Freudenberg-NOK Honored by Customers for 2003 Performance

Quality and Delivery Excellence Helps Facilities Earn Awards from Automakers and Suppliers

PLYMOUTH, Mich., June 29 -- In recognition of its world-class excellence in quality and delivery, Freudenberg-NOK has earned 12 customer awards for its 2003 performance. According to Richard E. Allen, CEO of Manufactured Products for Freudenberg-NOK, these awards serve as a testament to the company's commitment to customer satisfaction and the importance placed on continuous improvement.

"It is a great honor to be recognized by our automaker and tier-one supplier customers for providing quality products and service," said Allen. "We make every effort to not only meet, but exceed, our customers' expectations and these awards clearly demonstrate that we are accomplishing that goal."

Five of the company's facilities earned awards from Nissan Motor Co. The Nissan Quality Master Award was presented to Freudenberg-NOK's Cleveland, Ga.; Milan, Ohio; and Morristown, Ind. manufacturing facilities, as well as the company's minority joint venture, Vibration Control Technologies (VCT), facility in Ligonier, Ind.

This prestigious award is based on year-long evaluations of the supplier's systems, incoming quality, response time, cost reduction capability, design support, timely shipments, product performance and complexity, warranty and the automaker's own vehicle evaluation system. Only suppliers that achieve a score of 85 or higher on a 100 point scale are recognized with the award.

In addition, Nissan honored the VCT facility and Freudenberg-NOK plants in Morristown, Ind. and Lagrange, Ga. with its Zero Defects Award. This award is presented to suppliers that ship fewer than five defective parts per million in a year's time.

VCT also earned two awards from Honda of America -- the Honda Quality Performance Award and the Honda Delivery Award. The quality award is reserved for suppliers who achieve consistent quality levels as measured by parts per million, while the delivery award is presented to suppliers who eliminate errors and wasted effort, including miscounts, label mistakes, untimely deliveries and mixed parts.

The company's Bloomington, Ill. facility -- which houses Flexitech, another Freudenberg-NOK joint venture that manufactures automotive brake hoses -- was also a recipient of the Honda Quality Performance Award.

The Scottsburg, Ind. facility, which produces brake sealing products, earned the Ambrake Quality and Delivery Award. The facility was also a nominee for the Elizabethtown, Ky.-based supplier President's Award.

Finally, Aisin USA presented Freudenberg-NOK's Cleveland, Ga. facility with its Master Supplier Award. The manufacturing plant provides engine oil seals to the automotive supplier.

Founded in 1989, Freudenberg-NOK General Partnership is a joint venture between Freudenberg & Co. of Germany and NOK Corp. of Japan.

Freudenberg-NOK is a leader in both automotive sealing and noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) products and is a supplier to all automakers producing in North America as well as all major tier one chassis and drivetrain suppliers. The company's headquarters and technical center in Plymouth, Mich. houses the most extensive supplier-operated sealing and noise and vibration testing facility in North America.

Freudenberg-NOK offers its automotive customers globally integrated products, including sealing packages for transmissions, engines, brakes, axles and steering, NVH components and packages, and all rubber, plastic and PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) components for suspension, electrical and fuel systems.

The company also offers an extensive portfolio of special precision seals for the aerospace, appliance, business machine, fluid power, marine, medical, off-highway equipment and recreational vehicle markets. For more information, visit the Freudenberg-NOK web site at http://www.freudenberg-nok.com/ .