is one of the world's leading complete suppliers of mechanical and electronic drive technology.





NORD Drivesystems exterior building in Glinde, Germany

1970 - 1979

1977
Establishment of our own gear wheel production in Glinde, near Hamburg

1979
Foundation of a subsidiary company with its own housing and shaft production in Waunakee, WI, USA

  • NORD Gear Corporation, USA

Foundation of subsidiaries in France and Sweden
  • NORD Réducteurs S.A.R.L., France
  • NORD Drivsystem AB, Sweden

1980 - 1985

1981
Development of the revolutionary Unicase housing construction for all gear units

1982
Foundation of a subsidiary in the Netherlands

  • NORD Aandrijvingen Nederland B.V.

1983
Establishment of our own electric motor production

1984
Start of our own electronics production in the Aurich factory in Lower Saxony

1985
Foundation of a subsidiary in Austria
  • Getriebebau NORD GmbH, Austria

NORD Drivesystems exterior building in Brampton, Ontario

1986 - 1990

1986
Foundation of a subsidiary in Canada

  • NORD GEAR Limited, Canada


1987
Foundation of subsidiaries in Italy and Belgium
  • NORD Motoriduttori S.r.l., Italy
  • NORD Aandrijvingen België NV, Belgium


1989
Foundation of a subsidiary in Denmark
  • NORD Gear Danmark A/S Denmark



NORD Drivesystems exterior building in Gadebusch, Germany

1991 - 1995

1991
Inauguration of housing and shaft production in Gadebusch, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Start of the "Global NORDnet" intranet. This system enables all NORD plants to communicate with
each other more easily and increase the speed of their response.

1992
Foundation of a subsidiary in Spain

  • NORD Motorreductores S. A., Spain


1993
Foundation of a subsidiary in Switzerland
  • Getriebebau NORD AG, Switzerland


1994
Foundation of subsidiaries in the UK and the Czech Republic
  • NORD Gear Limited, UK, United Kingdom
  • NORD Pohánèci Technika s.r.o., Czech Republic


NORD Drivesystems exterior building in San Giovanni Persiceto, Italy

1996 - 2000

1996
Establishment of our own electric motor production in San Giovanni Persiceto, Italy.

Foundation of subsidiaries in Turkey and Singapore

  • NORD DRIVESYSTEMS Güç Aktarma Sistemleri San. ve Tic. Ltd. Şti., Turkey
  • NORD GEAR Pte Ltd, Singapore


1997
Foundation of a subsidiary in Slovakia
  • NORD-Pohony, s.r.o., Slovakia


1998
Foundation of subsidiaries in Finland, Hungary, Norway, Poland and Croatia
  • NORD Gear Oy, Finland
  • NORD Hajtástechnika Kft., Hungary
  • NORD GEAR NORGE AS, Norway
  • NORD Napędy Sp. z o.o., Poland
  • NORD Pogoni d.o.o., Croatia


1999
Foundation of a subsidiary in Brazil
  • NORD Drivesystems Brasil Ltda., Brazil


2000
Start of decentralised drive technology

NORD Flexbloc worm drive unit

2001 - 2005

2001
Foundation of a subsidiary in Indonesia
- PT NORD Indonesia, Indonesia

2002
Market launch of the modular UNIVERSAL worm gear unit system

2003
Foundation of a subsidiary in Ukraine and Russia

  • Getriebebau NORD GmbH, Ukraine
  • NORD PRIVODY, Russia



2004
Establishment of motor and gear unit production in Suzhou, near Shanghai, China
- NORD (China) Power Transmission Co., Ltd., China

2005
Establishment of component production in Nova Sol, Poland.

Foundation of subsidiaries in India and Slovenia
- NORD Drivesystems Private Limited, India
- Getriebebau NORD GmbH, Slovenia

Inauguration of the high bay storage facility at the Bargteheide site

Nordbloc 1 Helical Inline Gear Units

2006 - 2010

2006
Introduction of the NORDBLOC.1 gear unit

Foundation of subsidiaries in Mexico and Romania

  • NORD DRIVE SYSTEMS S.A. DE C.V., Mexico
  • S.C. NORD Drivesystems S.R.L., Romania


Opening of the new production facility for electronic products at the Aurich site

2007
Foundation of a subsidiary in Portugal
  • Nord Drivesystems PTP, Lda, Portugal


2008
Foundation of subsidiaries in Australia
  • NORD Drivesystems (Aust) Pty Ltd, Australia


2009
Introduction of the NORD industrial gear unit series with sizes off up to 242,000 Nm

Foundation of a subsidiary in Vietnam
  • NORD Gear Pte Ltd – Vietnam Representative Office, Vietnam


2010
Expansion of the Bargteheide site, enlargement of the assembly area for industrial gear units and doubling of the size of the high bay storage facility

NORD Drivesystems exterior building in Tianjin, China

2011 - 2015

2011
Opening of a second factory in China, in Tianjin, near Beijing

2012
Foundation of a subsidiary in South Korea
- NORD Drivesystems Co., Ltd. Korea, South Korea

2013
New construction of a further production facility in Suzhou, China

2014
For the first time, the NORD DRIVESYSTEMS Group achieved sales of more than 500 million Euro.

Foundation of a subsidiary in Morocco
- NORD Réducteurs Bureau de Liaison Maroc, Morocco

2015
Inauguration of the new administration building at the headquarters in Bargteheide

Commissioning of a new painting plant at the Bargteheide factory

50th anniversary of Getriebebau NORD