History
Combining forces
FME came about through a series of collaborations and mergers.
Various organisations and associations representing employers and
companies decided to combine forces. In 1997 this resulted in the
formal establishment of the FME-CWM Association (Vereniging
FME-CWM), an association of businesses operating in the
technological industry.
FME
After the Second World War, the Netherlands had two separate
organisations that represented companies, and three that
represented employers in the metal and electrical industry. These
five organisations differed from each other in that two of them
addressed economic/technical issues while the other three
concentrated on protecting social interests. This philosophical
divide was another reason for having different organisations,
although there was some degree of cooperation. A decision was taken
in 1961 to bundle the activities of the organisations. This led to
the establishment of the Federation for the Metal and Electrical
Industry, or FME. For a time the five organisations retained their
independence within this federation. The need for more intensive
cooperation resulted in January 1974 in the five parent
organisations ending their separate activities to clear the way for
a single organisation called the Association for the Metal and
Electrical Industry, again abbreviated to FME.
CWM
The managing boards of twelve machine works and engineering
workshops in Rotterdam established their own organisation in 1951.
Together they created the Greater Rotterdam Contact Group of
Machine Works and Engineering Workshops. Just one year later, in
1952, the name was changed to Contact Group of Employers in the
Metal Industry. After several interim steps the name of the
steadily growing organisation was changed in 1991 for the last
time, now to CWM. The new subtitle made clear that CWM’s target
group had been enlarged and that it was now an association of small
and medium-sized companies in the metal, plastics and engineering
sectors.
FME-CWM Association
In the 1990s, FME and CWM held regular talks about closer
cooperation. It was not until 20 years after the establishment of
the FME Association and 45 years after the establishment of CWM
that these talks led to a merger between the two organisations. On
1 January 1996, FME and CWM jointly set up a new association called
FME-CWM. The legal side of the merger was completed on 1 January
1997.
For reasons of brevity the board decided to use only the
abbreviation FME for everyday purposes. The association’s official
name – FME-CWM Association – continues to exist.
