in 1860 a pyrotechnic plant was set up for the manufacture of explosives. about 1880, the company consisted of a logistics center, a pyrotechnic school, a foundry, a workshop, a saddlery, a woodworking center, a gun shop, and a pattern factory. in 1884, the company introduced a small foundry for cast steel, which was the first industrial scale steel production in the netherlands. with this addition, the company began using cast steel for the production of war materiels which were previously manufactured from cast iron or wrought iron.