Georg Fischer AG (CH-8201 Schaffhausen; www.georgfischer.com) and Fränkische Rohrwerke Gebr. Kirchner GmbH + Co (D-97486 Königsberg; www.fraenkische.de) have agreed to close their joint distribution company for the German market, Georg Fischer Fränkische GmbH (D-97486 Königsberg; www.georgfischerfraenkische.de). The distribution agreement established in 2001 will end on 1 October 2003, when both companies will revert to distributing their respective product range under their own names. According to current information, only a few of the 40 employees will be offered new positions in either company, but management said it will try to establish “a socially compatible” redundancy payments scheme.

A Fischer spokesperson told Plasteurope.com that the cooperation failed to attain the targeted sales figures, adding that the current sluggish German economy was the main reason for this development. Nonetheless, the company remains interested in the German market due to its considerable size. Carsten Müller, regional director for domestic installation at Fränkische Rohrwerke, pointed to “the unsatisfactory freight management” as another reason for discontinuing the joint distribution.

In future, the product lines of Georg Fischer Domestic Installations will be distributed by Georg Fischer Schwab GmbH & Co KG (D-72793 Pfullingen; www.schwab.georgfischer.com), which joined the Georg Fischer Piping Systems corporate group (CH-8201 Schaffhausen; www.piping.georgfischer.com) at the end of 1999. The systems produced by Fränkische Rohrwerke will be distributed by the companies´ domestic installations division. The existing sales agencies will continue their cooperation.