Contact Vacancies News Home About ITM History of ITM Pioneering for innovation in every generation The history of the group is a story of success in its fourth generation, in which the development of a multinational company perfectly combines with the past, present and future. Today, we want to retrace our history through the key moments in time illustrating our company’s ability to create, innovate and grow, while remaining committed to social responsibility. Scroll down through 110+ years of unforgettable moments ... Ask for support support | order parts | improvements Heritage and innovation The beginning and the years after We have to go back to 1912 to discover the true roots of the company. Mijlpaaltjes (Milestones) 1912, is the year Hendrikus van der Sluis sees a business opportunity and buys his own cigar factory. With the financial backing of this family, he becomes the owner of Samuel de Leeuw cigar factory. Following the success of this factory, Hendrikus sees his chance in 1917 to acquire a second cigar factory, Van der Mijle, where “Mijlpaaltjes” (milestones) cigars are being produced. Two important decisions A new era begins for the company as a result of two important decisions. Regional trading activities – buying and selling second-hand cigar machinery – come into effect. To provide the best services for all their clients, Arend’s son, Henk van der Sluis, compiles a team of service technicians to provide maintenance services for cigar machinery. Start trading in cigarette machines With cigarette smoking on the rise, the Van der Sluis brothers see new opportunities and set up International Tobacco Machinery to start trading in cigarette machines internationally too. Founding SCM and ITM Eindhoven In 1977, Van der Sluis Cigar Machinery B.V. (SCM) is founded to accommodate international activities relating to the trade in cigar machinery. Gradually though, more and more production plants are started abroad. 1982, Start up of the production plant in Eindhoven. The site supports rebuilding machines for cigarette production, filter production, and filter cigarette assembly. Maintaining a tradition 1985, As the last remaining cigar factory, De Olifant, in the historic cigar town of Kampen, is threatened with closure, Henk van der Sluis comes to the rescue to protect the tradition of rolling premium hand-made cigars by buying the complete factory. By opening production sites and offices abroad, combined with an effective sales network, the company transforms itself increasingly into a truly international enterprise. The start of developing new innovative platforms 1991, Henk and Arend expand the group by opening an Innovation hub in Poland, with Andrew Stanikowski as director at the helm. This hub is a state-of-the-art facility to drive innovation and accelerate new technologies based on the needs and priorities of the industry. 1997, Meeting the need for high-quality OEM components, ITM is now able to produce customized high-quality parts in-house and respond to the market quickly. Continuing new developments 1997, To continue new developments in OTP equipment, the Swiss company TDC – in which our current member of the Board, Mr. Jeroen Slobbe (Managing Director of TDC) and Henk van der Sluis (former Managing Director of SCM) were involved – is acquired. 1998, ITM is setting the highest standards by launching Capricorn, the first First-In-First-Out tray buffering technology in the world. This FIFO principle eliminates the drying out and degradation of the products and guarantees curing time while filter rods are transported. Founding of ITM Germany and Delphi launch 2001, ITM Germany is founded. From this location the company focuses on engineering services, especially developing state of-the-art control systems. ITM Launches its first recovery platform, Delphi. Tobacco can now be retrieved precisely from all available tobacco products such as cigarettes, cigarillos and cigars, and can be reused easily. Revolutionairy platform for producing special filters 2009, With the launch of the Solaris, a modular multi-segment filter combiner, the clients can easily adjust, handle and produce special filters in a single production cycle. Global coverage and international expertise With the growth of our Service centres, we offer regionally-relevant services. Our SCs are located in every region around the globe to offer access to a rich complement of technology and services and experts who speak the customers’ language and reside in their time zone. New developments in filter logistics 2012, ITM brings the Gemini rod system solution to the market. It is the first tray-based system that can fully operate without needing an operator to be on standby. The automated system eliminates filter mix-ups and misalignments. ITM introduces a mini reclaiming solution, Delphini, assisting customers with limited space. Because of its small footprint, the reclaimer can be easily integrated with existing equipment. Growth leads to Head Office move In 2012, ITM’s Head Office moves from an historic building to new state-of-the-art offices, where it joins its other team members SCM and TDC. The new headquarters houses the company’s growing team of technology specialists, including developers, quality assurance staff, Sales, Management and other professionals. Increasing