Boeing Names HITCO - Supplier of the Year, 2007 Structures Commodity Category
LOS ANGELES, April 22 /PRNewswire/ -- HITCO CARBON COMPOSITES, INC. (HITCO), a subsidiary of the German based SGL Group, The Carbon Company, announced today that The Boeing Company has awarded HITCO the Supplier of the Year Award in the Structures Category. Boeing formally presented its 2007 Supplier of the Year Awards at the annual ceremony held in San Diego on April 17, 2008. HITCO was notified earlier this year that it was the recipient of a Boeing Performance Excellence Award (BPEA), a prerequisite for the "Supplier of the Year" nomination. Only 250 out of more than 10,000 suppliers were selected for BPEA recognition. From that small pool of BPEA awardees, suppliers representing ten separate categories were selected to receive the "Suppliers of the Year" award from The Boeing Company. Criteria for the Structures Supplier of the Year award include: Quality, On-time Delivery, Customer Service, and Program Initiatives, such as Lean Manufacturing, Productivity Improvements, etc. HITCO supplies composite components to Boeing's B 767, C 17, and B 787 programs. Edward G. Carson, HITCO's Chief Operating Officer (COO) was present to receive the award at the annual Boeing awards ceremony. Mr. Carson's immediate response to the news of HITCO's selection as a Supplier of the Year was to emphasize "the high honor and significance of this recognition." He continued, "We have a great responsibility to maintain the high standards and quality expected from a Boeing Company Supplier of the Year Award recipient. HITCO continues to support The Boeing Company as a Gold/Gold Supplier (Boeing's highest level of supplier status) through our modernized industrialization, design, and manufacturing capabilities including state-of-the-art automation, high quality hand lay-up, and lean manufacturing techniques." HITCO Carbon Composites, Inc. was founded in 1922 and manufactures advanced composite materials primarily for aerospace and defense applications. HITCO continues to be an innovative leader in the advancement of carbon composite technologies and continues to strategically focus within the SGL Group on new projects for aerospace/aircraft and defense applications. About SGL Group - The Carbon Company The SGL Group is one of the world's leading manufacturers of carbon-based products. It has a comprehensive portfolio ranging from carbon and graphite products to carbon fibers and composites. SGL Group's core competencies are its expertise in high-temperature technology as well as its applications and engineering know-how gained over many years. These competencies enable the Company to make full use of its broad material base. SGL Group's carbon-based materials combine several unique properties such as electrical and thermal conductivity, heat and corrosion resistance as well as high mechanical strength combined with low weight. Due to the paradigm shift in the use of materials as a result of the worldwide shortage of energy and raw materials, there is a growing demand for SGL Group's high-performance materials and products from an increasing number of industries. Carbon and graphite products are used whenever other materials such as steel, aluminum, copper, plastics, wood etc. fail due to their limited properties. Products from the SGL Group are used predominantly in the steel, aluminum, automotive, chemical and glass/ceramics industries. However, manufacturers in the semiconductor, battery, solar/wind energy, environmental protection, aerospace and defense industries as well as in the nuclear energy industry also figure among the Company's customers. With 38 production sites in Europe, North America and Asia as well as a service network covering more than 100 countries, the SGL Group is a company with a global presence. In 2007, the Company's workforce of around 5,900 generated sales of euro 1.4 billion. The Company's head office is located in Wiesbaden/Germany. Important note: This press release contains statements on future developments that are based on currently available information and that involve risks and uncertainties that could lead to actual results deviating from these forward-looking statements. The statements on future developments are not to be understood as guarantees. The future developments and events are dependent on a number of factors; they include various risks and unanticipated circumstances and are based on assumptions that may not be correct. These risks and uncertainties include, for example, unforeseeable changes in political, economic and business conditions, particularly in the area of electrosteel production, the competitive situation, interest rate and currency developments, technological developments and other risks and unanticipated circumstances. We see other risks in price developments, unexpected developments relating to acquired and consolidated companies and in the ongoing cost optimization programs. SGL Group does not intend to update these forward-looking statements. SOURCE HITCO Carbon Composites, Inc. -0- 04/22/2008 /CONTACT: Edward G. Carson, COO of Hitco Carbon Composites, Inc., +1-310-970-5825, fax, +1-310-769-2165, carson.edward[at]hitco.com; or Haviland Communications, Inc., +1-970-731-2370, fax, +1-970-731-0688, Cecilia[at]HavCom.com, for HITCO Carbon Composites, Inc./ /First Call Analyst: / /FCMN Contact: / /Web site: http://www.hitco.com /
