Heidelberg refutes local lay offs claim

Andy Vels Jensen, managing director, HAN, forecasts stormy financial weather ahead and a weaker market for offset presses, but says plenty of printers are running at peak capacity.

Responding to allegations that the company was slashing its workforce, he said that while HAN has let go five employees and left some vacancies unfilled, it has also taken on eight new employees in other areas where there is growth.

“The market challenges which we are facing are not much different from the rest of the industry or the rest of the world for that matter,” he said. ”Anyone who says they are not worried or impacted by what’s happening in the financial sector these days, is either living on a different planet or not responsible for managing a business, people or a family. Navigating through stormy waters is when you earn your keep, not when things are honky dory and plain sailing!”

He described recent changes as fairly basic and prudent cost savings relating to buildings and other efforts, which have no affect on customers. Overall Heidelberg claims a much higher market share than it has over the past eight years. Despite the weak market Vels Jensen maintains that most printers are now in their busy season and are running at peak capacities and utilization rates.

“Heidelberg ANZ has been around for 84 years and we have plenty of good reasons to keep it that way so we move with the punches and the ever changing market conditions. The experts call it being market driven and responding to client needs. Commonsense actually.

“We have so far not seen any reason to implement a restructure or major downsizing of the business in ANZ as we are still enjoying the business generated through installing more than 2,200 printing units following our restructure in 2001. Having said that, these days who knows what next year will bring, let alone next week!”