product offering 2013, ITM strengthens its leader position by acquiring IMAtec, developer of high-speed RYO Booklet machinery. Easy integration with additional modules or packing gives the customer extra flexibility in differentiating their products. New approach to the innovation process 2013, By acquiring Tricas, ITM offers cross-industry experience and material knowledge to help customers increase their new product development capabilities. With technical expertise combined with 3D prototyping of new products, product development goes hand in hand with machine development. Mini FIFO reservoir 2013, ITM’s logistic family introduces Saturn, a mini FIFO reservoir system specially designed for a small footprint. Turnkey Pouch packing line for loose tobacco 2013, With the development of Osiris, ITM completes a turnkey pouch packing line for loose tobacco. Together with the IBIS tobacco weigher, ISIS pouch packer and ANUBIS bundle machine, Osiris forms a flexible, fully integrated and future-proof high-speed packing line that is able to create a variety of packages with one machine. Relocating cigar rebuilding activities 2013, ITM relocates its cigar rebuilding activities from Kampen to the Dominican Republic, close to its customers. As a subsidiary, GTS/SCM supplies machinery and spare parts to the cigar industry in the Caribbean and Latin America. GTS/SCM holds a vast stock of used cigar machinery. Online Services 2014, ITM starts up an e-commerce platform. Customers can order their parts online, not limited to ITM but also for machine parts of other OEMs. Launch of the world’s first e-cig automated solution 2015, ITM proudly presents Genesis, the first fully automated platform to fill, cap and test e-vaping cartridges. Genesis provides e-vaping producers with a high-volume and highly flexible solution for producing cartridges with smart quality control. In this first year, Genesis is awarded the Golden Leaf award. Improving customers' machine technology 2015, Dedicated to constantly improving the customers’ machine technology and its operation, ITM is helping customers with Gemba's Overall Improvement Software (OEE) to identify how to make their businesses operate more efficiently. 25th anniversary of ITM Poland 2016, the company celebrates its 25th anniversary and demonstrates its total immersion in next generation technology during the ITM Innovation days. Focus on developing technology for next generation products 2017, Products like tobacco heating and e-vaping are now of prime importance. To achieve this, ITM will no longer be developing Primary tobacco processing machinery. ITM decreases its development activities in relation to other equipment manufacturers (OEM). New machinery for cigar packing 2018, ITM complements its portfolio in pouch-making cigar machinery by acquiring RNT Machinery S.A. in the Dominican Republic. From now on, the company is able to deliver new machinery for cigar packing and drive better solutions for all our customers in Latin America. ITM Takes over AccuPac (UK) 2018, ITM Services takes over the portfolio of AccuPac. ITM Services will provide Accupac’s print position technology solutions in wrapping and packing machinery. 2018, ITM UK is closed down, because we are focusing more on innovative machine platforms for producing next generation products. Street named after former CEO of ITM Poland 2018, Andrzej Stanikowski, founder of ITM and PMP Poland, has a street named after him. To commemorate and acknowledge his enormous contribution to the development of the city of Radom and the local community, reflected in the business and social achievements he has inspired. His name is incorporated in our ITM Poland address from now on. Award for ITM Poland 2018, ITM Poland is awarded the Diamond for the Golden Statuette of the Polish Business Leader. ITM today Today, the Van der Sluis family continues to run the company successfully, aiming to achieve goals that are more ambitious than ever. We love to co-create, discover new markets, use the latest technologies and share expertise – with joy and pride. We care about creating and maintaining strong, positive relationships with our colleagues, our partners, our customers, and the societies in which we live and work, with respect for diversity. We are proud to have our roots in the Netherlands, but with more than 1000 of the most talented people, partners, and specialists all over the world, we are excited to help customers create and build amazing things and we've definitely not finished growing yet. Watch our video to learn more about our story and get in touch to find out how we can help your business. Or if you've been inspired and want to join the ITM Family, visit our Careers page. ITM headquarters Constructieweg 45 8263 BC Kampen The Netherlands Post address P.O. Box 126 8260 AC Kampen The Netherlands Tel +31 38 3766230 Fax +31 38 3766231 Ask your question via the web form Subscribe to newsletter ITM locations ITM Poland ITM Kampen (SCM/TDC) GTS/SCM ITM Eindhoven ITM Germany ITM Service Centres Go to all companies ITM, a Tembo company ITM is a Tembo company. This makes ITM a stronger partner for its customers, because ITM can rely on its sister companies for specific expertises and additional technologies. Meet the Tembo companies Legal General terms Disclaimer Privacy