Collins & Aikman Earns IndustryWeek's Annual 10 Best North American Manufacturing Plants Award

TROY, Mich., Sept. 18 -- Collins & Aikman Corporation announced today that its Guelph, Ontario Canada operations has been honored by IndustryWeek, a leading manufacturing management magazine, as a winning facility in the publication's fourteenth annual 10 Best Plants competition. This is the sixth Collins & Aikman facility to earn this prestigious award in the last three years. Four additional Collins & Aikman facilities placed in the top-25 this year.

"We are extremely proud of the accomplishments our employees throughout the company continue to make in their Lean journey," commented David Stockman, Collins & Aikman's chairman and chief executive officer. "Our plants are recognized as setting and exceeding the standards for excellence in manufacturing, not only for our company and industry, but for North American manufacturing as a whole."

Collins & Aikman's Guelph Operations employ over 600 individuals who produce instrument panel skins, cockpit assemblies, and plastic-based interior trim components for DaimlerChrysler and Toyota vehicles. Additional 2003, top-25 finalists representing Collins & Aikman's product range include:

  Greenville Operations - Greenville, S.C.; automotive carpet
  Port Hope Operations - Port Hope, Ontario Canada; instrument panels

St. Clair Operations - St. Clair, Mich.; automotive floors and trunk interiors

Williamston Operations - Williamston, Mich.; automotive headrests, armrests and other interior components.

Setting Collins & Aikman's operations apart from the other applicants in the competition were their relentless effort toward implementing Lean principles, their adherence to some of the industry's toughest measurables and the commitment from all levels of the organization to achieving these goals.

The award recognizes world-class manufacturing capabilities and a management mindset of continuous improvement. Ranking criteria for the competition is based on performance metrics and company practices in benchmarking, community involvement, customer and supplier relations, employee involvement, environment and safety programs, inventory management, manufacturing operations and flexibility, market results, productivity, quality, and technology utilization. Winning plants were selected from nearly 300 facilities nominated between October 2002 and March 2003. Profiles of each winning plant will be featured in an upcoming issue of IndustryWeek magazine.

Other Collins & Aikman facilities that have previously earned the IndustryWeek 10 Best Plants award include:

Americus Operations - Americus, GA; exterior trim, 2002

Athens Operations - Athens, Tenn.; instrument panels, door panels and consoles, 2002

Rantoul Operations - Rantoul, IL; instrument panels and plastic components, 2002

Port Huron Operations - Port Huron, Mich.; instrument panels, door panels, 2001

Saltillo Operations - Saltillo, Mexico; interior and exterior trim, 2001

Collins & Aikman Corporation, a Fortune 500 company, is a global leader in cockpit modules and automotive floor and acoustic systems and a leading supplier of instrument panels, automotive fabric, plastic-based trim and convertible top systems. The company's operations span the globe through 15 countries, more than 100 facilities and over 25,000 employees who are committed to achieving total excellence. Collins & Aikman's high-quality products combine superior design, styling and manufacturing capabilities with NVH "quiet" technologies that are among the most effective in the industry. Information about Collins & Aikman is available on the Internet at www.collinsaikman.com .