1970 Start. Robert Bouland (RB) sells first major machine tool, an 8-year-old (State of the Art, at that time) Heavy Duty Lathe  from Werkspoor  in Amsterdam to General Electric, Steam Turbine Division, in Schenectady, N.Y. (USA) for around $ 500.000

1971 First entire manufacturing plant acquired; Kromhout Motoren in Amsterdam, Manufacturer of the famous 2-cycle Diesel Engines for ships.

1979 acquired a 50% stake in P.M.C. Inc (Houston, TX USA); one of the largest machine tool dealers in the world at that time; the company was sold at the end of 1984.

1985 start of Fairfield Industries in Europe; acquiring assets from defunct companies and reviving the healthy parts. Fairfield Industries became a Pan European Company with Factories in Belgium, Switzerland and the U.K. and offices in Belgium, Switzerland, Netherlands, Germany, the U.K. and China.

1994-1996 RB becomes President of the EAMTM (European association of Machine Tool Merchants) for a two year term.

2000 Fairfield Auctions sold to DoveBid; RB assumed the role of President for DoveBid Europe until the end of 2002

2003 Start of CBI (Core Business Industries B.V.)

2004-2006 Purchase from the Bankruptcy Estate of all assets at the INEXA PROFILE Works in  Sweden. A Complete Meltshop and Rolling Mill for Rail and Heavy Profile, situated in 200'000 sq/M Buildings; we sold all equipment (25'000 Tonnes) and finished dismantling and shipment in 2006.The Works are now operating in the Middle East making heavy Profile and Rail.

2005 -2008 CBI purchased the assets of LBP (formerly known as UCA) in Liege, Belgium 70'000sq/M;  Major Foundry, with a capacity of 80'000Ton/Year and complete Rolling Mill and Finishing Shop for Copper and its Alloys.  The used Equipment was sold to customers in France, Thailand, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, Turkey,  Hungary, Italy, and India. It took a little over two years to market, sell, dismantle and remove all items from site.

2005-2007 CBI Purchased all of the assets from "Europa Metalli", Campo Tizzoro Italy. A Copper/Copper Alloy,-Strip Fabricating Plant with an annual output of 30.000 Tonnes  with a  4-High  Cold Rolling Mill, and a 3-Stand Tandem Mill, Slitting Lines, Floating Furnaces and Annealing Furnaces;  all the Machinery & Equipment was sold to European, Chinese, Indian and South American users.

2008-2009 CBI Purchased the Plant & Machinery from Draka Wire UK  in South Wales (UK) ,  a Non-Ferrous Wire Manufacturing Plant, at that time still in operation. Total capacity 1400 tons/week. When production ceased in May 2009, CBI (Core Business Industries BV) had already made a number of sales and could start delivering the Rod Break Down Mills, Wire Drawing and Bunching Lines to clients in India, Turkey, Korea, Germany and Belgium; the major items were sold in one big package to a client in Morocco.