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Freudenberg and NOK Group Reaches Major Milestone

9 June 1999

Freudenberg-NOK President & CEO Shares Benefits of Being Lean at Shingo Conference

    COLUMBUS, Ohio, June 9 -- In a presentation on "Creating and
Sustaining a Lean Culture" at the Shingo Prize Conference and Awards Ceremony
at the Hyatt Regency Center here, Freudenberg-NOK President and CEO Joseph C.
Day announced that the Freudenberg and NOK Group Companies reached a major
milestone last month as they conducted their 12,000th kaizen (continuous
improvement) project.

    "No other automotive supplier company is even close to this record," Day
said.  "But more importantly, these projects have created a manufacturing
environment in which Freudenberg-NOK's parts per million (PPM) rates have
dropped from a range of 1,300 in 1992 to less than 50 in the first quarter of
1999 on a production rate of 2.0 billion components per year."

    Conducted as part of Freudenberg-NOK's company-wide lean systems
GROWTTH(R) (Get Rid Of Waste Through Team Harmony) program, these kaizens have
created significant improvements in productivity, product quality, delivery,
waste reduction, customer satisfaction and global competitiveness for the
company.

    Additionally, Freudenberg-NOK has conducted hundreds of poka-yoke
("mistake proofing") projects -- procedures to prevent defects in
manufacturing -- which have yielded more robust products, higher reliability
in vehicle systems and, ultimately, a cost of quality that has dropped more
than 60 percent since 1992.

    As the company's cultural cornerstone, the GROWTTH principles result in
best practice methods and enable Freudenberg-NOK to be more responsive to its
global customers, by helping cut product development time, simplify production
and standardize products, processes and materials that are interchangeable
anywhere in the world.

    Day said the robustness of the Freudenberg and NOK Group's products are
best demonstrated by warranty failure rates in Japan of .03/1000 to .07/1000.
These rates have now been duplicated in North America and Europe for Japanese
vehicles due to the interchangeability of products and standardized
manufacturing methods practiced by the Freudenberg and NOK Group.

    North American vehicle manufacturers and tier-one systems suppliers can
dramatically reduce their warranty costs as part of the total cost-down
efforts, according to Day.  In fact, on three recent projects for North
American customers, Freudenberg-NOK reduced its customers' warranty costs by
$6 million, $15 million and $45 million.  On projects such as the engine-
sealing packages scheduled for model year '99 and model year '01, the warranty
targets are lower by as much as 50 to 80 percent.

    "Each of these examples are the direct result of the practice of our
GROWTTH principles, which yield the lowest PPM rates, reliable and robust
products, and product consistency -- further resulting in lower warranty costs
and higher customer satisfaction indexes for the consumer," Day said.

    The 11th annual Shingo Prize Conference and Award Ceremony honors
recipients of the Shingo Prize, which is administered by Utah State University
in partnership with the National Association of Manufacturers.  Freudenberg-
NOK is a past recipient of this prestigious award.  The Shingo Prize
recognizes companies throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico that have
demonstrated outstanding achievements in manufacturing processes leading to
quality enhancement, productivity improvement and customer satisfaction.

    Plymouth, Mich.-based Freudenberg-NOK is part of the Freudenberg and NOK
Group Companies, which have total annual sales of more than $6 billion.  With
global automotive sales of approximately $3.5 billion, the Freudenberg and NOK
Group ranks among the world's top 25 independent automotive suppliers.

    Through a global network of facilities spanning 24 countries with some
23,000 automotive employees worldwide, the supplier group offers its
automotive customers globally integrated products, including sealing packages
for transmissions, engines, brakes, axles and steering, NVH (noise, vibration
and harshness) components and packages, and all rubber, plastic and PTFE
components for suspension, electrical and fuel systems.

    The Freudenberg and NOK Group also offers an extensive portfolio of
precision-molded products 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.