Like much of the injection moulding machinery sector, Germany’s Ferromatik Milacron (Malterdingen; www.ferromatik.com) has been severely affected by the economic crisis. On 2 December, the company – whose employees have been on short-time working since January of this year – began talks with its works council and the union IG Metall about additional ways of reducing costs. Options being considered include extension of short-time working to 100% and job cuts as a last resort.

Ferromatik already has a number of cost-saving measures in place. Along with reducing working time it also has cut overheads and material costs, said managing director Guy Moillet. “We have done a lot already, but it is still not enough to bring the company safely through the current crisis and position us for the future,” he commented. A slight improvement in order volume is forecast for 2010; however, management does not expect a turnaround before 2011, when a new product is planned to be introduced.

Since the beginning of 2009, order intake at the German machinery manufacturer has been halved and, although market share has not been lost, margins have deteriorated, Ferromatik said in a statement. Despite the previous cost saving measures, losses continue to mount, Moillet told the newspaper “Badische Zeitung”. However, he noted that the company has not suffered as much as some of its competitors; the injection moulding machinery sector generally has seen a 70% setback against 2008.

Ferromatik, which has 414 permanent employees, has been a subsidiary of the US-based Milacron group (Batavia, Ohio; www.milacron.com) since 1993. The parent company also has been in financial difficulty. It exited Chapter 11 protection from creditors in August of this year, following a takeover by private equity interests – see Plasteurope.com of 27.08.2009. During the Chapter 11 period, which began in March, 130 jobs were cut – about a tenth of the North American workforce.