WPI Industrial Technology -- A New Name, Same Dedicated Staffs And Quality Brands That OEMs, Distributors And End-Users Have Come To Trust.

MANCHESTER, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 11, 1999--

WPI GROUP, INC. (NASDAQ NATIONAL MARKET:WPIC) announced today that it has integrated WPI ELECTRONICS, WPI INSTRUMENTS, WPI MAGNETEC and WPI POWER SYSTEMS into one business unit under the banner of WPI INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY. These four business units, now merged, specialize in building custom and modified-standard electromagnetic and electromechanical actuation products and systems. This reorganization will help the Company build and maintain leadership in its core markets well into the 21st century.

Carlo Carluccio, President of WPI INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY, commented on the reorganization, "These integrated resources will strengthen our position in the market as a major supplier of standard and custom-engineered electromechanical assemblies. This reorganization allows us to take advantage of cross-brand engineering and manufacturing synergies to, not only strengthen our current brands, but expand our capacity to manufacture higher level assemblies of both WPI and third party products. We have broadened and deepened our application knowledge, engineering expertise and sales coverage. These changes will also drive more aggressive product development and support tailored to individual customer needs. Also, by matching complimentary manufacturing processes, we have gained economies, enabling us to continue to offer you high quality, highly reliable products with very competitive cost-of-ownership advantages in all the WPI INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY product lines."

WPI and its predecessor companies successful experience in designing and manufacturing electromagnetic and electromechanical solutions stretches over a half a century and across many markets and applications. This experience enables the Company to respond quickly to tough customer requirements with solutions that match their unique needs for design, reliability, product delivery and low cost-of-ownership. WPI's broad-reaching product lines include:

-- JEWELL brand avionics components, inertial sensors and panel

meters,

-- MODUTEC panel meters,

-- POWER SOLUTIONS product family of custom transformers and power

systems,

-- SAFEARC and FLEXARC electronic ballasts for short arc lamps,

-- MAGNETEC precision solenoids.

All of these WPI product families have built their success on decades of creative engineering expertise, custom designs for unique requirements, superb applications knowledge, extended staff relationships with customers engineering staffs and on reputations for high quality, reliable products.

WPI INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY is a member of the WPI GROUP family of companies. WPI GROUP, Inc. manufactures and markets high, value-added products used in advanced systems across many industries and applications. We offer the world's broadest range of rugged, handheld H/PCs, notebook computers, PCs and terminals designed for use in harsh environments across a wide array of industries. In addition, we provide application software for selected vertical markets. We also manufacture avionics components, electronic ballasts, industrial power conversion systems, inertial sensors and analog and digital panel meters, as well as precision solenoids for a variety of aerospace, industrial and consumer products.