With effect from November 1, 2001, Heidelberg Grafik Ticaret Servis Limited Sirketi (Heidelberg Turkey), the new subsidiary of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg), takes over the sales and service activities from Metro Mumessillik (Metro), Heidelberg's former distributor in Turkey, on a mutual basis. The majority of the Metro staff will join Heidelberg Turkey and support the newly established company to provide Turkish customers with Heidelberg's products and services. Heidelberg Turkey will reside in the same office complex in Bagcilar, Istanbul as Metro in the past. “This is a further step towards realigning Heidelberg’s international sales structure”, says Holger Reichardt, Board Member at Heidelberg for Marketing and Sales. “The direct contact will ensure that customers get comprehensive and professional advice from Heidelberg on a personal level. Furthermore, Heidelberg's customers in Turkey will have the opportunity to receive solutions to all their needs from a single source.“ Peter Todbjerg Hansen has been appointed as head of Heidelberg in Turkey as of ((January 1, 2002. At the same time)) Dogu Pabuccuoglu will take on the position as Managing Director and will be responsible for sales and marketing. Heidelberg Turkey employs 55 people, 18 of them are responsible for service. This development means that Heidelberg is now also able to present its complete portfolio of solutions directly to the Turkish market. Heidelberg offers not only a complete range of products in the printing sector, including web, sheetfed and digital printing presses, but also solutions for prepress and postpress applications. Services, consultancy and consumables round off this portfolio. The network of the Heidelberg Print Media Academy – the center for knowledge, education and training in the graphic arts industry – is also accessible to all Turkish customers. Heidelberg – never far away from the customer Since 1995, Heidelberg has taken over 50 trading partners and now earns around 85 % of its sales through its own sales companies. Satisfied customers and higher than average growth in sales reaffirm the correctness of this restructuring. Successful examples can be found worldwide, for example in France, Mexico and Asia where, in May 1998, Heidelberg took over the companies operated by the Danish trading company East Asiatic Company in eighteen different countries.