Platform on concrete and steel in construction
How Liemar became a specialist in steel construction
At the end of 2025, we celebrated Liemar's 40th anniversary. A milestone of which we are naturally proud and which we are not quietly pass by. Therefore, in the coming months we will look back on the growth and development of our fine company in a series of articles. In this very first article, we look at the very beginning: the first Liemar decade.
Jan van Hapert and his then partner, Henk Nieuwenhoud, founded Liemar with a focus on production and time registration: knowing where work is located, how much time it takes and how processes actually run. Convinced that insight is the basis of grip, Liemar built solutions for various sectors, such as the printing industry.
Soon Jan and his associate Henk turned out to have fundamentally different visions. Henk wanted to continue to serve a broad market, while Jan wanted to specialize. Choose one thing and become the best at it. Which industry it should be, he did not yet know. But it was reason enough to each choose their own path.
And then the ball suddenly rolled in a specific direction. Jan struck up a conversation with Zuid-Nederlandse Staalbouw (ZNS), which at the time was the largest steel construction company in the Netherlands. They asked a very practical question: ‘How can we solve our problem with work in progress?’
Anyone who works in steel construction knows how crucial that issue is. In this case, the bottleneck was primarily in the hours. Work was hard at ZNS, projects were ongoing, but the insight was lacking: what do those hours really mean for costs, revenues and the progress of a project?
The conversation quickly went into depth. Not by making everything bigger, but by reducing the problem to its core. By taking a sharp look at how hours are part of the work in progress, it became clear where the real problem lay.
That insight did not take long to materialize. And neither did the response from the field. A few months later the first assignments followed. These were assignments that gave so much direction that they were enough to build on for a year. Thus it became clear: this was not an isolated question, but the beginning of a clear specialty.
That experience also raised new questions. If this is the case with one steel fabricator, what about the rest of the industry? By exploring the market more closely, it became clear that no solution yet existed that brought together the entire project process in steel construction. From calculation and preparation to production, assembly and financial settlement.
Jan made the decision that would become defining for Liemar: not to adapt generic software, but to build solutions from the project-based nature of steel construction companies themselves. Focused, specialized and with an eye for practice.
A month before Jan was allowed to celebrate the 10th anniversary, Frank de Moor started at Liemar. The image shows his first mention in our newsletter (the text can be found below). He has been with Liemar - second only to Jan - the longest and has spent the last thirty years as a software engineer finding a conclusive solution for all kinds of challenges.
In the following anniversary article, we look back at Liemar's second decade and the addition that is Barry van den Reek.
Text on photo
Frank de Moor, software developer
Shortly ago, on October 1, 1995 to be exact, Frank de Moor joined Liemar Automatiseringen in the software department. He was no stranger to the company because while studying HTS-Informatics, majoring in Technical Information Systems, he did his thesis at Liemar, developing an access control system.
After his studies he worked for several years at AIP B.V. in Eindhoven, where he realized several projects in the field of inventory registration systems, warehouse location systems, order entry systems and financial systems. These systems use various hand held barcode scanners, sometimes without and sometimes with RF modules for on-line connection with the PC applications. Linkages with other platforms, AS/400, Vax and other systems were also regularly accomplished in this regard.
So now back at Liemar and specifically in charge of expanding modules like order entry, material management, inventory management, purchasing, warehouse management, all based on automatic identification, but mainly barcode registration.
“I was ready for a new challenge,” says Frank, “I knew Liemar and the pleasant atmosphere there, so I started enthusiastically a few weeks ago. I am convinced, that I can achieve nice results here and therefore do my utmost for that.”
Neem dan rechtstreeks contact op met Liemar Software BV.
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Since its founding in 1985, Liemar has offered business and ERP solutions for project-based companies in steel and metal construction. Our mission is to optimize your company and processes as a partner and to create more insight together. This leads to more peace and efficiency, both for the entrepreneur and employees. With the 'New Return [...]
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