Over a history spanning more than 250 years, Faber-Castell has seen its fair share of crises, including wars, hyperinflation and the expropriation of foreign locations. And in the time since the present head took sole charge of the company, there have been three major threats: the collapse of the slide rule business in the late 1970s, which had accounted for just under a third of revenue; the sudden drop in sales of manual technical