Globe: Newspaper for Georg Fischer Employees, No. 1, March 2009

Contents:

• Offence is the best defence: Georg Fischer is gearing up with targeted investments and innovative products. (p. 1)
• Painful cuts in staffing levels Slump in demand: GF AgieCharmilles has to let go of 340 employees worldwide. (p. 1)
• Market strategies: Share price under pressure (p. 1)
• Market strategies: VIP visitor at GF in Singen (p. 1)
• Market strategies: Prize-worthy machines (p. 1)
• First casting in Kunshan foundry (S. 1)

Market strategies

• Customers will rely on GF in future, too: In this interview, Josef Edbauer, new Head of GF Automotive explains his ideas to lead the Corporate Group out of the crisis. (p. 2)
• Strong team spirit: GF Automotive executives agree on tried and trusted values for their work: Performance, Transparency, Respect. (p. 2)
• Important dates in 2009 (p. 2)
• Crises come and go: The economy is faltering, but a close look at history books reveals that Georg Fischer has overcome many crises in the past. (p. 3)
• Supplier Code: Sustainability has been the focus of attention at GF for many years. The Corporation is now extending its self-imposed rules to its business partners and their suppliers. (p. 3)
• "Sustainability is a factor for success": Heike Schulze from Daimler AG reports positive experience with their Guideline on Supplier Sustainability. (p. 3)
• New ecological paper: Clean printing (p. 3)
• Customer survey: Valuable opinion (p. 3)
• Corporate conference: Prominent guest (p. 3)
• No. 1 in Switzerland: Best website (p. 3)
• Do trade fairs pay off? : An effective marketing tool or an expensive "must go"? Two managers discuss the pros and cons of trade fairs. (p. 4)
• Speed is what counts: To win and keep customers in China, you have to be flexible and convince them to trust you again and again. (p. 4)
• Fair dates in the first half of 2009 (p. 4)

Customer projects

• The nine-centimetre wonder tool: For over 110 years, Victorinox has stood for uncompromising quality in pocket knives. There are more than 100 varieties of these useful assistants for every situation in life (p. 5)
• Bullish prospects in Russia: Eastern European countries are still of strategic importance despite the crisis. (p. 6)
• Clinic of superlatives: For anything supplied to a hospital – whether it's water, air or oxygen – hygiene is the crucial argument. (p. 6)
• In the pipeline: A power surge in the North Sea marks a new trend for GF Piping Systems: efficient, long an environmentally friendly. (p. 7)

Technology products

• A race to the finish ends with a deadline miracle: The iron foundry of GF Automotive in Kunshan is completed, and the test casting was a success. After a year-long construction period, full-scale production kicks off in April. (p. 8)
• Thicker is better: Wire-cut EDM cuts through metal like a hot knife through butter. (p. 8)
• So far and yet so near: Not everybody has to be able to do everything. It is far better if each of us does what he or she does best. The Ettenheim facility of GF Piping Systems shows how corporate subsidiaries can be networked. (p. 9)
• Interview: "No cut-backs in research and development" (p. 9)

People opinions

• Like father, like son: There is hardly anything better for an employer than for its employees to recommend it to other family members. The Dags have worked at GF for three generations (p. 10)
• Dressy and practical: Employees at GF AgieCharmilles get new work clothes. (p. 10)
• The Corporation's memory: The Corporate Archive obtains almost any information about GF and makes work easier for employees. (p. 11)
• Helping each other: Five co-workers from different GF departments have created an ergonomics team in Nidau. Their common goal: noticeable improvement of workplace conditions (p. 12)
• So what does …: … Thomas Billie do? (p. 12)
• Appointments (p. 12)
• A serenade at the workplace: Traditionally good at singing: the Mettmann foundry has a very vital male-voice choir. (p. 13)

Site portrait

• Schorndorf invites the world: In Germany, GF AgieCharmilles has opened its first World Application Centre, where customers from all over the world can put its milling and EDM machines through their paces. (p. 14)
• Interview: Showroom for sales and service (p. 14)

Service tips

• Mortal computer sins: IT is the backbone of every modern company. GF wants to increase IT security with a new system and a greater sense of responsibility (p. 15)
• Right? : Is vodka still part of Russian business? (p. 15)
• Masthead (p. 15)

Living culture

• The mountains call: Whether in the Alps, the Pyrenees or the Swedish Highlands – hiking is has become a trendy sport in recent years. (p. 16)
• Memories in the background: Many co-workers like to give computer screens a personal touch with photographs of their own. Photos of children are especially popular. Four colleagues let GLOBE have a glimpse. (p. 16)
• My city: Singapore – A multiculti city state(p. 16)