Company history

The company was founded on 24th August 1925 in Nuremberg under the name Noris Tachometerwerk Dr. Siegfr. Guggenheimer GmbH (later only Noris Tachometerwerk GmbH) by the German physicist Dr. Siegfried Guggenheimer and his colleague Paul Hansen. 

They developed mechanical instruments for rotational-speed measurement (tachometers and tachographs), centrifugal switches and electrical remote tachometer systems for use in the machinery, mining, shipbuilding and aircraft-manufacturing industries.

In 1933 Dr. Guggenheimer's Jewish descent led to him becoming the victim of harassment by the Nazi hate sheet "Stürmer". 

In the light of subsequent political developments, in 1937 Dr. Guggenheimer decided to emigrate to Italy with his family and sold Noris Tachometerwerk GmbH to Dr. Ing. to his friend Ernst Schmidmer. 

Dr. Guggenheimer remained in close contact with Ernst Schmidmer and ran the company's entire international business from Milan until his early death on the 8th of December 1938.

Like many other German companies, between 1938 and 1945 Noris was forced by the Nazi regime to release workers for military service and train foreign works or employ prisoners of war. 

During the air raids in 1944 parts of the production were relocated to Wunsiedel in the rural region near Nuremberg or to a bunker in the neighbouring town of Fürth to prevent the production equipment being destroyed and avoid production losses.

On the 15th of April 1945 the factory finally had to close. During the subsequent fighting in Nuremberg 75% of the factory building was destroyed. Immediately after the end of the war in May 1945, Ernst Schmidmer promptly applied to the Nuremberg Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the permit required to restart production. 

The clean-up work in the destroyed building complexes commenced in the same month. First of all, the ground floor of the factory building was repaired. 

By September 1945 the reconstruction had progressed to the extent that it was possible to return the production equipment to Nuremberg that had been relocated to Wunsiedel and Fürth. Finally, in April 1946 authorisation was given to restart production by the State Office for Precision Engineering and Optics.

The company had been able to maintain good contacts to suppliers and customers even during the war years and thus recovered quickly after the end of the war and by 1956 the number of employees had again increased to 144. The production programme covered the entire range of tachometers that had been produced right up to the end of the war.

In 1961 Walter März became Head of Engineering at Noris and redesigned the product portfolio in all areas to do with remote rotational-speed measurement. 

With the significantly more robust, more precise and, above all, cheaper GE Series tachogenerators, Noris was able to win well-known customers such as DEUTZ AG, MWM, MaK, MAN and DEMAG, and developed into an important supplier for diesel engine manufacturers. On the 1st of June 1961 Ernst Schmidmer's son, Horst Schmidmer, joined the company as assistant to the management board.

On the 3rd of December 1966 Dr. Ernst Schmidmer passed away unexpectedly at the age of 63 and his son, Horst Schmidmer (see Fig.), succeeded him as the managing director. 

The increasing demand for electronic products in the '60s and '70s and the falling sales figures for mechanical products led to the suspension of production of mechanical equipment, e.g. rotating-pendulum tachometers and eddy-current tachometers. 

From then on, the company concentrated on the development of robust temperature- and pressure-monitoring equipment, above all for use under extreme ambient conditions.

In 1976 Horst Schmidmer bought Dr. Graw Messgeräte GmbH & Co. KG from Dr. Josef Graw, which today, under the name of Graw Radiosondes, is one of the world's leading manufacturers of radiosondes. 

In 1977 work began on the development of the first digital monitoring system – the noriMos 1000. The system went into series production in 1980 and within a short period of time became a bestseller. 

At this time, the sales portfolio was made up of four product groups: rotational-speed measurement, temperature and pressure monitoring, and marine automation.

Whereas the main customers had previously been the German engine manufacturers, from then on, shipyards and shipping companies had an increasing influence on decisions regarding the marine technology to be employed. 

For this reason, it was not only the sales activities that were increasingly relocated abroad. The ships' systems were also designed on an individual basis, and commissioning and service took place on the spot. Increasingly, this required the company to take an international approach.

