50 years of Kusters: from garden gate to the semiconductor industry
In 2023, Kusters is an important player in the semicon industry. But how did Kusters originate and grow into the company we know today? Former owner Jan Kusters takes us through history.
50 years ago, Adriaan Kusters, father of Jan, worked at Philips in Oss. In the evenings he did some odd jobs as a hobby. For example, he made steps and garden gates, but he also dragged a lot of skates in the winter. As a 12-year-old boy, Jan sometimes helped out and the technique was actually taught to him from an early age. After a while, the first real customer arrived – someone who actually asked for an invoice – and thus registration with the Chamber of Commerce became a fact. The projects in the shed slowly became a hobby that got out of hand. In addition to the 40 hours that Adriaan worked at Philips, he also worked about 60 hours a week at home. The shed soon became too small and a move to a building on the Saksenweg was a fact. After attending secondary technical school, Jan became Kusters’ first official employee at the age of 20, and Adriaan continued to work for Philips all this time.
In the early days, Adriaan told Jan in the morning what had to be done that day, before he left for work. The roles soon turned and Jan told his father in the evening which customers had called and what was planned for the next day. Kusters continued to grow and after 42 years, Adriaan resigned from Philips at the age of 57 to further expand the company together with Jan. During that period, approximately one employee was added per year and the company grew steadily. The customer base also grew, not only companies from Oss managed to find Kusters, but also increasingly companies from the (wide) area and later even international customers were attracted.
Save first, then spend
Jan’s parents always lived by the motto ‘first save, then spend’ – they did not even have a mortgage on their house – and that did Kusters no harm. Even in the difficult years surrounding the financial crisis in 2008, money was made and, unlike many companies in the industry, Kusters managed to hold its own well. “In all those 50 years, we have never had to fire anyone for economic reasons,” says Jan Kusters.
Kusters continued to grow, in 1990 Jan bought out his father and started running the company together with Piet van Duijnhoven. Piet and Jan were at the helm together during a period of great growth for Kusters. Later Jan took over Piet’s shares again and 10 years ago Jan got the opportunity to take over Wilting. Wilting was about 3 times bigger than Kusters at the time, so it looked a bit like David took over Goliath. But by working very efficiently, Kusters earned considerably more at the time. Only 1 in 5 Kusters employees was not behind a machine, which ensured low overhead costs. Later, other companies were added, creating the predecessor of the Andra Tech Group as we know it today and of which Kusters is part.
Fresh soup every afternoon
What is unique about Kusters is that there has been little staff turnover over all these years. Mother Kusters certainly played an important role in this. She was the one every afternoon until 1985
provided fresh soup in the canteen, something that is still the standard at Kusters aan de IJzerweg.
Jan is now watching from the sidelines to see how Kusters develops further. “I’m happy that things are going so well for Kusters. When I look back on all the years that I have been able to lead Kusters, I am especially proud that we accomplished things that others did not even dare to start. And that too in a time frame that always seemed impossible beforehand. With the right knowledge and good staff
we made prototypes and emergency work that other companies could not copy. Where others came up with 100 excuses as to why something was not possible, we went to work to serve our customers optimally. For me, the customer was always number 1, they were the boss and determined what I did. That makes Kusters unique and a wonderful company to work for.”
“There are often 100 excuses not to try something, but at Kusters we actually get to work.”
“Getting something done that others wouldn’t dare to do, and in a time frame that seemed impossible beforehand. Those are the things I look back on with pride.”