All areas of the company are said to be affected by the short-time working, except those that carry a legal exception such as trainees and their trainers.

The reduction in working hours is a result of a drop in orders from China, according to newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau, which said that short-time working had been registered until the end of June.

Normal hours could be reinstated sooner if the company sees an improvement in orders in the second quarter, following the Roland 700 Evolution press launch in November 2014.

Employees at the Offenbach plant last experienced a reduction in their contracted hours prior to June 2011, when the company reinstated normal working hours after almost three years of short-time working.

This is also the first instance of reduced working hours since the company was bought out of administration by Langley Holdings in early 2012 and restructured to break even on just 100 press sales a year.