Title
1 The NRB Group
1.1 Introduction
With a consolidated turnover of 208 million euro in 2013 and more than 1100 collaborators, NRB is
part of the top 5 of the ICT sector in Belgium.
NRB was founded in 1987 as the shared IT department and datacenter of Ethias, one of the leading
Belgian insurance companies, and a number of utility companies. Over time the company grew partly thanks to strategic acquisitions – into one of the major ICT players in the country. Today, the
NRB Group encompasses different entities each with a specific sectorial or technological focus.
Based upon 30 years of experience within the given sectors, the parent company NRB disposes of
specialized teams for the financial sector, for the public and social sector, for public utilities and for
the industry.
NRB offers a complete portfolio of solutions: ICT infrastructure, software and services.
NRB’s software solutions support the core functioning of corporate and public organizations: we
categorized them into ‘Core Business Applications’ (HR, Planning, Finance, Sales...), ‘Enterprise
Collaboration’ ‘Enterprise Content Management’, ‘Advanced Analytics’, ‘Enterprise Mobility’, ‘Outbound
Document Workflows’ and ‘Web Experience Management’.
NRB’s portfolio of services embraces the full life-cycle of an IT solution: Consulting, Managed
Operations, Project Management, Service Management, Custom Development, Integration, Application
Maintenance, Testing, Quality Assurance and Quality Control.
Our subsidiary xperthis, with offices in Heverlee, Mechelen and Mons, is the specialist and Belgian
market leader in IT solutions for the health care sector. The company offers a range of solutions for
the hospital: ERP, Care administration (Electronic Patient Record) and Care pricing and billing.
The subsidiaries Cevi and Logins in Flanders, Civadis in Brussels and Wallonia are specialists in IT
products and services for the local public sector such as the Belgian provinces, cities and
municipalities, social welfare institutions and police administrations. The NRB group has indeed
become the preferred IT partner of a vast number of organizations on all governmental levels.
Afelio was set up in Liege in 2013 as a specialist in designing and developing user-friendly mobile and
web applications for the use in a B2B (Business to Business) environment.
The group can rely on a state of the art (Tier3+) ICT infrastructure, based at two geographical sites.
The main site in Herstal near Liège, includes three datacenters in physically separate buildings. The
secondary site is located 30 km further away in Villers-le-Bouillet. This set up is quite unique in
Belgium: a geo-resilient fully redundant infrastructure for mainframe as well as for distributed
environments.
The NRB group is a truly Belgian group, in terms of roots, shareholders, infrastructure and activities.
As such, the NRB Group is the perfect choice for any organization looking for a trusted local partner
with the right size and capabilities to be agile and to come up with the solutions and services that
perfectly fit its needs.
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1.2 Background
A group of partners came together in the 1980s with the goal of creating a shared ICT department.
This led to the founding of the GI (Groupement Informatique) in 1986, shared by OMOB-SMAP (now
known as Ethias) and three utility companies in Liège: CILE, ALG and ALE. The latter two are now part
of the TECTEO group.
The four shareholders founded NRB in 1987. They were joined by Gemeentekrediet, Coditel and
Electrabel.
Their goal? To contain the rising costs of IT and to group their staff' skills in one new company. In the
early years NRB’s services were limited to these shareholders.
The GIEI (Groupement d’Intérêt Economique et Informatique) was founded in 1989. This group
entrusted NRB with the management of the ICT applications for the French Community and for the
Walloon region (now known as the Wallonia-Brussels Federation).
In 1995 NRB's installations were thoroughly modernised and further extended two years later.
NRB expands its services in 2005 to incorporate semi-governmental organisations and private
companies.
New buildings are built in Herstal in 2007 and a third data centre is opened in 2010.
NRB acquires 51% of ADINFO's shares from Dexia (now known as Belfius) in 2010. The ADINFO
holding is the parent company of three IT companies that work for local governments: Cevi in Ghent,
Adehis in Namur and Logins in Malines.
NRB opens a new disaster recovery center (DR) in 2011. This project is realized in collaboration with
WDC (Wallonia Data Center) in Villers-le-Bouillet. NRB can now offer full DR solutions to its clients
with two data centers located 30 km apart. From now on, NRB meets the toughest requirements with
regard to business continuity assurance.
2011 is also the year in which NRB, together with Polymedis in Mons, Partezis in Heverlee and Xtenso
in Malines establishes xperthis, the new leader in ICT solutions for health care in Belgium. NRB is the
majority shareholder in xperthis, owning 55% of the shares.
NRB is also the first and only Belgian business to be awarded the SAP Certified Hosting Partner
certificate in 2011. NRB can offer its’ clients an SAP environment ‘on demand’. This recognition opens
up possibilities to discover new opportunities in the fields of specialised SAP hosting and Cloud
computing.
Guy Uerlings, who had been the CEO of NRB from the very beginning, leaves the company in 2012
and is succeeded by Ulrich Penzkofer.
In 2013, Stesud, a company specialized in solutions for the local public sector, joined the NRB Group.
It is acquired by Adinfo to be then merged with Adehis under the name of Civadis.
At the same time, NRB fully assumes its role as an economic engine by investing in Afelio. This startup from Liège designs and develops mobile and web B2B and user-centric applications.
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1.3 Shareholders
1.4 Group structure (as of June 1st 2014)
NRB is the parent company of the group. It has a 51% share of the holding ADINFO which owns
100% of Cevi, Logins and Civadis, the merging of Adehis and Stesud. NRB owns as well 55% of the
shares of xperthis and 75% of Afelio.
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1.5 2013 turnover distribution by entity
0%
12%
NRB
15%
Xperthis
61%
12%
Cevi/Logins
Civadis
Afelio
Civadis’ turnover includes only half of Stesud’s 2013 turnover as Stesud joined the group in July 2013.
Afelio was created in July 2013.
