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Technology Stocks : Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates -- VSEA -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Caxton Rhodes who wrote (62)	6/11/1999 9:05:00 AM
From: Duker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1929

Varian Named Number One in Customer Satisfaction Among Large Suppliers for Third Consecutive Year Varian's Overall Rating is the Highest Score Ever Achieved in the History of the 10 BEST Award GLOUCESTER, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 11, 1999-- For the third consecutive year, Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc. (Varian) (Nasdaq NM:VSEA - news), the world's leading supplier of ion implant systems, captured top honors in VLSI Research Inc.'s annual 10 BEST survey of the semiconductor equipment industry. The released report revealed that Varian outscored its competitors in all eight categories that measure a supplier's relationship with its customers. In addition to receiving the number one ranking for Large Suppliers of Wafer Processing Equipment (suppliers with sales more than $300 million), Varian earned a special commendation because its overall rating is the highest score ever in the history of the 10 BESTtopping last year's highest rating, which was also earned by Varian. ''For the third year in a row Varian secured the highest distinction because the company provides truly innovative customer support programs,'' said VLSI Research President G. Dan Hutcheson. ''This year's survey results demonstrate Varian's unrelenting focus on customer satisfaction and constant drive to improve on its own outstanding performance. The company is committed to helping its customers by understanding their process needs and going above and beyond to meet those requirements.'' ''Varian takes great pride in our customer satisfaction program, and we are honored that our efforts have been recognized for the third year in a row,'' said Varian President and Chief Executive Officer Dick Aurelio. ''As the market leader, we believe it is our role to set high standards and consistently work to go beyond expectations. Our continued pursuit of maximizing our customer's capital productivity and cost reduction, backed by a comprehensive support network, differentiates Varian from other suppliers.'' The top ranking in the customer satisfaction survey acknowledges the value delivered by Varian's advanced customer support offerings, such as Varian's FABcare Plus program, Varian Introduction Support Teams (VIST), and Remote Assist package. Remote Assist is a leading-edge program that uses video conferencing to link Varian experts to maintenance staff at customer sites. It is a revolutionary semiconductor equipment service capability that quickly puts product experts ''virtually'' into customer fabs to provide fast, cost-effective emergency support and conduct real-time process and hardware support. In determining the 10 BEST large equipment suppliers, users of semiconductor capital equipment were asked to rate their suppliers in eight categories measuring a supplier's relationship with its customers. These eight categories include three measures of equipment performance: (1) product performance, (2) uptime, and (3) quality of results; and five measures of customer service: (1) process support, (2) software support, (3) technical leadership, (4) service after sales, and (5) overall commitment to supporting customers' needs. VLSI Research sent out more than 37,000 questionnaires in six languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, German and French. The 10 BEST Award is presented annually by VLSI Research to companies rated by customers in a survey as the 10 best in each of five equipment categories: Test & Material Handling Equipment; Process Diagnostic Equipment; Small Suppliers of Wafer Processing Equipment; Large Suppliers of Wafer Processing Equipment; and Assembly and Specialty Equipment. VLSI Research Inc., a market research company located in Silicon Valley, is generally recognized as the leading company covering semiconductor capital equipment. It was founded in 1976, and has performed these annual surveys of customer satisfaction for the past nine years. The principal purpose in performing the annual customer satisfaction surveys is to provide a report card on individual suppliers, to promote improved customer relationships and to identify those issues and trends which are most sensitive to customers' needs. About Varian: Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates (Nasdaq NM:VSEA - news), which spun out of Varian Associates, Inc. in early April, is headquartered in Gloucester, where its ion implant manufacturing facilities have operated for nearly 30 years. The company's product portfolio encompasses the complete range of ion implant tools, and Varian is the only supplier to have a common platform for single-wafer, high-tilt precision technology in medium-current, high-current and high energy systems. Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates also offers a world-class network of local and global support services, and is the first U.S. semiconductor equipment supplier to have both its customer support and manufacturing organizations certified to ISO 9000 standards. Information about Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates is available on the World Wide Web at vsea.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact: Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc. Gary Mezack, 978/282-2298 gary.mezack@vsea.com or MCA Shannon Hart, 650/968-8900 or VLSI Research Inc Lisa Steele, 408/453-8844 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------