June 29, 2001 – MAN Roland is decentralizing its North American operations by granting more autonomy to its regional centers in an initiative designed to get closer to its customers’ needs. "Restructuring, streamlining and change are always challenging courses of action," said Yves Rogivue, CEO of MAN Roland Inc. "But in today’s fast-pace times, continuous change and adaptation are inevitable." "We’re giving each of our six field locations more leeway in how they meet their customers’ needs," Rogivue continued. "That will give our sales and technical experts more of an opportunity to do what they do best: Assess the challenges confronting each individual printer and develop a technology plan that will help the customer produce more efficiently and win more business." "MAN Roland’s high technology equipment gives our customers the tools to print in a lean, integrated manufacturing environment," he continued. "It is our utmost goal and commitment to support this high tech and high investment infrastructure with a state of-the-art service structure that is fast, intelligent, and reliable." The restructuring plan is designed to more fully empower MAN Roland’s North American network of regional offices and service centers. Emphasis will be placed on tailoring a PECOM Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) environment for individual small and large scale printing companies at each location. The move to stronger decentralization will affect approximately 50 jobs, primarily in central operations. It will also create a number of new job opportunities, primarily in the reinforced regions. "In our cyclical industry, you have to make the most of both good times and slower periods," Rogivue added. "Our new initiative will ensure that our customers are equipped to make the most of changing economic conditions." MAN Roland maintains regional sales and service offices in Los Angeles (Santa Fe Springs), California; Atlanta, Georgia; Middlesex, New Jersey, as well as Toronto (Concord), Ontario Canada. It serves Midwest printers from its North American headquarters in Westmont (Chicago), Illinois. Web press technical project management is run from a separate facility in North Stonington, Connecticut.