1.6 Distribution of 2013 sales figures by sector
1%
2%
12%
9%
33%
Finance
Public
Utilities
Industry
43%
Health care
Misc
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1.7 Geographical distribution
The NRB group covers the entire country with offices in Brussels, Ghent, Malines, Leuven, Marche-enFamenne, Leuze-en-Hainaut, Mons, Namur and Liège.
1.8 Distribution of 2013 sales figures by region
0%
11%
26%
Brussels
Flanders
63%
Wallonia
International
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1.9 Organization
1.9.1 Flowchart
Member of the Board of Directors
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1.9.2 Running
A new business model was introduced shortly after Ulrich Penzkofer became CEO of The NRB Group.
This model is dynamic; it is still evolving in order to continuously optimize our flexibility and our
capability to be as efficient as possible regarding our customers’ needs.
The new structure is based on a two-dimensional matrix model.
The vertical units have a clear sector focus, respectively on the public sector, the financial sector,
utility companies and industry. The verticals have a commercial focus with P&L responsibility, but also
stand for the satisfaction and the correct servicing of our customers. Project managers and service
delivery managers are made available for them by the delivery entities.
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The two delivery entities are responsible for a cost efficient service, the management and
development of competencies and the quality of the services provided.

Solutions & Software Delivery (SSD) develops NRB’s solutions through custom
developments or the customisation of vendor suites in the domains of ERP, ECM or BI. SSD
also guarantees the full life cycle of a project: from the conceptual work, the development,
the implementation, the integration up to the delivery.

Managed Operations (MO) is responsible for the infrastructure services either in the form of
operational management with the necessary guarantees for uninterrupted services or as
projects where the objective is to deliver a total solution.
NRB has also put together its entire Dutch speaking people within a virtual entity – NRB Flanders –
dedicated to better and horizontally serve our customers coming from the north of the country. The
entity is responsible both for the sales and delivery aspects.
1.10
Mission, values and vision
It is NRB's mission to supply reliable, innovative and high-quality IT solutions to its customers in
the whole of Belgium: infrastructure services, system integration, the development of applications,
operational management and IT consulting.
To perform this mission our company trusts on the strong competencies, the flexibility,
the efficiency and the commitment of its staff.
This reflected within the values that guide our relationship with our staff, our partners, our
shareholders, society and, of course, our clients.
Commitment
We are fully committed to quality and efficiency which is the basis of our long-term
relationships with our clients.
Respect
We respect our staff's, clients' and partners' integrity as well as their values. We do so by
adopting a fundamentally constructive attitude of listening and dialogue as a guarantee for a
personalized service.
Creativity and innovation
We want to offer solutions to our clients that create added value for their businesses and are
geared towards the future.
Quality
We constantly invest in the education of our staff, in our technological infrastructure and in
further developing our best practices.
Our vision? We want to be a role model for the Belgian economy. We want to be number 1 when
it comes to quality and innovation in our own fields: IT technology and IT services.
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1.11
Why choose the NRB Group?
The NRB Group has the necessary critical size and capacity to guarantee a competitive price for
high-quality services.
You can rely on an uninterrupted service and the safe storage of data thanks to our unique
infrastructure, including mainframe and distributed environments, located in our own geographic
redundant data centres in Herstal and Villers-le-Bouillet. This infrastructure became in 2011 the
first and only SAP Certified Hosting partner in Belgium.
Our size and the shared central data centre allow you to benefit from the advantages of hightechnology infrastructure (performance, logical and physical security, and continuity assurance) and
environments which you, as an individual company, may perhaps not be able to afford. Moreover,
being a local player, we can still offer our clients the necessary attention, flexibility and ‘VIP service’
they may not be able to find at global providers who are primarily oriented towards global or
international clients.
We dispose of a large variety of technological skills enabling us to function as a ‘one stop shop’.
We can offer all the elements of a total ICT solution and can take care of its’ full life cycle: the
conceptual design, the architecture, the development, the implementation, the integration, the
maintenance, the operational management as well as the taking of the necessary business continuity
and disaster recovery planning (BCP and DRP) measures.
NRB can also pride itself on an extensive functional knowledge due to over 25 years experience in
the public sector (at all levels), in the sector of finance and insurances and in the sector of
utilities. This business expertise enables us to understand our clients’ business challenges and to
translate these into ICT solutions. In other words, we can act as acknowledgeable ’partner’.
The NRB Group unites local companies, our shareholders are Belgian, our infrastructure is based in
Belgium and our decision centre is in Belgium. We needn't adjust our strategies to meet with
those of international shareholders. Our decision taking processes are short. We can fulfill our
commitments on the spot and hold to them for a hundred percent, even in the long-term.
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2 Our offering
The added value of our offering is based on three elements.
First of all there are our generic or transversal ICT solutions which span the various layers of a
complete ICT set-up: the infrastructure, the middleware, the core business applications and the
solutions we offer for communication and collaboration. The latter also means that our document
services can take care of your system's output in the form of electronic or even physical documents
processed by our print shop.
Then there are our experts who, based on their knowledge of business processes, design and
manage the vertical or sector specific solutions for clients in the fields of finance and banking, for
utilities, for the public sector and for the health care sector.
Finally, there are our architects and governance specialists who provide our best practices. NRB
offers a portfolio of services which allow us to guide you through the whole cycle of an ICT solution:
starting with the analysis, the design, the development, the implementation, the hosting and ending
with the operational management, the maintenance and the support.
2.1 Cloud Computing solutions
2.1.1 NRB’s hybrid cloud
The technological and financial models of public and private clouds are nearly identical: a client makes
use of the infrastructure, platforms or software offered by providers around the world via a network
(the Internet or another network)and only pays for what he actually uses (pay per use).
NRB offers a ‘private’ cloud: the use of a shared environment in a ‘pay per use’ model but in a strictly
secured and controlled ‘private’ environment in both the physical and contractual sense. The private
label guarantees that the client exactly knows at any given moment where his data are located. . An
assurance public cloud providers cannot easily offer. Still for NRB, when working for one of the major
insurance companies in the country, and for federal or regional governmental organizations, this
guarantee is indeed crucial.
