Cognex Introduces SmartView ICN Web Inspection System to Nonwovens Industry; SmartView ICN Delivers Industry's Most Accurate Defect Detection for Nonwoven Materials.

Business/Technology Editors

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 27, 2001

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ-CGNX), the world's leading supplier of machine vision systems, today introduced SmartView(TM) ICN to the nonwovens industry at IDEA01, the International Nonwovens Exposition in Miami Beach. SmartView ICN is the industry's first web inspection system capable of providing manufacturers with accurate defect detection, reliable identification, and photo-quality images of each defect. In addition, it features a scalable open architecture, which allows users to increase the system's capabilities incrementally as their inspection needs increase.

"In developing SmartView ICN, Cognex specifically set out to meet the challenge of high accuracy inspection for nonwovens manufacturers, and we have succeeded," said Markku Jaaskelainen, Corporate Vice President and General Manager of Cognex's Surface Inspection Systems Division (SISD). "Manufacturers of nonwovens can now get reliable detection and identification of challenging defects such as broken filaments, thin spots, eyebrows, and polymer drops without false hits or misidentification."

In the last year, more than 30 Cognex SmartView systems have been installed at select customer sites around the world for nonwovens applications. Of these 30 systems, the large majority represent repeat orders from satisfied customers following successful initial installations. Applications include inspection of materials such as air filtration media, diapers, surgical dressing, and the inner lining of apparel.

SmartView incorporates the most advanced line scan CCD camera technology, that, when coupled with proprietary Cognex inspection technology, ensures reliable defect detection and visualization. Defect images can be viewed in real-time during production, automatically archived, and printed automatically or on demand. The Sheet Quality Viewer tool provides real-time formation images across the entire web, enabling operators to improve quality by monitoring and controlling web formation in real-time.

Extensive applications experience in nonwovens inspection allows Cognex to deliver systems that are pre-configured, providing customers with immediate results after start-up. Built on Windows NT and developed on open standards, the system is robust, user-friendly, and scalable for easy integration into any mill infrastructure.

Cognex has sold more than 80 SmartView ICN systems since its release in February, 2000, making it the most successful product launch in the history of Cognex's Surface Inspection Systems Division.

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 more than 150,000 machine vision systems, representing over $1 billion in cumulative revenue, since the company's founding in 1981. 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, also known as web inspection 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 North America, Japan, Europe, and Southeast Asia. Visit Cognex on-line at http://www.cognex.com.