Fluoroware Introduces First Ultraclean, Low-Ionic Disk Shipper with Certification of Cleanliness.

CHASKA, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 16, 1997--Fluoroware Inc., the world's leading supplier of materials management solutions for the data storage, semiconductor and other mission-critical industries, today announced that it has introduced the S802 95 mm thin disk shipper, an ultraclean, low-ionic shipper that is certified clean.

Commenting on the newest addition to Fluoroware's proven S800 shipper series, Steve Schatz, Fluoroware's data storage market segment manager, noted, "This product was developed to address disk manufacturers' increasingly stringent cleanliness requirements. As flying heights get tighter and aerial densities increase, the need to minimize particulates on the disk becomes more acute."

Schatz added, "With the cleanliness certification, our customers have the confidence of knowing our shippers have met rigorous contamination control criteria for particulates without pre-washing. In addition, we select and monitor materials with low ionics to ensure the shippers' integrity. With the worldwide market for disk shippers projected to exceed 14 million shippers per year, based on the manufacture of 425,000,000 disks per year, we believe we are well positioned to gain a significant share of this expanding market."

Fluoroware reports that it addressed industry's need for greater cleanliness by modifying its new S802 shipper on three fronts -- materials, manufacturing and packaging. The shipper is constructed entirely of the cleanest polypropylene and polycarbonate materials, as determined by ion and gas chromatography.

Contamination control during manufacturing has been minimized with the addition of a Class 100 cleanroom specifically designed for high-volume cleanroom production of the S802. Additionally, the shippers are the only ones on the market to be packaged in cleanroom-manufactured packaging materials, ensuring cleanliness is maintained from manufacturing through delivery.

A 25-disk capacity shipper, the S802 has a three-piece design and holds 95 mm, 31.5 mil thin disks. All shipper components have full lot traceability back to a specific lot of the raw materials. The shipper body has radiused ends and sides for superior equipment interface, and an individual compression-style cushion minimizes disk movement.

The S802 stacks with or without covers and has the same body length, overall pocket spacing and D1 dimensions as other S800 series shippers. Other features include easy access to disk center for mandrel pickup, disk lifter access to the bottom of the disk and a bottom cover flange that allows for easy cover removal. All shipper components are coded with a work order code, revision level and recycling logo.

A recycling program, by which Fluoroware collects one-time use shippers from the disk manufacturer's customer, is also available for the S802. The program entails recycling the shippers and using the material to create new shippers, which are supplied back to participating disk manufacturers. This not only saves disk manufacturers money, but also eliminates the logistics issues associated with managing a disk shipper return program.

The S802 is currently available, and Fluoroware will be featuring the S802 at its booth No. 926 during DISKCON '97, September 22-26 at the San Jose Convention Center in San Jose, Calif.

About Fluoroware

Headquartered in Chaska, Minn., Fluoroware Inc. is an ISO 9001 registered, worldwide leader in providing materials management products and solutions to the microelectronics, chemical processing and other mission-critical industries. Fluoroware has manufacturing facilities in the United States, Germany, Japan, Singapore and South Korea. Through alliances with Metron Technology and other distributors, Fluoroware has sales and customer support facilities on six continents.

CONTACT: Fluoroware Inc.

Cindy Schmieg, 612/448-8193

or

MCA Inc.

Sheryl Moreno, 415/968-8900