The critical element of course is the SLA (service level agreement) that accompanies the cloud
services NRB’s service agreements not only guarantee optimal security, continuity and performance,
they also allows both parties to make clear agreements regarding a personalized, tailor-made service
package: a flexible service, the integration in your existing environments, and even - if relevant
involving public cloud solutions.
In some cases, NRB's consultants and a client may decide indeed that the inclusion of standard
products, as offered by a public cloud provider, are a useful part of the total solution which NRB
develops and/or manages for its client. A risk analysis and the business case will be created on a
case-by-case basis and will provide a definitive answer.
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2.1.1.1
An overview of our cloud services …
IaaS | Infrastructure as a Service
Access the capacity of NRB's data centres and use as much as you need: less in calm periods and
more when having a peak.
PaaS | Platform as a Service
Do you need a platform like SAP? Log in to our systems and 'rent' the platform for your ERP or other
applications.
SaaS | Software as a Service
Stop investing in your own software and start using the standard or shared applications made
available by NRB.
MaaS | Monitoring as a Service
Monitor your system's operations and keep an eye on your consumption.
2.1.1.2
The advantages
Flexibility: you purchase the capacity you need. Not too much and not too little.
Safety: the redundancy of our locations means that we can guarantee operational safety, even in
case of a disaster.
Accessibility: You can access your systems and data at any time, at any place.
Cost efficient: you will pay less for maintenance and for use as we use a pay per use system.
Tailor-made: you select the degree to which you use each model: IaaS, PaaS , SaaS, MaaS...
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2.1.2 Mobility in the Cloud
The BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) phenomenon or, in other words, the fact that workers want to
use their own portable devices in a professional context means that the back office needs to be able
to authorise the access to several databases and business applications. The front office consists of
various types of devices, operating systems and versions thereof (iOS, Android, BlackBerry and
Windows Phone).
A mobile platform ensures that everything functions well. Its role is to be a sort of middle office
between the back office and the front office. The platform deals with issues such as security, mobile
device management, automatic device configuration and app lifecycle management. The platform also
provides the development tools that enable the deployment of mobile applications, taking into account
the diversity of devices and back office applications. The right choice of architecture and appropriate
technology is of paramount importance. NRB works with a technology that has more than proved
itself. The various tools that constitute our platform are supplied by SAP.
They have been classed by Gartner as among the leaders in the Magic Quadrant of Mobile Application
Development Platforms and the Magic Quadrant of Mobile Device Management Software.
Use of a cloud version of NRB’s mobile platform offers numerous advantages.
For the CFO
It avoids major investments in mobile infrastructure (CAPEX); the company pays only for its actual use
of the platform (OPEX). The platform makes it possible to reduce the Total Cost of Development
(TCD), the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and, moreover, security risks.
For the CIO
The platform allows central management of all sorts of operating systems for all types of devices
linked to all types of back-end in an identical fashion, which facilitates their use. So your IT colleagues
can support a BYOD policy with complete peace of mind and concentrate on the development or
improvement of your applications.
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For employees and managers
Since the platform supports various types of portable devices, your employees have access to new
possibilities on their own laptops or tablets. A manager can coordinate his team quickly and easily,
and, for example, consult reports or approve requests.
2.1.2.1
Mobility in the Cloud to support your mobile strategy!
There is more, though, to your mobile strategy than just the mobile devices and apps that you are
going to use. You have to think in terms of access, too. And it has to be flexible. In other words,
access must be possible everywhere, at any time and be available to the right user. These are the
possibilities that cloud computing offers.
You can enjoy absolutely all the benefits if you use a cloud-based mobile platform. NRB offers its
mobile platform, Mobility in the Cloud, in a PaaS (Platform as a Service) model. It provides an
infrastructure that simplifies the development and deployment of mobile applications.
The major advantages of this model are:
No investment
With the cloud model you pay a fixed price per user, per month and you do not need to invest in a
hosting infrastructure yourself.
Rapid deployment
You do not have to install a platform yourself and will therefore be mobile immediately. Thanks to this
rapid deployment you can once more accelerate your time-to-market.
The NRB cloud offer is a full service platform containing, amongst other things, the MDM (Mobile
Device Management) application Afaria, which enables you to manage your different mobile devices.
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It also offers a portfolio of over 40 applications that are ready to use. These include, for example,
“Mobile CRM” for customer management, as well as service management for mobile technicians and
business line apps dedicated to particular business departments, such as HR, Finance or even
Delivery. You can also develop your own applications with a Software Development Kit (SDK). This
makes it possible to reduce the development time because you only have to encode all the common
parts of your apps, such as the links to the back-end and the business logistics, once for several
devices.
Compatibility
The platform can be connected to any back-end and therefore supports not only SAP Business Suite,
but also other business applications and web services.
The platform supports iOS, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone devices as well.
Security and ease of use
Mobility in the Cloud likewise ensures the best balance between security and ease of use. Users no
longer need to enter a different password for each business application. The platform ensures end-toend authentication. The traceability offered is also end-to-end, which allows you to check very easily
who carried out which action, when and in which application. Furthermore, NRB guarantees the best
levels of security and reliability with, among other things, security assessment tests and data centres
that are amongst the most effective and most secure in Belgium.
2.2 Transversal or generic solutions
2.2.1 Enterprise Collaboration
Effective tools for maximum profitability
Collaboration between your employees is essential for your organisation to work well. Adoption of the
tools that you put at their disposal is therefore crucial, and for maximum adoption the solutions have
to correspond to the standards that your employees know today and be easy to grasp. They must be
simple and intuitive to use. Employees use these tools in their non-professional lives and will therefore
demand them at the workplace too.
