Against the backdrop of the shrinking sales markets which are plaguing the whole industry as a result of the current political instability, MAN Roland aims to stick to-gether and has set a company-wide course for solidarity. “We have to assume that the global market for sheet-fed offset presses will shrink by about 25% during the coming year”, said Gerd Finkbeiner, Chairman of the Board of Management at MAN Roland Druckmaschinen AG. “However“, he added, “in the newspaper printing machine sector we were able to secure a large order in the USA even after September 11th. The order came from the Gannett Group for Honolulu and its value exceeds 32 million Euro. We have to guard against the assumption that this drop in the market is a long-term phenomenon. We are dealing with a lull which we aim to overcome and we will succeed in doing so. It is important that we use all the means available to us to prevent staff from being made redundant”. With this in mind, MAN Roland has entered into negotiations with staff representatives; negotiations which are characterised by cooperation, openness and mutual understanding. The aim is to involve all levels of the hierarchy, all branch offices and all members of staff in the process of securing jobs. At the company meeting which took place today in Offenbach, staff were informed about the many facets of the programme. Among the ideas put forward were the option to take the hours worked overtime as holidays, encouragement to work part-time, temporary release from the company to pursue personal training and education, and a possible company-wide reduction in the number of hours worked per week. The transferral of staff from production facilities running below capacity to other areas where they are needed due to long production and assembly times was also among the ideas discussed. “One thing is for sure: we will need the highly-qualified staff which make up of regular workforce in order to cope with the boom which is expected in the future”, said Gerd Finkbeiner. He is convinced that “it is simply logical that we should continue to undertake measures to secure our future success and to make investments. We will get through this situation by sticking together, with the management and staff making a combined effort”.