SAN DIEGO, CA - January 16, 2001 - GenRad, Inc. [NYSE: GEN], a leading producer of advanced performance-assurance products for electronics manufacturers, today introduced the GR Pilot LX, a fixtureless flying prober test system capable of testing large form-factor printed circuit boards found in computer servers and internet and networking markets. The new test system is designed to significantly improve prototype verification and electronics production line performance while reducing manufacturing costs. The announcement was made at APEX, the annual IPC-sponsored tradeshow for electronics manufacturers.

Advanced Features

The GR Pilot LX includes many advanced features that are required to provide a comprehensive and flexible test system for OEMs and contract electronics manufacturers.
Key features found on the GR Pilot LX include:

• Performance improvements of 20-30%
  Measurement accuracy doubled
  24" x 24" test area, the largest among today's major global suppliers of flying probers
  increased topside Z-travel to 44mm, allowing for clearance of high profile components without impacting test speeds. Additionally, the bottomside clearance is 100mm
  dual-rail roller bearing X-Y guides and Z-axis stepper motors with encoders
  four standard flying probes topside, up to eight fixed probes on the underside

The GR Pilot LX also includes two cameras: one for fiducial recognition, automated optical inspection, and board digitization; the second camera is used for viewing the actual probe area, greatly benefiting the test generation and debug process. GR Pilot LX customers also have the option of up to two flying mobile capacitive probes topside and 64 fixed capacitive probes on the underside - the high number of probes provides test engineers with the tools required to test a wide variety of complex, densely-packaged board types.

Flexible Utilization Strategy

The GR Pilot LX can serve multiple roles for electronics manufacturers.
Flying prober test systems can be utilized in many ways, including:

• testing prototypes and low volume products
  In a 'quick turn' manufacturing environment when development time must be minimized
  Production line testing of a printed circuit board in areas inaccessible by traditional test methods
  repair depot environments to test a wide range of boards in small lot sizes

Because the GR Pilot LX is a fixtureless test system, electronics manufacturers can reduce costs each time a new prototype or production board is developed as well as offering a dramatic reduction in test set development time.

Distributed Test Strategy

"The GR Pilot LX is an important piece of our distributed test strategy," said Ron Passero, Supervisor of In-Circuit Test at DaimlerChrysler in Huntsville, AL. "We will use the GR Pilot LX in conjunction with our GenRad in-circuit testers to increase our test coverage. We decided to replace our flying prober with the GR Pilot LX because it is faster and gives us better test coverage. Also, GenRad's Alchemist III CAD preparation software makes it simple for us to divide the test programs between the two platforms - without the software, we would spend a lot of time doing this manually."

Advanced Software Tools

GR Pilot LX uses advanced software tools, including GR Alchemist III, that significantly reduce test development times, getting new products into production at an accelerated rate. GR Alchemist III provides a seamless, user-friendly software tool suite integrated into the program development process. The suite converts CAD data, imports BOM data, and automatically performs probe placement far more quickly than other products currently available. GR Alchemist III also performs "pad nudging" and "probe cluster placement" to further optimize the test generation process. Front-end operations that previously took hours to complete can be reduced to seconds in most cases with GR Alchemist III software.

GR Pilot Family

GR Pilot LX extends the GR Pilot family and improves GenRad's market leadership, with the original GR Pilot gaining a 20% market share in just 2 years. The worldwide market for flying prober test systems is expected to grow 22% in 2001.

"Our GR Pilot LX has a very comprehensive test capability that gives electronics manufacturers the tools they need to quickly develop and deploy a fixtureless in-circuit test," said Ron Lindell, Vice President of GenRad's Process Solutions unit. "The capabilities of our GR Pilot LX and GR Pilot make it possible to improve time-to-production and time-to-market, while improving product quality and reducing costs."

About GenRad

GenRad Inc. [NYSE: GEN] is a global leader of electronics manufacturing productivity solutions for contract and original equipment manufacturers [OEM] of handheld and wireless devices, PCs and business servers, DSL and other broadband switching and routing technologies, and other devices integral to emerging Internet e-commerce markets. GenRad also applies its technologies to development of diagnostic solutions for the automotive and general transportation industry.

GenRad is comprised of four lines of business bringing to market integrated hardware, software and service solutions that empower always-on services and un-interruptable business applications:

• Process Solutions focuses on in-circuit test, x-ray test, and re-work solutions as well as plant and line management solutions for electronic product manufacturers.
• Functional Solutions focuses on functional test platforms for manufacturers of telecommunications, computers and automotive electronics.
• Diagnostic Solutions focuses on service bay and manufacturing solutions for transportation OEMs and independent service providers.
• Support and Services focuses on maintenance programs, on-site and remote support, programming services, and training to help customers optimize their hardware and software solutions.

Founded in 1915, GenRad employs approximately 1,400 people and maintains its worldwide headquarters in Westford, MA, USA. The company's Web address is http://www.genrad.com.