NRB offers you communication and collaboration tools that can be integrated into your IT
environment: intranet, extranet, IP telephony, business-oriented social networking, mobile
applications, emailing, etc. We work mainly with Microsoft products (Office, SharePoint, Lync, etc.),
Cisco or even Citrix to offer you professional solutions that correspond to your needs and those of
your teams!
2.2.2 Enterprise Content Management (ECM)
Documents and data life cycle management
You are looking for an end-to-end solution which guarantees the full life cycle of documents and data
- from creation to archiving. The information also has to be readily available to the right knowledge
worker. Securing and protecting the information integrity is a must. You're also being confronted with
legislation which prescribes strict rules when it comes to storing certain data. This is specially the case
in the banking sector (Sarbanes – Oxley) or the pharmaceutical industry. Finally you also want to start
reducing your’ expensive' paper archive.
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NRB configures and implements Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solutions. ECM refers to
managing structured and unstructured data. The latter could be documents, images, music, (e-mail)
messages or other types of content. So ECM incorporates elements such as document management,
web content management, records management and work flow management. These solutions will
also allow multiple people to work together on the same content and the same document.
NRB has extensive knowledge of suites like the Microsoft suite, Alfresco, the open source alternative
and Documentum, EMC²'s content management system.
2.2.3 Core Business Applications
An integrated information system for your key business processes: finance, sales,
human resources, purchasing…
The efficiency of your organization depends on the fast and faultless processing and the perfect flow
of crucial information throughout your organisation. In an ideal situation you dispose of one
integrated information system that collects all critical information and provides insight into the
functioning of all your business processes.
NRB mainly meets these needs with SAP's ERP solutions (Enterprise Resource Planning). This business
suite covers all functional areas with predefined process models that have been developed on the
basis of proven’ best practices. Configuration can even make the product feel tailor-made. The basic
idea is making the relationship between the various functional domains within the organisation:
accounting, financial management, production, supply management, marketing, sales & customer
relations (CRM), human resources (HCM), quality, maintenance, etc. or even building a bridge
between your organization and external parties such as clients or suppliers. NRB has also extended
the functional wealth offered by an SAP with a number of sector specific developments.
SAP for specific sectors
Our SAP specialists include a number of experts who have extensive knowledge of the core business
processes in a number of specific sectors. This includes utility companies, the public sector or the field
of banking and insurances.
Our utility specialists refer to the SAP ISU, SAP Industry Solution for Utilities). The focus in the public
sector lies especially on financial modules such as budgetary accounting, taxes and grant
management. . And, last but not least, there are the SAP ERP solutions offered by Xperthis, part of
the NRB Group, and focussing on the administrative processes in a hospital.
2.2.4 Enterprise Mobility
There would be nearly 6 billion mobile devices in the world, almost half of which are intelligent. Some
31 billion applications were downloaded in 2011 and it is estimated that this figure will more than
double by 2016. Globally, 77% of companies provide their employees with mobile devices and 66%
have already deployed mobile applications. In 2015, 4 employees out of 10 will be mobile. Faced with
this reality, NRB offers its clients an end-to-end mobility solution.
We have a catalogue of ready-to-use applications covering all the business processes (human
resources, sales, etc.) plus applications intended for specific sectors of activity (the public sector,
utilities, insurance, etc.). It takes very little time to connect NRB applications to your systems, because
NRB hosts and supplies a secure cloud platform as a service that allows the development,
management and rapid deployment of your applications, data management and integration with your
systems as well as the management and configuration of your smart phones and tablets.
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Furthermore, NRB supports you in the development of your mobile strategy and can develop
customised applications that correspond to your specific needs and satisfy the expectations of your
users in terms of ergonomics, design and ease of use.
2.2.5 Advanced Analytics (Business Intelligence & Big Data)
You want to have a constant overview and to monitor your organisation’s performance. You want to
be able to improve your commercial processes constantly and to obtain crucial information that
enables you to optimize your strategy. On the other hand you know that every minute 48 hours of
videos are uploaded on YouTube, 700 000 searches are carried out on Google, 100 000 tweets are
published on Twitter, there are 2 000 000 “likes” on Facebook and millions of documents are put
online. You want to take advantage of this digital tsunami to anticipate the evolution of your markets
more proactively than your competitors and considerably improve your time to market.
Our Advanced Analytics solutions integrate the BI (Business Intelligence) concept and the Big Data
concept. Our BI applications are integrated with your systems (CRM, for example) in order to extract
usable information from them by drawing on your data. So we generate indicators that give you an
overview that is relevant to your situation. These systems also allow you to detect trends and make
history-based forecasts.
The idea of our Big Data solution is to go even further. It is about using your structured data as well
as large volumes of unstructured data obtained from various different sources (social networks, web,
open data, etc.) and taking advantage of it by uncovering the value of the information that is hidden
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in it. The ultimate aim is to be able to make forecasts in real time and to allow you to modify your
strategies fast and proactively.
NRB uses renowned Business Intelligence solutions such as SAP BW (business warehouse), the former
Business Objects (now also part of SAP) and the SAS suite.
2.2.6 Outbound document Workflows
Efficient and direct communication, intensive interaction with suppliers, partners, clients, members,
citizens and (other) public services are all musts in today’s network economy. So you need to be able
to manage all of your important outbound document flows.
NRB is specialised in dealing with large quantities of transactional, financial and administrative
documents, from their creation to their distribution via various paper and electronic channels. We
have a printing structure equipped with the latest generation colour printers, which function at very
high speed. Our folding and inserting machines allow us to carry out complex work like variable,
dynamic insertion of several documents and mailings. Based on the ADF (Automated Document
Factory) concept, NRB offers optimal quality and security thanks to its total traceability system. And
what is more, our specialist teams can, for example, help you transform your invoices into veritable
marketing tools.
2.2.7 Web Experience Management
These days, consumers compare prices on the web and ask the advice of their friends on social
networks before making a purchase. They no longer hesitate to question the quality of the public
services or companies. So your presence in the media and the online services that you offer, i.e. the
user experience has become vitally important for your clients or your citizens.
