<PAGE>   1


                                                                  Exhibit 10-e-1


                                 FIRST AMENDMENT
                                       TO
                               NORDSON CORPORATION
                   EXCESS DEFINED CONTRIBUTION RETIREMENT PLAN
                         (November 1, 1987 Restatement)



                           The Nordson Corporation Excess Defined Contribution
Retirement Plan (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan"), as originally
established for the benefit of certain designated salaried employees effective
as of November 1, 1985, and amended and restated in its entirety effective as of
November 1, 1987, is hereby amended further, effective as January 1, 1988, to
provide as follows:

         1. Section 1.1 of the Plan is amended by the addition of a new
paragraph (f) at the end thereof to provide as follows:

                  (f) The term "Non-Union ESOP" shall mean the Nordson
Corporation Non-Union Employees Stock Ownership Plan and Trust in effect on the
date of an Employee's retirement, death, or other termination of employment.

         2. Sections 2.1 and 2.2 of the Plan are amended to provide as follows:

                  2.1 ELIGIBILITY. An Employee who is a Participant in the
Employees' Savings Trust Plan or the Non-Union ESOP and whose benefits under
either Plan have been limited by Section 401(a)(17), Section 402(g)(1), or
Section 415 of the Code, including limitations on tax-deferred and
employer-matching contributions, shall be eligible for an excess retirement
benefit determined by Section 2.2. In addition, in the event that the Tax
Deferred Contributions of an eligible Employee under the Employees' Savings
Trust Plan are limited by the provisions of Section 401(a)(17), Section 415, or
Section 402(g)(1) of the Code, such eligible Employee may elect to defer payment
of that portion of his compensation that otherwise could have been made as Tax
Deferred Contributions but for these limitations. The deferred payment election
shall be made in writing by the eligible Employee and delivered to the Company
prior to the beginning of a Plan Year. The election shall be irrevocable until
the first day of the next Plan Year. Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, any
reference in Section 2.1 and 2.2 hereunder to the limitation imposed by Section
402(g)(1) of the Code shall automatically include any amendments to such
limitation to reflect cost of living increases.

                  2.2 AMOUNT. The excess retirement benefit payable to an
eligible Employee or his beneficiary shall be an amount equal to the sum of:

                           (i) the amount, if any, of the limited contributions
                           an eligible Employee elected to defer in Section 2.1,
                           except


<PAGE>   2


                           that if such limited contributions would be further
                           restricted under the Employees' Savings Trust Plan
                           for a Plan Year to comply with Section 401(k) of the
                           Code with respect to the deferral of compensation by
                           highly compensated employees, the amount determined
                           hereunder shall be similarly limited; plus

                           (ii) an amount that, when added to the vested
                           interest of such Employee in Employer Matching
                           Contributions under the Employees' Savings Trust
                           Plan, equals the value his vested interest in
                           Employer Matching Contributions would have been on
                           the date distribution commences under the Employees'
                           Savings Trust Plan if the limitations of Section
                           401(a)(17), Section 415, or Section 402(g)(1) of the
                           Code had not been in effect; plus

                           (iii) an amount, if any, equal to the value of the
                           vested interest an eligible Employee would have been
                           entitled to receive under the Non-Union ESOP if the
                           limitations of Section 401(a)(17) or Section 415 of
                           the Code had not been in effect.

                  In determining the value that an eligible Employee's interest
                  under the Employees' Savings Trust Plan and under the
                  Non-Union ESOP would have been if the limitations of Section
                  401(a)(17), Section 415, or Section 402(g)(1) of the Code had
                  not been in effect as described in (i), (ii), and (iii) above,
                  it shall be assumed that:

                                    (a) his Tax Deferred Contributions and his
                                    Employer Matching Contributions under the
                                    Employees' Savings Trust Plan and any
                                    Employer contributions under the Non-Union
                                    ESOP were deposited on the dates such
                                    contributions would have otherwise been made
                                    to the Employees' Savings Trust Plan or
                                    Non-Union ESOP, as applicable, and held in
                                    the guaranteed income contract maintained as
                                    part of the Guaranteed Fund that holds the
                                    largest amount of assets from the Employees'
                                    Savings Trust Plan for such year; and

                                    (b) the interest rate actually paid with
                                    respect to such guaranteed income contract
                                    under the Guaranteed Fund for the Employee's
                                    Savings Trust Plan was paid with respect to
                                    the contributions that would otherwise have
                                    been made under either Plan; and

                                    (c) such interest was reinvested in the
                                    Guaranteed Fund for the Employee's Savings
                                    Trust on the date and in the same manner as
                                    actual interest under the Guaranteed Fund.

                    *                  *                  *

         EXECUTED at Westlake, Ohio, this 29th day of May, 1989.

                                                       NORDSON CORPORATION

                                                       By ______________________
                                                          Title: