Cognex Machine Vision Chosen by Major European Steel Manufacturer

NATICK, Mass.--April 8, 2002--Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ: CGNX), the world's leading supplier of machine vision systems, announced today that Corus Colors, a business unit of Corus Group plc, which is Europe's second largest steel manufacturer, has integrated Cognex's SmartView(R) surface inspection system into a Colorcoat Line at their manufacturing facility in Flintshire, Whales, UK.

Corus Colors manufactures organic-coated, pre-finished steel used for building cladding and consumer products. Organic-coated materials present a unique challenge to machine vision in that their surface texture is highly variable. An added complexity is that Corus manufactures the steel in many different colors. Despite such a complex and varied surface, the SmartView system has proven to be able to detect a wide variety of defects.

"SmartView has allowed us to introduce automated surface inspection into an application where it was previously considered not to be cost-effective," said Alan Morris, technical manager for Corus Colors, Shotton Works. "We also appreciate the fact that the Cognex SmartView system is flexible and can be modified and upgraded to meet any new requirements the future may bring."

"The SmartView system enables customers like Corus to improve their productivity and quality by leveraging Cognex's wealth of real-world experience in surface inspection," said Markku Jaaskelainen, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Cognex's Surface Inspection Systems Division. Jaaskelainen also underlined the strategic importance of this order.

"This entry into a totally new surface inspection application in the steel industry is the next step in our plan to expand surface inspection to new application areas in the metals market."

SmartView is a state-of-art web inspection system that is used to automatically detect, identify, and display defects in metals and other materials as they are being produced. Cognex has sold over 150 SmartView systems since its introduction in February 2000, making it the most successful product launch in the history of Cognex's Surface Inspection Systems Division.

Corus manufactures, processes, and distributes steel and aluminum products. They also provide design, technology, and consultancy services. Corus is headquartered in London, with twenty-one Business Units located worldwide. Major markets for Corus Colors include auto body, construction, domestic appliances, consumer products, and electronics.

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 Surface Inspection Systems Division, headquartered in Alameda, California, specializes in machine vision systems that are used for inspecting the surfaces of products that are manufactured in a continuous fashion, such as metals, paper, nonwovens, and plastics. Cognex's Modular Vision Systems Division, headquartered in Natick, Massachusetts, specializes in machine vision systems that are used for automating the manufacture of a wide range of discrete items and for assuring their quality. 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.

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Cognex Corporation
Pamela Sotir Beaudet        
Marketing Communications    
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