Electroglas Launches New Software Division.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 5, 2001

EG Soft Enables Semiconductor Manufacturers to Connect People,

Equipment, and Processes to Run Fabs More Efficiently,

With Faster Cycle Times, and Improved Yield

Electroglas, Inc. (Nasdaq:EGLS), a leading supplier of process management tools for the semiconductor industry, announced today that it has formed a new software division, EG Soft, that is entering the market with an integrated portfolio of software products to help semiconductor manufacturers improve throughput and yield. The EG Soft product line is comprised of a Web-based software infrastructure and an extensive set of integrated applications and tools. Manufacturers can use these highly customizable tools to effectively apply their internal domain knowledge to the ongoing improvement and refinement of manufacturing processes. Designed for 'collaborative process management,' this scalable software infrastructure and products allow manufacturers to readily share information and analysis throughout the manufacturing enterprise to create a highly flexible and responsive operation.

"The future of the semiconductor industry depends on equipment suppliers providing the necessary tools to achieve 'Moore's Law,'" said Curt Wozniak, Electroglas CEO. "Fifty percent of this reduction in cost will occur through improvement in yield and equipment efficiency. To accomplish this will require suppliers that understand hardware and software systems and the need to produce, correlate, manage, and analyze data throughout the production process. EG Soft gives us the essential tools and people to augment our world-class wafer probers and wafer inspection systems."

EG Soft is fully equipped to deliver actionable information anywhere, anytime

Joe LaChapelle, Electroglas vice president of engineering since May 1999, has been appointed vice president and general manager of EG Soft. "The formation of EG Soft is a technical and business milestone that caps years of effort," said LaChapelle. "Electroglas has spent that time acquiring, building, and integrating a critical mass of data generation, collection, and analysis software tools and applications. As a result, EG Soft is being launched with not just a vision and a roadmap, but is fully equipped to deliver collaborative process management capabilities today. We're providing those capabilities with a cohesive software infrastructure that supports semiconductor manufacturers' need for actionable information anywhere, anytime."

EG Soft incorporates the development and support organizations of Electroglas' existing software groups, including Electroglas' sort floor automation group and subsidiaries Knight's Technology and Statware. The EG Soft organization consists of approximately 120 people, including product developers, applications engineers, and worldwide sales and support staff.

EG Soft offers a complete software portfolio that covers failure analysis, yield management, statistical process control (SPC), e-diagnostics, overall equipment efficiency (OEE), and automated process control (APC).

Connectivity and common infrastructure make the whole greater than the sum of its parts

EG Soft's products leverage the power of the Internet and include Web-based analysis, reporting, and control capabilities that make it much more powerful than multiple 'point solutions.' Added LaChapelle, "By building our tools and applications on a common infrastructure and leveraging the Internet for connectivity, we're allowing manufacturers to collect, share, and analyze data from one piece of equipment to another, from one fab cell to another, and even worldwide, from fab to fab or into the supply chain. Ultimately, we're providing a 'collaborative manufacturing' capability that delivers a proven set of tools for semiconductor manufacturers to better compete."

Combination of applications and tools supports fabs and equipment manufacturers

EG Soft's suite of software products includes both applications and tools. Semiconductor manufacturers can incorporate EG Soft's standard applications as an automated process management infrastructure, and can use the toolsets to easily create custom applications that leverage their manufacturing domain expertise. EG Soft's products use an open data acquisition format so they can be used even in heterogeneous manufacturing environments with any ODBC-compliant equipment or software product. The common architecture of EG Soft's tools also allows semiconductor equipment manufacturers to create customized software applications that add value to its hardware.

Electroglas provides essential tools for process management with comprehensive suite of software and hardware products

Electroglas has already incorporated EG Soft networking, data management, and web-enabled analysis tools to provide test floor process control support for Electroglas' wafer prober and fab inspection systems. Customers are currently using this hardware and software suite to successfully probe, inspect, and automatically review processes. Electroglas is the only prober and inspection company to provide a full suite of hardware and software systems that work cooperatively to manage the production process. As a division of Electroglas, EG Soft will provide the software tools that allow all semiconductor companies to move toward the future of collaborative manufacturing.

For more information on EG Soft and its products, contact your local Electroglas representative or Electroglas Sales at 408/528-3000.

About Electroglas, Inc.

Electroglas delivers essential tools for process management to enhance the profitability of semiconductor manufacturers. The company's wafer probers, inspection systems and software solutions serve as data collection, management and analysis tools that semiconductor manufacturers depend upon to improve their productivity and process control by optimizing sort-floor efficiency. Electroglas has been a leading supplier of wafer probers for over 40 years and has an installed base of more than 15,000 systems. The company's stock trades on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol "EGLS." The company's World Wide Web site is located at www.electroglas.com.