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Williams Controls Attains QS-9000 Third Edition Quality Certification

4 February 1999

Williams Controls Subsidiary Attains QS-9000 Third Edition Quality Certification

    PORTLAND, Ore., Feb. 4 -- Williams Controls, Inc.
announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Williams Controls
Industries, Inc., has achieved QS-9000 Third Edition certification.  QS-9000
is the manufacturing quality management process for the global automotive and
truck industry.  Williams Controls Industries manufactures electronic and
pneumatic control systems, including electronic throttle controls for heavy-
and medium-duty trucks, off-highway equipment and busses.
    Williams Controls Industries was originally certified for QS-9000 Second
Edition in February 1998.  The Third Edition, which the company has just
earned in its recent surveillance audit, carries the most stringent of all QS-
9000 quality system requirements.  This certification is awarded to automotive
and truck suppliers that complete a rigorous operational review in order to
implement a quality process within their organization.  QS-9000 provides for
continuous improvement, emphasizing defect prevention and reducing process
variation and waste.  The standard was developed in 1993 for the Big Three
automobile and truck manufacturers.  It is another critical step in Williams
Controls' drive to sell electronic-based products and systems to the worldwide
automotive and light truck markets, while expanding the company's presence in
the heavy-duty truck market.
    Williams Controls Chairman and CEO Thomas W. Itin stated, "We are pleased
that the audit process was completed without exceptions or non-conformances.
This was a total team effort.  Every person and every process within the
Williams operation in Portland was examined, and we came through with flying
colors.  All our associates in Portland are to be congratulated."
    Mr. Itin continued, "Having all of our principal manufacturing facilities
as QS-9000 certified is a major accomplishment, and one on which we intend to
remain fully current with the standards that define the markets in which we
now operate, or plan to focus on in the future.  We are an organization
focused on quality through the use of world-class manufacturing techniques,
and our success in this most recent audit is further evidence of that
commitment."
    Williams Controls is a leading manufacturer and integrator of innovative
sensors, controls and communications systems for the transportation and
communication industries.  For more information, you can reach the Company at
http://www.wmco.com on the World Wide Web.
    Forward-looking statements in this news release, if any, are made under
the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995.  Certain important factors could cause results to differ materially from
those anticipated by the statements, including the impact of changing economic
or business conditions, the impact of competition, the availability of
financing, the success of products in the marketplace, other factors inherent
in the industry and other factors discussed from time to time in reports filed
by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.