NRB can help you with all your web projects, from the strategy to hosting, via the conception,
ergonomics, design, development, referencing and integration with your systems (mainframe or
distributed). That is exactly where the added value of our company lies in this sort of project. At NRB
you will find all the specialists you need to realise your site under one roof. Because of the growing
number of consultations on tablets or smart phones, we offer responsive sites, i.e. sites whose
appearance adapts to suit the device on which they are consulted. In terms of technologies, we work
with 2 WCMS (Web Content Management Systems): Adobe Experience Manager, which is part of the
Marketing Cloud suite and the Belgian open source Drupal.
2.3 Vertical or sector specific solutions
The NRB Group also provides sector specific ICT solutions and services. NRB's experts have a
thorough knowledge of the banking and insurance sectors, the utilities, and the social and
governmental sector on both a federal and regional level.
The ICT solutions and services provided by Cevi, Logins and Civadis focus on local authorities.
Xperthis finally is a market leader in ICT applications for the Health Care sector.
Each company in the group works autonomously. It develops its own applications and ICT solutions
for its clients. NRB's shared and secure infrastructure supports the solutions of all the entities
whenever possible.
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2.3.1 Banking and insurance
The clients in this sector use most parts of our portfolio: this includes infrastructure hosting,
operational management, maintenance, the development of tailor-made applications customised ERP,
ECM or BI suites implementation and integration. But we also provide websites and (e-commerce)
portals, manage documents flows and supply printed material.
2.3.2 Federal, regional and local government
The NRB Group is today a prime ICT partner on all levels of Belgian government. NRB itself, t is
focussed on federal and regional levels whilst the subsidiaries Civadis in the Walloon provinces, and
Cevi and Logins in Flanders, primarily offer solutions to local governments such as cities and
communities, public centres for social welfare and police districts.
2.3.3 Utility companies
NRB is a steady partner is this sector since its establishment. We developed the ‘Clearing House’ – the
platform for data exchange amongst the energy distributors and the other players in this market. Our
solutions also include functional domains such as accounting, customer services, metering and
invoicing.
2.3.4 Health Care
Xperthis is the ICT partner for the Belgian Health Care sector within the NRB Group. xperthis'
solutions support the core processes in a hospital environment: the logistic and financial back office
through SAP based applications, the care process (patient files) and the process of‘ tarification’ and
invoicing through custom made software developments. NRB hosts the SAP platform which allows
xperthis to provide hospitals with its SAP applications in a SaaS model.
2.4 Professional Services
NRB offers a full range of services which guides you through the full life cycle of your IT projects.
2.4.1 Consulting
From the setting up of the business- IT road map, the evaluation of existing and new technologies,
the assessment and dealing with the risks related to IT, to the guidance related to organisational
changes linked to the implementation of an IT solution.
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IT Roadmap
Infrastructure & Technology Assessment
IT Architecture
Enterprise Architecture
Business Process Management
Digital Strategy
Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Plans
Risk Assessment & Management
Our consultants' starting point is an IT governance framework. This provides the necessary
guarantees when it comes to relevancy, quality, sustainability and the added value of IT in general,
and of our solutions and services in particular. Naturally, our consultants work with universally
accepted models and standards; such as TOGAF, COBIT and ITIL.
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2.4.2 Managed Operations
NRB has built a track record of more than 25 years in managing outsourcing projects, of which some
are still amongst the largest in the country; as for Ethias, for regional and federal governmental
services and for utilities.
NRB will always look for the ICT solution which best meets your needs when it comes to performance,
security, business assurance and cost efficiency. You may appeal on NRB's infrastructure team to take
care of your ICT infrastructure and all its components like servers, network, storage etc. And you can
benefit from NRB's infrastructure's security, maintenance and operational management.
NRB's 'Managed Operations’ team manages the implementation and exploitation of our client's
systems and applications, at an optimal and competitive price with the necessary service levels (SLA)
and the necessary guarantees in with regard to security. Our team is proactive and constantly updates
the system so that performance, service levels and safety are permanently monitored and improved.
The maintenance includes support during an emergency, repairs, overhauls, monitoring and the
verification of hardware and software. NRB offers two types of maintenance. The corrective type
which is necessary when an installation no longer works properly, whereas preventative maintenance
is provided before something goes wrong in order to prevent a defect.
Our maintenance activities are performed in line with ITIL's best practices (Service desk, Incidents,
Change en Problem Management). These activities have been part of NRB's core activities for over 20
years. It is a token of our experience and professionalism.
Overview of our Managed Operations Services:
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Housing
Hosting
Back up
Storage & Archiving
Networking
Operating Systems
Middleware
Databases
Monitoring-Alerting
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2.4.3 Project Management
NRB has developed 'Diapason' which encompasses all best practices for software development
according to today's highest standards. The Diapason concept encompasses both the organisation as
well as the methodology. It guarantees that each project is performed in a professional way and that
the result will be of high-quality. The methodological reference framework NRB uses for its project
managements completely corresponds with PMI (Project Management Institute) principles that are
described in their Project Management Body of Knowledge’ (PMBOK) guide. NRB uses the best tools
available to support project management: Aris, Enterprise Architect, CAST, HPQC, HPSM, Jira…
2.4.4 Service management
NRB combines a number of processes and instruments with which it can optimally anticipate its
clients' expectations when it comes to the day-to-day use of their solutions. NRB bases these services
on the ITIL Service Desk's framework.
The process always starts with a clear definition of the client's expectations. These expectations are
included in an SLA (Service Level Agreement). The SLA states that both parties will be able to realise
a quality service without losing sight of the costs. The SLA also determines how we can perceive the
service in an objective fashion. This is done using indicators which are referred to in NRB's regular
client reports.
NRB can provide service desk support either on your site or via our own offices.
The NRB Service Desk is a direct line of communication with a client. You can call on it with any
questions you have about IT. Our service desk employees can answer questions in French, Dutch and
English.
