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Cognex Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and markets a range of products that incorporate sophisticated machine vision technology that gives them the ability to “see.” Cognex products include barcode readers, machine vision sensors, and machine vision systems that are used in factories, warehouses, and distribution centers around the world to guide, gauge, inspect, identify, and assure the quality of items during the manufacturing and distribution process. Cognex is the world’s leader in the machine vision industry, having shipped more than 1 million vision-based products, representing over $4 billion in cumulative revenue, since the company’s founding in 1981. Headquartered in Natick, Massachusetts, USA, Cognex has regional offices and distributors located throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia.
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Fortune Magazine Names Cognex Corporation's Founders ``Heroes of Manufacturing'
POSTED 03/03/2004
Cognex Recognized for its ‘‘Technical Brilliance’‘ in Developing Machine Vision Technology that Revolutionizes Manufacturing
NATICK, Mass.-- March 1, 2004-- Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ: CGNX), the world's leading supplier of machine vision systems, announced today that the company's three founders, Dr. Robert J. Shillman, Chairman and C.E.O., Bill Silver, Senior Vice President and C.T.O., and Marilyn Matz, Senior Vice President of Engineering, have been selected by Fortune Magazine as ‘‘Heroes of Manufacturing’‘ for 2004. An annual feature, Heroes of Manufacturing honors companies and individuals who are trailblazers in the manufacturing industry. The feature will be published on March 8, 2004 in Fortune's Industrial Management & Technology edition, which is distributed to more than 250,000 subscribers.
Founded in 1981, Cognex created the market for machine vision systems, which can be simply described as computers that can ‘‘see.’‘ Machine vision is used wherever vision is needed to perform automated assembly and process control tasks such as ensuring the correct number of chocolate chips in cookies or ensuring the correct placement of semiconductor chips inside cell phones. Co-founder Dr. Robert J. Shillman left an academic position at MIT to start Cognex, inviting two of the school's top graduate students, Bill Silver and Marilyn Matz, to join him. The company's three co-founders provided the impetus to make Cognex the world's leading machine vision company, with over 200,000 vision systems sold to date.
‘‘We are honored to be recognized by Fortune magazine,’‘ stated Dr. Shillman. ‘‘Credit truly belongs to the entire Cognex team of experienced and dedicated individuals, whose high standards, creativity and hard work over a long period of time have brought our company to the forefront of the machine vision industry. Our priority continues to be customer-focused...to ensure that everything that we do is driven to satisfy the needs of our current and future customers.’‘
‘‘Over the last 20 years, machine vision has become a critical component in advanced manufacturing...as important as motors, gears, and conveyor lines,’‘ explained CTO, Bill Silver. ‘‘The development of machine vision has enabled products to be mass-produced that would otherwise be very expensive and, therefore, beyond the reach of many consumers. Just about everything that you buy today...from razor blades and diapers to DVD players and cell phones...would be far more expensive, and less reliable, if not for automated production. And today, in many factories around the world, automated production is made possible because of Cognex's vision systems.’‘
About Cognex
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 200,000 machine vision systems, representing over $1.5 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 which are used for inspecting the surfaces of products manufactured in a continuous fashion, such as metals, paper, 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.