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FCI Automotive Celebrates the Opening Of its New Facility

27 May 1998

FCI Automotive Celebrates the Grand Opening Of its New Brecksville, Ohio Facility - More Space, More Jobs

    WESTLAND, Mich., May 27 -- FCI Automotive is officially
opening its new Brecksville, Ohio Technical Center and manufacturing facility
during ceremonies scheduled from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday, May 28.
    Present at the event will be members of the FCI Automotive management and
staff, including Andre Louin, senior vice president and general manager, and
Tom Schilling, vice president of North American operations, as well as
management from the highest levels of the FCI global organization, including
Philippe Anglaret, president and chairman of FCI.  FCI Automotive customers
and vendors, as well as local government and business officials, will also be
in attendance.
    The expansion, consisting of the construction of a new facility totaling
46,500 square feet and the remodeling of an existing 24,000 square foot
facility, helps FCI Automotive to continue to provide world-class service to
customers and expand its worldwide presence here in North America.  It also
means the creation of a number of new jobs for the Brecksville area in the
coming months.
    The event begins at 10:30 a.m. with a press conference.  Key FCI personnel
will give remarks at 11:30 a.m., followed by a facility tour from noon to
1 p.m.  A 70-foot hot air balloon offering tethered rides will be on-site
throughout the day.
    Headquartered in Paris, La Defense, France, Framatome Connectors
International (FCI) is the world's third largest producer of connectors and
interconnection systems, with total 1997 sales of $1 billion.  The company has
over 8,500 employees, with 44 production units located in North America,
Europe, South America, Japan and the Pacific Rim.
    FCI has five business groups dedicated to meeting the unique challenges
offered in each of the markets it serves: data processing, telecommunications,
consumer electronics, controls and instrumentation, electrical power and
construction, industrial equipment, aerospace, military and automotive.
    FCI Automotive is a $300 million supplier of terminals, connector systems
and insert-molded products for virtually any application to the global
automotive market, with close to 2,000 employees and 14 manufacturing
locations around the world.  The group is organized into business units
located close to their principal customers to shorten response times and
improve customer service.  Since 1991, automotive sales have gone from 4.5
percent of total FCI group sales to nearly 30 percent today.
    In North America, FCI Automotive has over 550 employees and operates five
facilities in the U.S. and Canada.  The company's main product lines include:
the APEX family of terminals and housings for harness applications, high-
precision metal stampings, airbag connectors, ECU connectors and packages,
electrical distribution center products (junction boxes, insert molded layers:
IML) and insert-molded components for door locking products.