2.4.5 Custom software development
As existing packages do not provide the full range of the necessary functionalities or meet your
specific demands, it can be obvious to go for a custom developed solution from scratch. This is
primarily the case for applications which have to support domain or sector specific business processes
or processes subject to (local) legislation and regulations. We develop custom solutions both for
mainframe environments (PL1, COBOL) and for distributed environments (Java, .Net, powerbuilder).
NRB's custom solutions were mainly developed for key customers in the world of insurance, utilities
and the public sector.
NRB disposes of development teams that create solutions in Java, .Net or PowerBuilder for use in a
Windows, Linux, Unix or Solaris environments. Open system environments offer lots of flexibility when
it comes to configuration and architecture (multi-tier)
NRB also develops tailor-made software for clients using a BULL or IBM mainframe using COBOL or
PL1. This mainframe development team created the applications which support Ethias’ insurance
activities. This set-up exploits everything the mainframe has to offer: speed and 100% reliability when
it comes to efficiently processing immense transaction volumes. The same team has built a strong
expertise in ‘opening up’ mainframe applications, making them accessible via web services or frontend (web) applications. Our BULL mainframe team also boasts an admirable list of achievements
when it comes to the development of financial and accounting applications for governmental services
such as the Walloon region. These applications have been used for many years but are constantly
updated to ensure they keep up with legislation and other demands.
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2.5 Commitments and Certificates
2.5.1 ISO 9001
NRB's quality management system was awarded the Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance for the first
time on the 4th of June 2004. The certificate was renewed in 2007, 2010 and 2013. The current
certificate is valid until June 2016. Audits take place every six months.
NRB was awarded the ISO 9001:2008 certificate for all of its processes and procedures:
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design, analysis, advice and the support given during an IT project;
design, development, maintenance and the hosting of IT solutions;
the management of system infrastructure, telecommunications networks and mass
printing;
the supply and configuration of hardware and software.
2.5.2 SAP
NRB was awarded the first and only SAP Hosting Partner certificate in Belgium on the 30th of
March 2011.
This certificate confirms NRB's role as a supplier of all SAP services and solutions. This includes classic
hosting of an environment and the configuration and development including the hosting of platforms
and SAP solutions which are provided as a service (PaaS and SaaS).
The ‘SAP Hosting Partner’ certificate is an addition to NRB's other SAP competencies:
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SAP Services Partner;
Channel Partner – SAP All-In-One;
Value Circle Partner.
NRB is certified Partner Center of Expertise by SAP since the 7th of June 2012. This certificate
confirms that our organization offers its customers the service and support in accordance with SAP’s
current technical and organizational standards.
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2.5.3 An eco-sensible business
NRB has always had a strong sense of social responsibility and is aware of its impact on the
environment. It pays attention to all levels: waste management, energy consumption, water
consumption, purchasing policy, paper, mobility and transport.
2.5.3.1
Ecoteam
The 'Ecoteam' was launched in 2010. NRB received subsidies from the ministry of Economy of the
Walloon government and from Espace Environment (a non-profit organisation). The objective is to
tackle all sources of pollution one by one. Each situation is analysed and concrete environmentally
friendly activities are introduced.
2.5.3.2
Recycling
NRB's recycling policy is pretty comprehensive. SITA, a specialised firm, processes our regular waste,
paper and cardboard. Jean-Claude Liégeois in Liège processes our wooden pallets without deposit.
Out-of-date IT material is divided into two categories. Reusable materials are donated to schools or
charities. And materials that cannot be reused are taken care of by Retrival. They make sure that
every type of waste can be processed by the correct waste processor.
2.5.3.3
Green IT
NRB constantly introduces the newest and most advanced techniques and processes to reduce the
energy consumption and CO2 emissions.
Our Green IT approach consists of a series of measures which, when adding them up, make a real
difference. They concerns both technical choices - like the selection of energy efficient servers and
power supply modules - and about procedures - such as turning off hard drives when not being used.
Other elements also play a role: adjusting the speed of the fans to the thermal environment using
environmentally oriented automatic pilots. Or adjusting the speed of the processor in function of the
server load.
The servers, the uninterrupted electrical power supply blocks and the cooling systems are responsible
for eighty percent of our energy consumption. We introduce more efficient technology but also apply
optimisation concepts - like virtualisation - which allow us to balance the power consumed with our
processing capacity. An example: NRB managed to reduce the power consumption of one company
from 61 kW to 22 kW per hours.
At this moment in time, NRB's installations achieve a realistic energy output of 1.6 ( PUE, Power Usage
Effectiveness). This fits with the recommendations made in the European Community's Code of
Conduct.
This is a high mark. But we want more. We see it as just one step in a process. This is a characteristic
of Green IT: constantly wanting to improve and perform on an even higher level. NRB's teams
constantly test new techniques within the framework of PUE improvements
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2.5.4 FSC certificate (Forest Stewardship Council)
NRB is constantly aware of its impact on the environment. That is why we choose to use ecological
paper - both for large print jobs for clients and for ourselves.
That is also why NRB decided to work towards gaining an FSC certificate and to formalise our efforts.
NRB was awarded the FSC Mix label (number C110378) in March 2012. Our certificate number is BVCOC-018623.
This certificate imposes us to do our very best to only fulfil our paper needs (sheets, covers etc.) with
brands which have been awarded an FSB (or an equivalent) label. We also have to systematically add
a clause to each invoice and specification stating this fact.
The person responsible for FSC at NRB makes sure that we only use paper which has been awarded
an FSC Mix label. All new staff are informed about the principles which are the basis for FSC. They are
also told how these principles can be applied to their new jobs.
You can find more information about certificates and the FSC label on www.fsc.org.
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3 NRB’s infrastructure
3.1 State-of-the-art data centers
NRB has constantly invested in one of most state of the art and high performing data centers in the
country. It consists of three separate buildings which are located on our site in Herstal (Parc Industriel
des Hauts Sarts). These buildings have been equipped with a sophisticated system for prevention and
security control, access control, permanent video surveillance and fully redundant systems for
networks, power supply and cooling systems. This results in a class III data centre that even meets
some of the most important requirements of a class IV centre.
