diff --git a/imixs-adapters-poi/src/main/java/org/imixs/workflow/poi/POIUtil.java b/imixs-adapters-poi/src/main/java/org/imixs/workflow/poi/POIUtil.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..503d2110
--- /dev/null
+++ b/imixs-adapters-poi/src/main/java/org/imixs/workflow/poi/POIUtil.java
@@ -0,0 +1,137 @@
+package org.imixs.workflow.poi;
+
+import java.util.logging.Logger;
+
+import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.CellCopyPolicy;
+import org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.Row;
+import org.apache.poi.ss.util.CellReference;
+import org.apache.poi.xssf.usermodel.XSSFCell;
+import org.apache.poi.xssf.usermodel.XSSFRow;
+import org.apache.poi.xssf.usermodel.XSSFSheet;
+
+/**
+ * The POIUtil is a helper class to insert columns and rows into a given
+ * template.
+ * 
+ * @version 1.0
+ * @author rsoika
+ */
+public class POIUtil {
+
+    private static Logger logger = Logger.getLogger(POIUtil.class.getName());
+
+    /**
+     * Insert n rows in a XSSFSheet from a given cell reference.
+     * 
+     * @param sheet
+     * @param cellReference
+     * @param numberOfRows
+     */
+    public static void insertRows(XSSFSheet sheet, String cellReference, int numberOfRows) {
+
+        CellReference refCell = new CellReference(cellReference);
+        XSSFRow refRow = sheet.getRow(refCell.getRow());
+
+        int startRow = refRow.getRowNum();
+        // logger.info("---- start Row=" + startRow);
+
+        // copy rows
+        sheet.shiftRows(startRow, sheet.getLastRowNum(), numberOfRows, true, true);
+
+        // copy formatting
+        int rowPos = startRow;
+        for (int i = startRow; i < startRow + numberOfRows; i++) {
+            XSSFRow row = sheet.createRow(rowPos);
+            row.copyRowFrom(refRow, new CellCopyPolicy());
+            rowPos++;
+        }
+
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Insert n columns in a XSSFSheet from a given cell reference.
+     * 
+     * @param sheet
+     * @param cellReference
+     * @param numberOfColumns
+     */
+    public static void insertColumns(XSSFSheet sheet, String cellReference, int numberOfColumns) {
+        // Convert cell reference to column index
+        CellReference refCellStart = new CellReference(cellReference);
+        int startColumn = refCellStart.getCol();
+
+        // logger.info("---- start Column=" + startColumn);
+
+        // Find the last column by checking all rows
+        int lastColumn = -1;
+        for (Row row : sheet) {
+            if (row.getLastCellNum() > lastColumn) {
+                lastColumn = row.getLastCellNum() - 1;
+            }
+        }
+
+        // Only proceed if there are columns to shift
+        if (lastColumn >= startColumn) {
+            // Shift columns to the right
+            sheet.shiftColumns(startColumn, lastColumn, numberOfColumns);
+        }
+
+        // Create CellCopyPolicy
+        CellCopyPolicy copyPolicy = new CellCopyPolicy.Builder()
+                .cellStyle(true)
+                .cellFormula(true)
+                .mergedRegions(false) // Merging is already handled by shiftColumns
+                .build();
+
+        // Copy formatting from reference column to new columns
+        for (Row row : sheet) {
+            if (row != null) {
+                XSSFCell refCell = ((XSSFRow) row).getCell(startColumn + numberOfColumns);
+                if (refCell != null) {
+                    for (int i = startColumn; i < startColumn + numberOfColumns; i++) {
+                        XSSFCell newCell = ((XSSFRow) row).createCell(i);
+                        newCell.copyCellFrom(refCell, copyPolicy);
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static void xxxinsertCells(XSSFSheet sheet, String cellReference, int numberOfColumns) {
+
+        // Convert cell reference to column index
+        CellReference refCellStart = new CellReference(cellReference);
+        int startColumn = refCellStart.getCol();
+
+        logger.info("---- start Column=" + startColumn);
+
+        // Find the last column by checking all rows
+        int lastColumn = -1;
+        for (Row row : sheet) {
+            if (row.getLastCellNum() > lastColumn) {
+                lastColumn = row.getLastCellNum() - 1;
+            }
+        }
+
+        // Only proceed if there are columns to shift
+        if (lastColumn >= startColumn) {
+            // Shift columns to the right
+            sheet.shiftColumns(startColumn, lastColumn, numberOfColumns);
+        }
+
+        // Copy formatting from reference column to new columns
+        for (Row row : sheet) {
+            if (row != null) {
+                XSSFCell refCell = ((XSSFRow) row).getCell(startColumn + numberOfColumns);
+                for (int i = startColumn; i < startColumn + numberOfColumns; i++) {
+                    XSSFCell newCell = ((XSSFRow) row).createCell(i);
+                    if (refCell != null && refCell.getCellStyle() != null) {
+                        newCell.setCellStyle(refCell.getCellStyle());
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+    }
+
+}
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