Our history

A complete new and innovative calibration lab is built. Our current capabilities cover high and low pressure, mass and electrical quantities.

In 2017, Minerva changes its trade name to Minerva Metrology and Calibration, to do justice to the large base of international customers and several national measurement institutes. Also, this year Henk de Lange becomes General Manager.

Today we offer a range of calibration equipment from Fluke, DHI, Ruska, Pressurements and our own specialized Minerva branded products. It is obvious that only selling this equipment is not enough. To provide full (after) sales service, we have a fully trained team of professionals at your service to help you making the right decisions in sales, service and calibration issues.

Started as a service to support sales, today more and more third party equipment from deadweight testers till tide gauges pass through our accredited calibration laboratory.

Last but not least, Minerva provides in depth metrology training courses and in-house consultancy covering a wide range of topics. We partner with VSL, the National Metrology Institute of the Netherlands (NMI).

Another milestone for Minerva: the merger between Quality Logics, Siebe Borger and Minerva, Carel Adolfse. This merge is the start of an extensive growth of the company. Minerva also obtained the full Fluke calibration portfolio (pressure, flow, temperature, electrical and software) for the BeNeLux.

Minerva starts developing and distributing Minerva branded calibration products worldwide.

To serve our customers even better than in the past, Minerva expands its accredited capabilities with mass measurement, to be able to do fundamental deadweight tester calibrations fully in-house.

In 2007 DHI Instruments is taken over by Fluke Corporation. Minerva becomes the exclusive distribution partner for Fluke Pressure Calibration products in the BeNeLux countries.

In 2009 Minerva is selected by Fluke Calibration to become their Authorized Service provider for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

In 2005, Minerva’s Industrial and Meettechniek activities separate. Edwin de Harder left the “mothership”, and started a new independent company. He moved to Friesland taking with him the industrial activities of the company. Carel Adolfse continues in Amersfoort with Minerva Meettechniek.

Again an important milestone…. Edwin de Harder en Carel Adolfse (son of Mr. Adolfse sr.) took over the company and changed the company name to ‘Minerva Industriële Producten en Meettechniek’ to better cover the two main activities; Industrial products partly inherited from the time we just moved away from car related products AND the metrology activities both in sales and service / calibration.

From 1997 onwards both Edwin and Carel worked very hard to increase turnover in both activities. Edwin focused on the industrial part whereas Carel specialized towards the metrology section.

Mr. Weve owned the Minerva company. In 1956 Mr. Adolfse sr. joins Minerva as an engineer, together with Mr. Lambriex. The main objective for hiring new staff was to expand the Minerva sales portfolio to markets other than car related products. At that time Minerva started to sell innovative products like engine driven welders, special metal foils, spot welding machines and safety equipment for the railways and fire brigade. On the sideline also a highly specialised small French company dedicated to pressure and gas flow was represented by Minerva in the BeNeLux. The decision to enter the pressure and gas flow market captured the future of our company till today.

In 1965 Mr. Adolfse, Lambriex and Bax took over the company and changed the company name to Technisch Handelsbureau Minerva.

In the late 60’s, the pressure and gas flow product sales boosted due to the growth of the Dutch natural gas industry and their need for high accuracy measuring equipment.

Straight from the beginning it became clear that selling alone was not good enough and Minerva was asked to also perform additional repetative checks to assure the performance of the sold instruments. In the course of time checking the instruments was not good enough for our customers and they started to talk about calibration, measurement uncertainty and accreditation. Minerva addressed this need by obtaining an accreditation according to EN45001 in the late 80’s. The EN45001 standard has been replaced by the worldwide acknowledged ISO/IEC 17025 standard.

In 1985 Minerva decided to team up with an American company called DH Instruments (DHI) and we became the first representative of DHI outside the United States. The highly innovative products of DHI matched perfectly with Minerva’s objectives to stay ahead. Besides sales our company also obtained the status of Authorized Service Provider for EMEA.

Minerva N.V. was a trading company in car parts, as a division of the Truckservice company from de Kromme Mijdrechtstraat in Amsterdam.

During the Second World War Minerva cars also engaged in the delivery of small freight cars equipped with a wood carburetor. The occupiers used all the gasoline and diesel oil present, which meant that the wood gas for small-scale private use had to keep the transport running.

It all started with Minerva Automobielen, importing the Minerva car with sliding motor from Belgium. This engine was especially suitable for large luxury cars, but also for garbage trucks and funeral cars (quiet and smooth at low speed). One drawback was the high oil consumption. On a trip from Amsterdam to Brussels, a can of 10 liters of lubricating oil was taken, and to Paris 20 to 25 liters.