BOC's Service, Innovation Earns Philips Helium Win.

Business Editors

MURRAY HILL, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 12, 2002

BOC (NYSE:BOX) and Philips Medical Systems North America, a sub-division of Netherlands-based Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE:PHG) have agreed to extend their long-term helium supply agreement through 2009.

Under this agreement, BOC will supply liquid helium and provide CryoFill(TM) services to all of Philips Medical's magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) units in the United States and Canada.

Liquid helium is used to maintain the MRI magnet's temperature at -452 degrees F (-269 degrees C), just a few degrees above absolute zero. That enables the magnet to become superconductive, which is critical to achieving the high magnetic field strength necessary to generate the MRI images. Without liquid helium, the MRI magnet would heat up and, at higher temperatures, the technology would not work. If the magnet runs out of helium, serious damage can result to the unit, potentially costing as much as several hundred thousand dollars to repair.

"Securing this agreement was strategically important for Philips," said Henri Didden, director of global sourcing for Philips Medical Systems North America. "The helium market is changing rapidly due to a tightness in supply, and therefore it was important for Philips to ensure a secure long term supply of helium."

In addition to the helium supply, BOC will provide each of Philips' 700 MRI installations with its proprietary CryoFill services program. The CryoFill services program relieves MRI providers of the burden and costs associated with refilling cryogens and monitoring cryogen levels and operating efficiency. After-hours filling of magnets by trained BOC technicians eliminates the need for MRIs to shut down during filling operations, maximizing MRI patient through-put, and increasing MRI provider and patient safety.

The CryoFill program will allow Philips to re-deploy its field service engineers, boosting productivity and improving employee safety. In addition, BOC will also provide Philips with a variety of eBusiness services, such as electronic invoicing and reporting and remote monitoring of the helium levels in MRI Units. The remote monitoring technology will supplement BOC's recently introduced Call Ahead program to ensure an uninterrupted supply of helium, which is critical to proper system operation.

"We have been working with Philips Medical Systems for more than 17 years, since MRI technology was first introduced," says Dan Morgan, director, helium and rare gases, BOC. "In a sense, we have evolved in this industry together. Our intimate understanding of Philips' operations has enabled us to institute a number of innovative service offerings and technology, such as high efficiency liquid helium transfer lines, that have delivered tremendous value to Philips and consequently their customers."

"The decision to extend our relationship with BOC was consistent with our philosophy of seeking the lowest cost of ownership," says Didden. "Furthermore, we are in the process of integrating a number of recent acquisitions, most recently the Marconi Medical Systems business, and we need to consolidate suppliers where possible. In this instance, BOC has demonstrated a track record of combining excellent basic service, competitive pricing and innovative value added services into a complete package that enhances Philips' competitive position."

Royal Philips Electronics, a global company with leading market positions in many technology areas (i.e., lighting, consumer electronics, domestic appliances, medical systems) has 160 manufacturing sites in more than 35 countries and national sales organizations in more than 60 countries. Six product divisions represent over 80 different businesses with a very strong technology basis (R&D = 10.2 percent of sales = 3.3 billion Euro; research laboratories in seven countries; over 75,000 patent rights). Annual sales in 2001 were 32,339 million Euro. Find more about Royal Philips Electronics at http://www.philips.com.

The BOC Group (NYSE:BOX), the worldwide industrial gases, vacuum technologies and distribution services company, serves two million customers in more than 50 countries. It employs some 43,000 people and had annual sales over $6 billion in 2001. Further information about The BOC Group may be obtained on the Internet at http://www.boc.com.