Simrit Recognized as Top Quality Supplier by Bombardier Recreational Products

PLYMOUTH, Mich., Nov. 29, 2004 -- Simrit, the industrial products division of Plymouth, Mich.-based Freudenberg-NOK, was recently honored by Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. (BRP) during its annual award program in Racine, Wis. Simrit -- which supplies BRP with reed valves and shaft seals for outboard marine engines -- was presented with the company's Gold Award.

"Receiving this award is a great achievement for Simrit and Freudenberg- NOK," said David R. Monaco, president of Simrit. "It serves as a testament to the combined efforts of our team who help ensure that our customers receive world-class products at the best value -- on time, every time."

BRP has a stringent list of criteria that it uses to evaluate suppliers for its award program, including no field warranty issues, implementation of cost reduction initiatives, meeting delivery requirements and a parts per million (PPM) defect rate of less than 100. Awards are presented in three levels -- bronze, silver and gold.

Simrit currently has approximately $1 million in business annually with BRP and is the company's sole supplier of reed valves.

Bombardier Recreational Products is a world leader in the design, development, manufacturing, distribution and marketing of SeaDoo(R) watercraft and sport boats, SkiDoo(R) and Lynx(TM) snowmobiles, Johnson(R) and Evinrude(R) outboard engines, direct injection technologies such as Evinrude ETEC(TM), Bombardier* all-terrain vehicles (ATV), Rotax(R) engines and karts.

A market leader in the aerospace, industrial and agriculture/construction market segments, Simrit draws from more than 150 years of experience and well- known brand names including Freudenberg(R), NOK(R), Disogrin(R), Merkel(R) and International Seal(R).

The Simrit division is based at Freudenberg-NOK's headquarters in Plymouth, Mich. Freudenberg-NOK is part of the Freudenberg and NOK Group Companies, which have total annual sales of nearly $7 billion. The global Freudenberg and NOK Group offers an extensive portfolio of precision-molded products for the aerospace, appliance, automotive, business machine, fluid power, marine, medical, off-highway equipment and recreational vehicle markets.

For more information, visit the Simrit website at http://www.simrit.com/ .

(R), (TM) Trademark of Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. or its subsidiaries

* Trademark of Bombardier Inc. used under license