Radiocollection.be : the SBR factory before war

The SBR factory before war

Important notice about documents and pictures shown here !

Created in 1922, the S.B.R. (Société Belge Radio-électrique) is originally based 4 rue d'Egmont, in Bruxelles. In the beginning, the factory is some hundred square meters large, and has 50 employees. The progress will be fulgurating in the first years: 1923, 140 emplyees, 1924: 150, 1925: 210, 1926: 250, 1927: 530,... In the year 1936, the total occupated surface will be around 1 hectare and the factory has 1638 employees!

All factory photographs from this page are dated 1936.

The first steps of SBR were the sale of radios built by Marconi, Radiola and SFR (Société francaise de Radio), and also spare parts. It's only around 1924 the company will propose their own receivers, the famous «Ondolina». In the 1928 folder, only SBR productions.

The great problem for the Belgian builders in this years was the difficult of exportation. The neighbours countries were taxing the importated electric materials. Belgium didn't do the same with material built in other lands, and imported. Foreign big factories were a great problem for the Belgian builders, and the SBR grow is really a success, solding the great part of the production in Belgium!

This factory builds a great part of parts necessary to assemble the products: resistors, capacitors, coils, transformers, loudspeakers, frames and mechanical parts, cabinets, etc. The production were very simplified, with a careful company organization. The manufacture was only with great serials, by work division.

	Cutting the parts of wood.
	Building little mechanics.
	Mechanical workshop.
	Cabinet painting.
	Frame assembly.
	Final control.

The company has also «charitable works» for the employees: medecine service, clothes distribution, presents, sea holidays for the children, ...

SBR has his own research department, and test & control laboratory. In 1936, 500 radio sets were built every day. It means one appliance by minute ...

Of course, by means of this kind of organization, the manufacturing costs were reduced. The SBR appliances were sold at very good prices, at equal quality, regarding what will be built by little companies or craftsmen.

In those years, this company stays totally independant from others foreign guardianships. All assets, the direction and employees (in fact, all the company) were totally Belgians.

Bginning Augustus 1935, the company has edit one information sheet, for the retaillers and technicians. The subjects were technic (explanation and schematics from appliances), but also business and info about company evolution and life. A great part of information show on this pages become from those sheets! This monthly sheet become quarterly since 1939... The explanation given in the december 1938 sheet was the difficulty to hold interesting subjects on 16 pages every months. We can also think that reasons were also socio-economical, if we remind the context of those years 1938-39...

Back to SBR page

home page