Milacron's Bold NPE Strategy a Hit With Customers

New NPE Show Tactics Producing Strong Order Activity for All Product Lines, From All Corners of the Globe

June 27, 2003/CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, June 26, 2003 - Three days into the National Plastics Exposition, Milacron Inc. (NYSE: MZ) is confounding industry skeptics by proving it can fly without the proverbial magic feather of machines on the exhibit floor.

"This show has been great for us," said Ron Brown, Milacron chairman and chief executive officer. "The traffic through our booth has exceeded our best expectations. We've had nothing but compliments from our customers on our NPE concept and execution, and we've produced firm orders in all processing categories from a multitude of industries," he added. "In this economic environment, time on the show floor is precious for attendees, and this comprehensive presentation of a broad range of complementary technologies is proving a very effective selling tool, giving customers a quick overview of our total solutions. The level of activity from Mexico and Latin America has also been a pleasant surprise. Everyone at the show, even our competitors' customers, respects the way we are leading change in our industry with this new presentation of solutions for success at NPE."

According to Harold Faig, Milacron president and chief operating officer, the company's sales force is well prepared for the machine-free, solutions-based exhibit and is now developing business that frequently involves several technology categories instead of one. "When there's a machine on the show floor, people tend to concentrate too much on the machinery part of a solution," Faig stated. "When that focal point is out of the equation, our customers and sales force start exploring a broader array of capabilities. We're seeing packages of technologies, such as blow molding and injection molding, combined to help a customer develop a solution to become more competitive. And customers are clearly enjoying the novel way they can work with so many industry experts, combined with live-remote video feeds, Smart Board touch screen plasma displays, and other creative presentation technologies."

Based on preliminary late-day figures June 25, Milacron has developed more than 3,600 qualified sales leads and sold product from every category in its lines, including aftermarket services, screws and barrels, injection molding machines, industrial and container blow molding machines, extrusion systems, and mold technologies. Sales lead break out is about 50% injection molding, 20% extrusion and 30% blow molding and structural foam.

D-M-E Company's web site at the show has already resulted in "quick delivery" orders placed through it. "Customers are ordering technology-based products at the show - including one order of $200,000 - that are to be delivered before the customers even get back to their plants," said Dave Skala, D-M-E vice president of sales and marketing. "Since the beginning of the show, our Internet sales have increased 25%. Much of our technology, including our hot runners and Moldflow capabilities, is focused on helping customers reduce cycle times and become more competitive through quick color changes or mold changes."

Uniloy Milacron has turned in a very strong performance at the show, with multi-million-dollar sales to all corners of the globe, encompassing all of its product categories, including PET blow molding and structural foam. "Our company has more of a tradition of exhibiting without machines at a show, so we're actually quite comfortable with a solutions-based presentation at a trade show," said Jim Moore, president of Uniloy Milacron. "The traditional driver in our work with customers is the container they want produced, not machines they want to buy. The customer's product drives the solution, not the other way around."

ExtrusionTek Milacron's director of sales and marketing, Glenn Anderson, said most of the company's best customers have visited - along with a surprising number of competitors' customers - and all have been highly complimentary of the new show look. "Our show tools are excellent," Anderson stated, "and the industry experts we have on the floor have enabled us to engage in serious discussions with customers about new technology platforms. We're seeing a resurgence of activity in the PVC pipe and profile markets, along with wood composites, with Mexico and Canada strongly represented in our contacts."

Milacron's injection molding business generated firm orders from more than a dozen industry segments and proved it really understood the new selling environment. "Our new XTREEM XP control has been a hit with customers and allowed us to do some unique things from the show floor," said Dale Werle, president of Ferromatik Milacron North America. "We have the only Windows XP, Pentium-based control in the industry, and we've engaged customers with demonstrations of remote machine operation, Internet access, e-mail and other capabilities. A customer in Texas even e-mailed his engineering drawings to one of our control displays at the show, allowing us to review the project and propose a solution from the show floor."

In the way of sales trends, Bob Strickley, vice president of sales for Ferromatik Milacron, highlighted success with new processing technologies. "We are getting strong interest in our multi-component technologies and turning stack molds, which can now be married to our all-electric machine platforms," he said. "We just announced at the show the completion of the largest all-electric two-component machine in North America for an appliance manufacturer, and this concept is getting traction. Overall, nearly 70% of our orders are for all-electric technology, establishing this as the clear customer preference.

"Our live-TV feed of the in-mold painting application at our Batavia, Ohio, plant draws crowds that jam the aisles because of its potential to eliminate costly, polluting paint operations. We're moving into non-traditional areas, too, such as the creation of customer-specific web portals that will allow secure access for viewing order status, photos of machines in build at our plant, etc. Overall, it's been a strong show, where our top management has been meeting with leading Tier One automotive suppliers, houseware producers, and medical product manufacturers. To some extent, we have surprised ourselves, and I know we are surprising the industry. We're proving that it's our applied technologies that sell the machines," Strickley concluded.

First incorporated in 1884, Milacron is a leading global supplier of plastics-processing technologies and industrial fluids, with 4,000 employees and major manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe and Asia. For further information, visit the company's website at www.milacron.com or call the toll-free investor hot line: 800-909-MILA (800-909-6452).

Contact: Tim Neutzling (513) 487-5920

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