A key element of our corporate policy is the cross-border networking of our employees’ knowledge. The main focus here is on the exchange of experiences and information on products, projects and solutions at international level. To help achieve this objective, we held our first four-day “International Technical Support Conference” during the year under review, at our Group headquarters in Paderborn. The conference was attended by technical service experts from sixteen countries. The overall aim was to optimize the benefits derived from new hardware and software features, local solutions as well as testing and diagnostic tools.

We also introduced a central project management system in fiscal 2006/2007, in order to create a standardized and professional approach to project management across the entire Group. The program has now been proven of value in Germany. The next step will be to train staff at our other international sites in its use.

The year under review also saw an expansion of our professional development program. Workshops, courses and training covering an extremely varied range of subjects are available to employees at the respective business locations within the Group. During fiscal 2006/2007, some of the most comprehensive training courses were held for our domestic and international sales and service teams and to ensure that newly appointed staff are integrated quickly and are appropriately qualified.