Nordson Swainsboro and Dawsonville, Georgia, Facilities Recognized as Winner and Finalist in Industry Week Magazine’s 2008 Best Manufacturing Plants C

(BUSINESS WIRE)--Two of Nordson Corporation’s (NASDAQ - NDSN) manufacturing facilities have been named among North America’s Best Plants for 2008 by Industry Week magazine. Nordson’s Swainsboro, Georgia, facility has been selected as a winner, one of the ten best plants, in the annual competition. Nordson’s Dawsonville, Georgia, facility was named as a finalist, one of the 20 best plants in 2008.

The Nordson Swainsboro facility, which was a finalist in the 2007 Industry Week Best Plants competition, manufactures ProBlue® adhesive melters, the world’s leading hot melt adhesive dispensing systems, as well as ProBlue® Fulfill™ integrated fill systems, Classic™ XIV melters, Blue Series™ dispensing guns and modules and Saturn® nozzles and solenoids. These products and systems are used in the packaging of consumer products and in a wide variety of industrial and consumer durable goods assembly applications. The Nordson Dawsonville facility produces Universal™, Signature™, SureWrap™, CF®, Summit™ and PatternJet™ applicators, guns, modules and nozzles. These products are used in the manufacture of baby diapers and disposable hygienic products and in food, beverage and consumer product labeling.

Established in 1990, Industry Week’s annual competition salutes plants that are on the leading edge of efforts to increase competitiveness, enhance customer satisfaction and create stimulating and rewarding work environments. The competition encourages manufacturing managers and work teams to emulate the honorees by adopting world-class practices, technologies and improvement strategies.

Entrants are judged on criteria including: proactive environmental and safety practices; operational improvements; agile production systems; supplier partnerships; customer focus; employee empowerment; quality systems; management practices; and manufacturing capability.

In 2007, while implementing lean manufacturing and continuous improvement programs, the Swainsboro facility entered the Industry Week competition in order to benchmark itself against other leading North American manufacturing plants. Now, only two years later, the facility has exceeded its original lean manufacturing goals and has been recognized as one of the top ten plants in North America.

“The Swainsboro Team is extremely pleased to be recognized by Industry Week magazine as one of its Best Plants,” says Scott Rosenau, production manager at the Swainsboro facility. “This is a goal we’ve pursued over two years, and we're thrilled to reach this level of performance. I'm extremely proud of the team here and want to thank the outlying Nordson groups that helped contribute to our success.”

“Our Swainsboro and Dawsonville facilities have been able to enhance and tighten every aspect of our production, improve our global competitiveness and increase our levels of community service and involvement,” says John Keane, senior vice president, Nordson Adhesive Systems division. “We’re excited to have not one, but two of our plants recognized by Industry Week, and feel confident as the culture of continuous improvement is proliferating throughout all of our manufacturing facilities.”

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