Cognex Corporation Receives Record Purchase Order Totaling Nearly $3.9 Million From Fuji Machine Manufacturing.

NATICK, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 21, 1997--Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX), the world's leading supplier of machine vision systems, has received a record purchase order for nearly $3.9 million from Fuji Machine Manufacturing Co. Ltd., a leading Tokyo, Japan-based manufacturer of capital equipment for the electronics industry. This order, which will be shipped in approximately one month, is the single largest purchase order that Cognex has ever received from Fuji, which is one of the company's top customers. Furthermore, it is the largest order ever received from any Cognex customer for shipment in a one-month time frame.

"For the past eight years, Fuji and Cognex have shared a strong, mutually beneficial business relationship. I am very excited that Cognex has received this significant order from Fuji, and I am optimistic that it is a sign of further recovery following last year's downturn in the semiconductor and electronics industries that we serve," said Dr. Robert J. Shillman, Cognex's President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman. "In fact, the total amount of purchase orders we've received from Fuji year-to-date in 1997 surpasses the highest full-year total we had received from Fuji previously in 1995, when these industries were at their all-time highest level."

Fuji manufactures pick and placement machines that are used to automatically place electronic components onto the surface of printed circuit boards. On the bottom of each component, or surface mount device (SMD), there are electrical "leads" that must be placed precisely on corresponding "pads" on the circuit board. Fuji uses Cognex machine vision systems to inspect the underside of each SMD to ensure the leads are straight, to locate the placement site on each circuit board, and to guide a robotic gripper to accurately position these components.

"Cognex has continued to prove to us that their advanced technology products are an excellent match for our needs," said Mr. Koichi Asai, Managing Director of Fuji Machine Manufacturing. "I anticipate that this relationship will continue to develop and prosper well into the future, as both of our companies create new and improved technologies to meet the demands of modern production lines."

Cognex Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and markets machine vision systems, or computers that can "see." Cognex is the world's leader in the machine vision industry, having shipped to date more than 60,000 machine vision systems. Cognex's Modular Vision Systems Division, headquartered in Natick, Massachusetts, specializes in machine vision systems which are used for automating the manufacture of a wide range of discrete items and for assuring their quality. Cognex's Surface Inspection Systems Division, headquartered in Alameda, California, specializes in machine vision systems which are used for inspecting the surfaces of products manufactured in a continuous fashion, such as metals, paper, and plastics. In addition to its corporate headquarters in Natick, Massachusetts, Cognex also has regional offices located throughout the United States, Japan, Europe, and Southeast Asia. Visit Cognex on-line at http://www.cognex.com .

CONTACT: Cognex Corporation

Shay Tressa

508/650-3000, ext. 3383