Media Contact:
Terry Dunn, GE Industrial Systems
860-747-7397, terry.dunn@indsys.ge.com 
Glenn Graney, GE Fanuc Automation
434-978-5508, glenn.graney@gefanuc.com


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GE Fanuc Acquires Mountain Systems Inc., Providers of Advanced Manufacturing Execution Systems for Essential Industries
Acquisition Extends GE Industrial Systems' Capabilities, Innovation and Growth in Automation Software

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. -- June 17, 2003--  GE Fanuc Automation Americas, Inc., an affiliate of GE Industrial Systems, today announced that it has acquired Green Bay, Wisconsin-based Mountain Systems, Inc., a provider of advanced Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) for essential industries such as consumer packaged goods, food and beverage, life sciences, and pulp and paper. Mountain Systems provides integrated software that helps to speed manufacturing of consumer health care products, ensure the highest batch-to-batch quality at internationally recognized breweries, and reduce the cost of manufacturing vehicles while improving the accuracy and availability of safety-related recall information. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

"GE Industrial Systems has a strong commitment to acquiring and developing essential growth technologies which provide peace of mind for people and their workplaces," said Lloyd Trotter, president and CEO, GE Industrial Systems. "Our acquisition of Mountain Systems expands GE's critical information management and control offerings for customers and enhances their abilities to execute reliably on critical data, improve quality, regulatory compliance, and decrease costs."

Mountain Systems is a developer and provider of the advanced MES software offering, Proficy for Manufacturing®, which optimizes plant equipment assets, ensures quality by capturing product genealogy data, and delivers the basis for continuous improvement of production capabilities. Mountain Systems created Proficy to complement data collection technology for tracking time-based information with an event historian, allowing users to track relational information and manufacturing events. Proficy offers applications that include: quality management, efficiency management, production management, product genealogy, and more. These applications are configurable software packages designed to allow for rapid return on automation and technology investments.

"The acquisition of Mountain Systems strategically extends our growing capabilities in the automation environment," said Jeff Garwood, president and CEO of GE Fanuc Automation. "As a technology leader, Mountain Systems has delivered significant ROI in some of today's most challenging production environments. Combining Proficy with our industry leading HMI/SCADA and Intelligent Production Management software products reinforces our commitment to delivering real productivity to customers."

Erik Udstuen, president and CEO of Mountain Systems, said, "We are excited about the opportunity to join the GE organization and its significant heritage as leaders in technology, innovation and growth. Mountain Systems customers will gain significant benefits from our now extended capabilities in terms of product offerings, commitment to technology, and global resources."

About Mountain Systems, Inc.
Founded in 1994, Mountain Systems Inc. (www.mountainsystems.com), a privately held corporation headquartered in Green Bay, Wis., is a leading developer and provider of Manufacturing Execution Systems technology for the discrete manufacturing and process industries. Proficy for Manufacturing is a suite of MES software delivering on the information tracking and evaluation needs of a wide variety of production environments. 

About GE Fanuc Automation
GE Fanuc Automation Americas, Inc., is a leading global supplier of automation solutions and is a joint venture between GE and FANUC LTD of Japan. GE Fanuc products and services include collaborative production management, HMI/SCADA and plant intelligence software; nano to high-end controllers; embedded systems; a wide range of CNCs; motion control; operator interfaces; industrial computers; lasersand a wide range of integration and customer support services. Headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., GE Fanuc is part of GE Industrial Systems. For more information, visit www.gefanuc.com. 

About GE Industrial Systems
GE Industrial Systems, a division of the General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), spans the globe as an industry leader in integrated industrial, electrical and security equipment, systems and services. The business brings to customers the latest technologies that are used to distribute, protect and control energy and equipment, and to provide premise management. GE provides innovative product and service solutions for commercial, industrial, residential and utility customers. For more information visit the website at: www.geindustrial.com.

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