Sandy Mahoney
GPAX, Ltd
790 Cross Pointe Rd.
Columbus, Ohio 43230 USA
PH: 614-501-7622
FX: 614-501-7626

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February, 1991

NORTHERN TELECOM'S HIGH SPEED ASSEMBLY LINE SELECTS GPAX
FOR COMPONENT FEEDING

Columbus, Ohio -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GPAX, Ltd

Management announced today they have been awarded a $500,000 contract for the equipment to package and feed all relays, hybrids and transformers for Northern Telecom's automated manufacturing line in Research Triangle Park, N.C. Northern Telecom uses several component vendors to manufacture its central office switching systems. Their vendors will package components directly from production using the patented GPAX tape and reel format. Most of the packaging will be fully automated, therefore achieving the lowest possible cost. "With the specification and practice of this small parts packaging and feeding process by multinational companies and the ready acceptance of packaging directly by the component manufacturers, we expect GPAX will emerge as an international standard," commented Bill Mahoney, V.P. Marketing, GPAX, Ltd. "The GPAX taping method provides distinct advantages over the current stick/tube and tray packaging methods we employ," said Pete Owens, project engineer, Northern Telecom. "Specifically, the precision punched carrier tape, the essence of the GPAX technology, and the GPAX smart feeder systems provide a component presentation method unequaled in accuracy and repeatability."

Packaging components in GPAX at the suppliers facility puts the burden of component lead quality back into the lap of the supplier and not on the assembler, where each rejected component represents lost assembly time and reduced throughput. Older packaging technology requires an additional step to register and orient the component before automatic assembly. The GPAX tape takes this secondary step out of the process. This represents a four second, or a 50 percent cycle time reduction for each component fed from GPAX tape. To date, five of Northern Telecom's top component suppliers have agreed to provide their products in the GPAX tape format. The GPAX process consists of the placement of through-hole and surface mount odd-form components, both mechanical and electrical, onto a pre-punched carrier tape. Utilizing a GPAX 4000 Loader (packaging machine), the components are then secured onto the carrier tape with a mechanically interlocking StitchLock cover tape and wound onto reels which can be stored in large reserve for continuous on-line inventory. The reels maintain the components within a .001 in (.025 mm) degree of registration; thus all packaged parts are 100% auto-insertable. The GPAX 2000 Dispenser then presents the registered components into the work cell. GPAX, Ltd has been in existence for three and a half years and has already exceeded 5.5 Sigma performance with its GPAX 2000 Dispensers.

Prominent GPAX customers, such as Chrysler, Ford Electronics, Ford Transmission and Chassis, General Dynamics, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Motorola, and Northern Telecom are using the GPAX tape and reel process in high volume production." At GPAX, we strive for the highest level of quality and excellence in our production standards," said Mahoney. "This means built-in cost savings to our customers by assuring component quality and integrity with each autoinsertion." Northern Telecom is the leading global supplier of fully digital telecommunications switching systems, providing products and services to telephone operating companies, corporations, governments, universities and other institutions worldwide. Northern Telecom, with 1989 revenues of $6.1 billion, employs more than 49,000 people around the world.

GPAX, Ltd is a manufacturer of component packaging and dispensing (feeding) products in tape and reel format for use in small parts assembly automation. With headquarters located in Columbus, Ohio, GPAX markets its products worldwide to users and component manufacturers through a direct sales force and a network of assembly systems integrators.