LECO Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc

Lincoln Electric Mentor Facility Achieves Ford's Q1 Approval CLEVELAND, Dec. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Lincoln Electric Company announced today that its welding consumables manufacturing facility in Mentor, Ohio, has received Q1 approval from the Ford Motor Company. The Ford Q1 designation recognizes suppliers that have demonstrated manufacturing excellence, superior quality, and continuous improvement in their operations. Lincoln Electric is the first and only manufacturer in the welding industry to earn this distinction. "We are extremely proud of achieving this important quality milestone," said George Blankenship, Lincoln Electric Vice President of Engineering and Quality Assurance. "Our use of Six Sigma in the design and manufacturing of Lincoln quality welding consumable products clearly differentiates Lincoln as best-in-class. The Q1 approval and our ISO 14001 certification highlight Lincoln's commitment to be the supplier of choice in the automotive sector." According to Richard J. Seif, Lincoln Electric Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Ford's Q1 approval means Ford and its fabrication suppliers that require welding consumables can be assured that they receive product quality that is unmatched in the welding industry. "By meeting Ford's high quality Q1 requirements, we demonstrated our commitment to continuous improvement and raised the bar in the supply of welding consumables to Ford and fabricators serving Ford," said Mr. Seif. In meeting Ford's Q1 requirements Lincoln also conforms to other automotive-type requirements like Advance Product Quality Planning (APQP), Statistical Process Control (SPC), Measurement System Analysis (MSA), and the Production Part Approval Process (PPAP). To gain Ford's Q1 approval and satisfy the company's stringent requirements, Lincoln was required to maintain plant certification to the ISO 14001 environmental management system requirements and implement other Ford Q1 disciplines, including: Capable Systems, six month Site Assessments, ongoing Customer Endorsements, Continuous Improvement, and an acceptable ongoing Q1 Performance Score. In the future, Lincoln must also demonstrate ongoing manufacturing process capability, variable process improvement driven by Six Sigma, improved manufacturing efficiencies and customer satisfaction. The Lincoln Electric Company is a subsidiary of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO), the world leader in the design, development and manufacture of arc welding products, robotic arc-welding systems, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Lincoln has operations, manufacturing alliances and joint ventures in 18 countries and a worldwide network of distributors and sales offices covering more than 160 countries. For more information about Lincoln Electric, its products and services, visit the Company's Web site at http://www.lincolnelectric.com/ . DATASOURCE: The Lincoln Electric Company CONTACT: Lorilynn Wolf, , or Kathy Willmott, , +1-216-696-0229, both of Robert Falls & Co. Public Relations; or Roy L. Morrow of Lincoln Electric, +1-216-383-4893 Web site: http://www.lincolnelectric.com/

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