Marlborough, MA October 16, 2001 - EKRA was awarded Frost & Sullivan's 2001 Market Engineering Award for Market Penetration for demonstrating strategic excellence in product innovation, marketing, and sales strategies that have resulted in a significant market share gain in the SMT screen printer equipment market over the past 2-3 years.

Frost & Sullivan chose EKRA America after 400+ hours of extensive research conducted by industry analysts who track market share gain, increase in sales, brand awareness efforts within the industry, and other specific criteria, such as technology development and perceived customer value. This rigorous published research, "The World SMT Screen Printer Equipment Market", is accomplished through interviews with all market participants, end-user studies, and extensive secondary research.

"This award is very rewarding for the people at EKRA. It shows that our strategy of supporting our customers with the products and service they want is paying off. It is especially gratifying to receive the award from a globally recognized organization like Frost & Sullivan." Says Steven Hall, General Manager of EKRA America.

Frost & Sullivan, founded in 1961, is recognized as an international strategic market consulting and training firm, with offices located in San Jose, New York, San Antonio, Toronto, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Beijing, Tokyo, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Mumbai.