De Fabrieksbode
The first issue of de Fabrieksbode, 24 June 1882
With 121 volumes, de Fabrieksbode of the Delft branch of the chemical company DSM is the longest continuously published company magazine in the world. The first issue appeared on June 24, 1882, and publications continued uninterrupted until mid-2001: first as a weekly, later as a fortnightly edition, and during the final years as a monthly. The first volume appeared in the year 1882, which would make 2001 the 120th. However, due to a curious error in the count in 1989, one year too many has been counted since that year. The stated 121st volume is therefore one too many, but even with 120 volumes, de Fabrieksbode remains the record holder!
With de Fabrieksbode, Jacobus Cornelis van Marken, director and founder of the Nederlandsche Gist- & Spiritusfabriek, aimed for two-way communication. In practice, however, little came of this. No one dared to make comments about the company's operations. It would take at least another seventy years before that happened.
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Canteen at the NV Nederlandse Gist- en Spiritusfabriek in Delft
At home in the evening
De Fabrieksbode remains primarily Van Marken's mouthpiece. Articles for "education" and "moral uplift" occupy an important place. The yeast factory is a micro-society: besides providing work, the company also provides housing, education, shops, and recreation.
The factory is seen as a club and de Fabrieksbode as the club magazine, as evidenced by the magazine's motto: 'The Factory for All. All for the Factory'. From the end of the nineteenth century onwards, the section 'At Home in the Evening' features stories, such as a fable by La Fontaine. In a time without radio and television, the section 'From the Outside World' forms the window onto events in the world. The Boer War in South Africa is extensively covered in every edition.
Distance
After Van Marken's death in 1906, a change of tone follows. Whereas Van Marken employed a rather paternal style, the tone suddenly becomes much more businesslike. The distance between management and employees seems to increase. The previously sketched image of society itself, where everything happens by, for, and above all with one another, fades. Characteristic of this shift is a quote from the edition published on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of Director François Gerard Waller in 1925:
However, the primary principle is that the company exists to serve production. That is a weighty and grand task, which demands the full attention of every human being, completely occupies him, and does not always leave much room for great sensitivities.
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Anniversary edition of de Fabrieksbode, 1 May 1909
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De Fabrieksbode, 2 May 1925. Published on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of François Gerard Waller as director.
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Looking back in the final issue of De Fabrieksbode, September 2001
Critical notes
It was not until the second half of the twentieth century that the employee was given a voice. Critical notes regarding corporate policy were still absent or expressed in very veiled terms. Slowly but surely, the magazine developed into a true means of communication.
Genuine substantive criticism of the policy pursued appeared for the first time in the year 2000. Employees gave their unvarnished opinion during a major reorganization at the DSM branch in Delft: '...I am not very impressed by the presented plans. The policy [...] does not seem very consistent', and: 'Do we put people first or money?'.
Monument
Around the same time, de Fabrieksbode ceased to exist. The internal media landscape within DSM in Delft has changed to such an extent that tools such as the Internet and Intranet have taken on a more important role in personnel communication. Nevertheless, the magazine has done its job for more than a century. With an entry in the Guinness Book of Records, it can rightly be called a monument.
In 2001, DSM donated the complete edition of de Fabrieksbode to the KB. The 70 volumes have been digitized and can be consulted on Delpher.