Moreover, all platforms, hardware, networks, storage and back-up systems are set up in such a way
that they can offer ‘on demand’ capacity to our clients. Techniques such as virtualization and
partitioning allow the client to make use of NRB’s infrastructure, operational platforms (like an SAP
platform) and even of a number of applications ‘as a service’ which is only charged for what is actually
used (Infrastructure, Platform of Software as a Service). Our consultants, in agreement with the
client, will even determine to which extent certain applications or services - which are already
available via the internet (public cloud) - can be incorporated within his set up. The latter is referred
to as NRB's hybrid cloud services.
NRB introduced a permanent technological succession policy. This means we always have access to
the most advanced technology. This policy has created a number of strong partnerships for NRB with
leaders in the technological sector, based on the quality of their products. This includes companies
such as IBM, Bull, EMC², VMWare, Oracle, Cisco, SAS, Alfresco, SAP and Microsoft.
NRB has access to the most performing and up-to-date high-tech servers on the market. This turns
our data centre is one of the most important ones in Belgium. With the critical size enabling us to
offer our clients and partners the highest service levels achievable.
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Mainframe
 IBM Z/OS: +7500 MIPS, + 800 million transactions/year
 Bull GCOS8
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Distributed
 Server WINTEL/Linux, UNIX and AS/400
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Back up & storage
 Storage Area Network of more than 1 Pb (Petabyte) disk space
 Automated backup management
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Managed Services
 + 12000 work stations (including VoIP)
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Networking
 Fibreglass connection
 Broadband connections between NRB and its clients
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DRP & BCP: de-duplication of the critical infrastructure
Thanks to its collaboration with WDC (Wallonia Data Center) in Villers-le-Bouillet NRB can now offer
full DR solutions to its clients that perfectly meet the toughest requirements with regard to business
continuity assurance.
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3 data centers in 3 separate buildings in Herstal
1 data center at WDC in Villers-le-Bouillet
More than 30km distance between both sites
Black fibre connection between WDC and Herstal
More…
Our multimedia area can be transformed into an office for fifty people in less than two hours. These
areas will be made available to clients whose systems are hosted by NRB in case of a disaster at their
location.
3.2 Print shop
NRB disposes of a Print shop: a modern printing infrastructure with the latest high-speed laser
printers that can print in black & white and in colour. This also includes machines for folding with
various possibilities. We use our print shop to perform complex tasks such as the dynamic and flexible
preparation of multiple documents and mailings.
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Total capacity: over 1500 pages per minute
70 million printed pages per year
More than 35 million deliveries per year
More than 300.000 letters per day.
3.3 The buildings’ security
The digital data we store for our clients is very important and is incredibly valuable. That is why NRB
operates maximum security for all its installations.
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Closed domains with a system for shock detection
Hundreds of surveillance cameras
Specific access zones
A fire prevention system which is linked to automatic extinguishers
A security team
A complete (from grid up to the computers) de-duplicated power supply (double path) which
has been secured by using UPS
De-duplicated air-conditioning systems
De-duplicated network infrastructure
Power units that automatically start functioning during a power failure
Special areas for the storage of paper and accessories
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4 The customers of The NRB Group
4.1 NRB
4.1.1 Banking and Insurance
AME (Assurances Mutuelles d'Europe)
Boulevard Royal 5 – 2449 Luxembourg
Delta Lloyd Bank
Avenue de l’Astronomie 23 – 1210 Brussels
Ethias
Rue des Croisiers 24 – 4000 Liège
Informex
Rue de Genève 4 – 1140 Brussels
Legibel
Rue Royale 55 – 1000 Brussels
Optima Banque
Avenue Charles Quint 586 – 1082 Berchem-Sainte-Agathe
P&V Group
Rue Royale 151 – 1210 Brussels
4.1.2 The public/social sector
ASE (Agence de Stimulation Economique)
Rue du Vertbois 13B – 4000 Liège
CIRB (Centre d’Informatique pour la Région Bruxelloise)
Avenue des Arts 21 – 1000 Brussels
Commissariat EASI-WAL
Chaussée de Charleroi 83B – 5000 Namur
ETNIC – Communauté française
Place Solvay 4 – 1030 Brussels
INASTI (Institut National d’Assurances Sociales pour Travailleurs Indépendants)
Place Jean Jacobs 6 – 1000 Brussels
Ministerium der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft
Gospertstraße 1 – 4700 Eupen
Province de Hainaut
Grand-Hornu, Rue de la Grande Campagne 34 – 7301 Hornu
Province de Liège
Place Saint Lambert 18a – 4000 Liège
FedICT (Service Public Fédéral Technologie de l’Information et de la Communication)
