From 1980 to 2011, from Electromatic to EM Group.

In 1980 Mr Gilbert Smet and Mr Rudi Henne established the company Electromatic in Sint-Niklaas, in order to produce electromechanical clocks, replacing the mechanical clocks which were commonly used at that time. Very soon Electromatic managed to acquire an impressive list of customers.

In 1982 three employees were recruited to meet the growing demand for time registration systems. Next to a number of standard products, Electromatic produced more and more custom-made solutions to meet the specific customer needs. At that time Electromatic only produced hardware (equipment/clocks).

In 1985 Electromatic started to develop software applications for its own devices. Companies ever more asked for total solutions (hardware + software). The company EM DATA CENTER was established as the software pool within Electromatic. In those days PCs became omnipresent in the work environment and Electromatic has anticipated to this growth market. Already at that time, Electromatic put the emphasis on four key activities: time and attendance registration, access control, shop-floor control and fuel distribution. In 1985 Electromatic moved from a private house to an industrial building, thus making its way to the expansion.

During the following years, the number of employees was almost doubled and in 1990 the available surface was also doubled. From then on Electromatic no longer only offered a wide range of devices according to various needs, but also offered about ten standard software programmes, which could also be adapted to specific customer needs.

At the end of 2003, the company decided to implement its ambitious growth plan, by concluding strategic alliances with partners in different areas and countries and by creating separate business units for each of the departments of the company.

As part of the reforms Electromatic has, in the beginning of 2004, decided to create a umbrella organisation: EM Group. The name ‘EM Group’ will from now on cover a network of business units (Electromatic, EM Data Center, …) and national and international partners.

Since September 1 st 2008 the original owners of Electromatic and EM Data Center have sold 100% of the shares of both companies to 4 members of the management: Peter Vanhuffel, Wim Polfliet, Roger Van Hees and Marc Janssens. Due to this Management Buy-Out, the company remains 100% Belgian !

On 1st January 2011 Electromatic and EM Data Center merge and become EM GROUP.

Today EM Group counts about 40 employees and thousands of customers. The company is still situated in Sint-Niklaas. EM Group has customers in many areas, including small and medium-sized companies as well as multinationals.