Wieland-Werke AG Integrates Cognex Machine Vision on Copper Pickling Line

NATICK, Mass., February 13, 2001 - Cognex Corporation, the world's leading supplier of machine vision systems, announced today that Wieland-Werke AG, one of the world's largest copper strip manufacturers, has integrated Cognex's SmartView™ ICN web inspection system on their copper pickling line in Germany.  SmartView ICN is a state-of-the-art web inspection systems used to automatically detect, identify and display defects in metals and other materials as they are being produced.

Based in Ulm, Germany, Wieland-Werke will use the Cognex machine vision system on its pickling line.  Pickling is a special treatment used to remove impurities from the surfaces of metals during the manufacturing process.  SmartView ICN - which was completely installed and running on Wieland-Werke's manufacturing line in two days - will be used to check the copper sheets for any particles of dirt remaining from the rolling process and acid bath.

Cognex has sold over 70 SmartView ICN systems since its release in February 2000, making it the most successful product launch in the history of Cognex's Surface Inspection Systems Division.

Cognex Corporation designs, 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 100,000 machine vision systems, representing over $1 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, also known as web inspection systems, which are used for inspecting the surfaces of products manufactured in a continuous fashion, such as metals, paper and 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 online at http://www.cognex.com.