Why is EMS in Zeeland?

• Mitsui & Co. for decades supplied Electrical Steel in small size coils/rings made by Nippon Steel from Japan to Europe.
• From the day of ordering until the final day of delivery took many months, which was a big disadvantage for the Japanese suppliers.
• At the end of the eighties a feasibility study was made to build a Service Center in Europe in order to be able to supply from stock.

What were the relevant criteria?

• Open deep sea access
• Good connections to the hinterland (road and waterways)
• Reliable local services
• Short communicationlines
• Availability of adequate educated personnel
• Land and buildingcost at favourable prices
• Good investment (tax) climate

Candidate-cities were Antwerp, Hamburg, Amsterdam and Rotterdam however they could not meet all the above criteria, but Vlissingen ("Flushing") did!