On 13 September 2008 some 600 representatives from 300 German and Dutch regional companies came to MEYER WERFT to attend the first "Regional Day". The motto of this event, which took place in the shipyard's covered building dock I, with one of the AIDA club ships under construction serving as backdrop, was to benefit even more from the potential of local and regional companies. For reasons of capacity the number of participants had to be limited to 600, but many more had shown their interest to take part. Bernard Meyer, Managing Partner of the Shipyard, and Ralf Sempf, Head of the Materials Management Dept., underlined the importance of having high-performance and top-qualified suppliers also in the vicinity of the shipyard to be able to implement the demanding shipbuilding projects. In this context Ralf Sempf also introduced the shipyard's newly developed supplier network, with MEYER WERFT serving as a hub, in which national and international suppliers to the yard may seek local assistance for getting their work at the shipyard done. Following the presentations held by the senior management, the participants had the opportunity to talk briefly to representatives from the yard's purchase and technical departments, and to join a guided tour of the production premises.