Ruwel's investors to focus<br>on the local manufacturing first

Ruwel has for a long time searched for opportunities to widen its product range to be able to offer even low cost manufacturing. Until now the company couldn't afford such investments but now when the investors stepped in the company hoped that the financial muscles would be strong enough to form a solid base for these kinds of investments. However the new Chairman of the company, Joachim Koolman, told the company's workers that his main focus will be to strengthen the company's German operations. The new capital will though not be used to finance costs it will be used to optimize production processes. Establishments in low-cost regions may be of interest to the management but it is not the first task on the schedule. "Of course it is important to think constantly about location issues and competitive conditions, particularly when our customers go into those markets. However, as I already mentioned at the employee meeting in Geldern and Wetter, our attention at present is clearly focused on the restructuring and optimization, of the domestic locations. Intelligent, upmarket products can still be profitably produced in Germany when they are backed by "smart" and motivated employees plus well-organized production processes and production sequences", said Ruwel's new Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Joachim Koolman. Bear Stearns, Cargill and BlueBay are the investors that provided Ruwel with this major financial funding and took care of all the company's loans. Normally these investment firms have a project time of between two and five years but this time the timeline ha't been set for the restructuring of Ruwel, according to the Chairman, Joachim Koolman.