Rue Marie-Thérèse 1/3 – 1000 Brussels
Service Public Fédéral – Economie, PME, Classes moyennes et Energie
Rue du Progrès 50 – 1210 Brussels
Service Public Fédéral – Finance
Avenue du Roi Albert II, 33 Bât. C – 1030 Brussels
Service Public Fédéral – Justice
Rue Evers 2-8 – 1000 Brussels
Service Public Fédéral – Mobilité et Transports
Rue du Progrès 56 – 1210 Brussels
Service Public de Wallonie
Place de la Wallonie 1 – 5100 Jambes
UCL – Université Catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve
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Place de l'Université 1 – 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve
ULB (Université Libre de Bruxelles)
Avenue F.D. Roosevelt 50 – 1050 Brussels
ULg – Université de Liège
Place de 20 Août 7 – 4000 Liège
Ville de Charleroi
Département Informatique - Zoning industriel 4ème rue, Bât. 21 (DEFI) – 6040 Jumet
Ville de Liège
Cité administrative, Potiérue 5 – 4000 Liège
4.1.3 Utilities
AIEG
Rue Fernand Marchand 44 – 5020 Flawinne
CILE (Compagnie Intercommunale Liégeoise des Eaux)
Rue du Canal de l'Ourthe 8 - 4031 Liège
Eandis
Brusselsesteenweg 199 – 9090 Melle
EDF Luminus
Rue Royale 55 – 1000 Brussels
ENECO België
Zandvoortstraat C47/11 – 2800 Mechelen
Ores
Avenue Jean Monnet 2 – 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve
Partena HR
Rue des Chartreux – 1000 Brussels
Sibelga
Quai des Usines 16 – 1000 Brussels
TECTEO-Resa
Rue Louvrex 95 – 4000 Liège
4.1.4 Industry
3B Fibreglass
Route de Maastricht 67 – 4651 Battice
Eurogentec
Rue Bois Saint-Jean 5 – 4102 Seraing
Laboratoire Dr. Collard
Boulevard de Froidmont 14 – 4020 Liège
Liège Airport
Building 44 – 4460 Grâce-Hollogne
Magotteaux
Rue Adolphe Dumont – 4051 Vaux-sous-Chèvremont
Partena HR
Rue des Chartreux – 1000 Bruxelles
TNT
Rue de l'Aéroport – 4460 Grâce-Hollogne
Total Petrochemicals Research
Zone Industrielle C – 7181 Feluy
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4.2 xperthis
ASZ (Algemeen Stedelijk Ziekenhuis)
Merestraat 80 – 9300 Aalst
CHR de la Citadelle
Boulevard du 12e de ligne 1 – 4000 Liège
CHU Liège
Domaine universitaire du Sart Tilman avenue de l'hôpital – 4000 Liège
Centre hospitalier de Luxembourg
4 rue Ernest Barblé – 1210 Luxembourg
Clinique générale de Beaulieu
Chemin Beau Soleil 20 - 1206 Genève – Swiss
GHdC (Grand Hopital de Charleroi)
Notre Dame Grand’Rue 3 – 6000 Charleroi
ZNA (Ziekenhuis Netwerk Antwerpen)
ZNA Sint-Elisabeth Leopoldstraat 26 – 2000 Antwerpen
4.3 Civadis
Ville de Namur
Hotel de Ville - rue de Fer – 5000 Namur
Ville de Charleroi
Place Charles II – 6000 Charleroi
Commune de Saint-Gilles
39, place Van Meenen – 1060 Saint-Gilles
CPAS Molenbeek-Saint-Jean
Rue Alphonse Vandenpeereboom 14 – 1080 Molenbeek-Saint-Jean
Ville de Bruxelles
Place Anspach 6 – 1000 Bruxelles
CPAS Libramont
Rue du Printemps, 25 – 6800 Libramont-Chevigny
CPAS Mons
Rue du Bouzanton 1 – 7000 Mons
CPAS Verviers
Rue du Collège 49 – 4800 Verviers
Province de Hainaut
Avenue De Gaulle, 102 – 7000 Mons
WBI
2, place Sainctelette – 1080 Bruxelles
ICDI
Rue du Déversoir 1 – 6010 Charleroi
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4.4 Cevi
Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen
Gouvernementstraat 1 – 9000 Gent
Provincie West-Vlaanderen
Jan Van Eyckplein 2 – 8000 Brugge
Stad Gent
Botermarkt 1 – 9000 Gent
Stad Brugge
Stadsbestuur Burg 12 – 8000 Brugge
OCMW Brugge
Ruddershove 4 – 8000 Brugge
4.5 Logins
OCMW Brussel
Hoogstraat 298A – 1000 Brussel
OCMW Kortrijk
Budastraat 27 – 8500 Kortrijk
OCMW Aalst
Gasthuisstraat 40 – 9300 Aalst
OCMW Sint-Niklaas
Lodewijk De Meesterstraat 3 – 9100 Sint-Niklaas
OCMW Leuven
Andreas Vesaliusstraat 47 – 3000 LEUVEN
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5 Legal information
5.1.1 Financial data
Fiscal year
2011*
2012
2013
Turnover
181.885.245,00 €
196.763.622 €
207.861.847 €
Shareholders’ equity
104.033.370,00 €
101.952.120 €
97.623.743 €
Debts
91.324.615,00 €
82.370.281 €
93.278.842 €
Operating results / EBIT
16.683.137,00 €
14.871.320 €
16.105.606 €
*xperthis was created in September 2011 without Partezis (that officially joined the group in January
2012). The figures take partly into account the results of these companies.
5.1.2 Shareholders status (as of 31 December 2013)
Shareholder
Principle
%
Number of shares
ETHIAS S.A. / nv
10.632.500 €
68,39%
42.530
TECTEO GROUP
1.924.000 €
12,38%
7.696
C.I.L.E.
702.000 €
4,52%
2.808
GESVAL S.A. / nv
250 €
0,00%
1
S.W.D.E.
757.250 €
4,87%
3.029
S.R.I.W.
625.000 €
4,02%
2.500
INTERFIN
625.000 €
4,02%
2.500
BRUTELE
281.250 €
1,81%
1.125
TOTAL
15.547.250 €
100,0%
62.189
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5.2 Company details
Name:
Type of business entity:
Registered seat:
Tel.:
Fax:
E-mail:
Bank details:
Network Research Belgium S.A. /nv (abbreviated to NRB)
a public limited company as defined by Belgian law
Parc Industriel des Hauts-Sarts
2e Avenue 65
4040 Herstal
Belgium
+ 32 (0)4 249 72 11
+ 32 (0)4 249 74 00
sales@nrb.be
Belfius 091-0109922-50
IBAN: BE86091010992250
BIC: GKCCBEBB
Staff nationality:
Belgian
Chamber of commerce:
158.135 in Liège
VAT number:
BE0 430.502.430
Belgian social security number: 010-1124226-11
Business number:
0430.502.430
Date founded:
15 December 1986
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