After the opening of the East Germany border, NORIS succeeded in winning many of the shipyards on the Baltic Coast as new customers. Thus, in 1991 the decision was made to establish Noris Steuerungstechnik GmbH in Rostock (later Noris Automation Rostock GmbH) as a representative and final-assembly company with Mr. Meinz as Managing Director.

In October 1992 the company moved into the technology centre in Warnemünde and was awarded the contract to develop a remote control system for bridges to supplement the existing monitoring and safety systems. In 1993 Uwe Ulrich took over the management of the company and developed the noriStar remote control that went into production and was successfully launched onto the market in 1994.

In the same year Horst Schmidmer decided to establish the joint venture Noris Automation Far East Pte. Ltd. together with Bond Instrumentation. Lawrence Chew, who at the time worked for Bond Instrumentation, was appointed as the Managing Director. The new company with its headquarters in Singapore was responsible for the entire East Asian market, especially China.

In April 1995 the engineering department at the company's head office in Nuremberg was commissioned to carry out a feasibility study for a new monitoring system featuring distribution of information via CANbus. This new noriMos 2000 generation was exhibited for the first time in 1996 at the SMM trade fair. A short time later the first systems were installed on ships.

In 2001 Noris Automation GmbH was founded in Nuremberg to create a clear separation between those areas of the marine automation business involving extensive project planning and the sensor and display technology sector with its series production character. 

The company took on the responsibility for the development, production and sales of sensors, displays, measuring transducers and limit value switches and specialised, above all, in the design and development of customer-specific sensors to meet extreme requirements in the shipbuilding and transportation technology industries. The marine automation sector and the project business remained at Noris Tachometerwerk.

In order to expand the company's presence on the Asian market, in 2004 another joint venture was established with Sibo Monitor Technique Engineering Co. Ltd., a reputable Chinese manufacturer of automation systems: Noris -Sibo Automation Co. Ltd. with its headquarters in Shanghai established itself within a short period of time under Managing Director Xu Xudong as a reliable supplier of automation systems, measuring instruments and sensors, in both the Chinese shipbuilding market and the transportation technology sector.

On the 29th of November 2002 Horst Schmidmer transferred his shares in the company to Schmidmer Holding GmbH (later Noris Group GmbH). In 2003 Noris Tachometerwerk changed its name to Noris Marine Systems GmbH & Co. KG to do justice to the company's international orientation. Under a contract dated 23/12/2003 Horst Schmidmer transferred all his shares in Schmidmer Holding GmbH to his sons Christian, Florian and Michael Schmidmer and the Schmidmer brothers became owners of Noris Group GmbH. In 2004 the noriMos 3000 integrated alarm, monitoring and control system (IAMCS) was ready for production and the first orders were processed.

In 2011 new ground was broken with energy engineering products. Control systems for cogeneration power plants were developed using automation components which had previously been used in the noriStar 4 remote control. In 2012 Noris had already received their first order and delivered the complete engine management system for the first of a total of 17 cogeneration power plants. 

In 2011 LiMaB – Laserintegrierte Materialbearbeitung GmbH – headquartered in Rostock, which has existed since the '90s, also joined Noris Group GmbH. It provides services such as laser cutting, PCP processing, production of SMD templates and laser marking.

In 2012 Noris Benelux was founded (see photo) with its headquarters near Rotterdam in order to better serve the Dutch market and optimise local service provision. Ben Rietveld was appointed as the Managing Director. 

In September of the same year Noris presented the new concept for the fourth generation of the noriMos 4 integrated alarm, monitoring and control system for the first time at the SMM, the world's leading maritime trade fair.

In 2015, the NORIS Group expanded its production and storage capacities with a new building.

The myNoris automation solution was launched in 2016 (see figure). It can be used to configure local motor and gearbox controls as well as small to medium-sized automation applications with switch cabinets. 

This solution boosted the OEM business in particular and attracted renowned engine and gearbox manufacturers from all over the world over the next few years.

In 2017 another new building was established for expansion of production capacity, quality management and warehouse logistics. 

The new noriNet remote access and telemetry system was installed on the first ship in 2024. This system represents another important step towards digitalisation and cloud-based provision of measurement data for optimising propulsion systems and more sustainable shipping.