PRYSMIAN NORWAY
This is Alf Tandberg. He owned Tandbergs Destillation and became the first managing director of A/S Norsk Kabelfabrik, a position he held from 1933 to 1944.
Norway's prohibition years brought Tandbergs Destillation and aquavit production to a halt. Tandberg, Temte and Resch therefore found A/S Norsk Kabelfabrik.
Tandberg Farm was originally the district judge's residence in Nedre Eiker. In 1838 the building was moved and rebuilt at Øvre Storgate 18 in Drammen. A/S Norsk Kabelfabrik had its offices here from 1913 to 1963.
The factory workers formed a trade union and named it Verkstedklubben – "the workshop club". The founding documents from this meeting are dated 17 March.
Elektrisk Bureau, a manufacturer of telephones and telephone exchanges, acquired a majority stake in A/S Norsk Kabelfabrik.
The company bought the world's first electric plastic extruder. Among other things, it produced a specialty cable for the Norwegian State Railways.
During the German occupation, rationing leads to cuts in production at the factory. Rather than making workers redundant, management and staff agree to shorten working hours. The company also sets up a timber-felling crew for those left without enough work – sparing them the scheme that put unemployed Norwegians into forced labor for the Germans.
The workforce reached 200 – twice the number employed before the occupation.
The company wins NEMKO approval for the first plastic insulated Norwegian cable.
A/S Norsk Kabelfabrik demonstrated the first self-supporting figure-8 cable for Telegrafstyret, the Norwegian telegraph directorate.
The development department made efficient and result-oriented use of modern technology.
Large-scale production lines and prospects for growth called for a new, modern factory. In 1963 a 25,000 square-metre factory was ready at Holmen.
To ease the journey back and forth to the industrial area, Holmenbrua bridge was built – and the company contributed no less than NOK 550,000 to make it happen.
Computers made their entrance to the public and corporate domain, and the company bought one for the payroll office. More user terminals follow in 1975 and 1979, and the first electronic word processing system came into use in 1980.
The company launched the first telecom cable to keep water out of the copper conductors, using a layer of petroleum jelly.
Telegrafverket, the state telegraph service, was the company's single largest customer.
The company started producing standardized marine cable.
The company begins developing fibre-optic telecom cables.
Statfjord A became our proving ground in the offshore industry.
The company introduced the Flex-Flame trademark – a fire-resistant offshore cable.
With its 412 employees, the company expanded abroad. New cable factories were built in the USA and Ireland, and an import and wholesale business opened in Houston.
Telecom cable production was moved to a new factory at Loesmoen in Øvre Eiker.
Investing in subsea umbilical systems pays off. Norsk Subsea Cable AS was established together with British Scapa Group, with its head office at Tangen in Drammen.
A/S Norsk Kabelfabrik joined the newly formed EB Group and adopted the name EB Norsk Kabel.
EB Norsk Kabel bought Wessels Kabelfabrikk from NEK Kabel in Oslo.
ABB secured all of EB's shares, and the company was now named ABB Norsk Kabel.
The 1990s brought solid order books and good economic results. Turnover passed NOK 1 billion in 1996.
ABB was one of the main sponsors of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer.
Wire drawing moved from Holmen to NEK Kabel at Årnes, and Wessel production moved from Strømsø to Holmen.
The Dutch cable group Draka Holding N.V. bought ABB Norsk Kabel, which had 600 employees at the time of the takeover. The company was renamed Draka Norsk Kabel.
After some hard years, rig construction picked up its pace, and so did offshore projects in the wind power market. The company now had 253 employees at Holmen.
A new production line for subsea cable opened, allowing cable to be loaded directly onto ships.
Italian-based Prysmian Group, the world's largest cable manufacturer, took over as owner. Prysmian held a strong position in the petroleum and subsea cable markets and brings a global network with it – a significant advantage for the factory in Drammen.
The factory "Kabel'n" – literally “the Cable”, and its 240 employees - celebrated 100 years of manufacturing. The company still makes specialist products for customers worldwide and supplies the full range of cable to the Norwegian market.
The company had 162 employees at Holmen, producing mainly offshore and subsea cables.
Subsea cable production moved to Prysmian factories in Finland and Germany.
The company keeps developing cables for the oil and gas industry. These cables quickly became the industry standard, and the company secured a series of major contracts. Oil and gas cables from "Kabel'n" are now installed at every offshore and onshore facility on the Norwegian continental shelf.
The well-known Draka name was phased out, and the company moved ahead under a single brand: Prysmian.
We continue our vital work of electrifying the world of tomorrow.
