Harman Music Group Selects Teradyne Transmission X-Ray Product as Sole Test Platform

Business Wire, June 9, 2004

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 9, 2004

Teradyne, Inc. (NYSE:TER) announced that Harman Music Group, a premium-level manufacturer of audio products, has selected a Teradyne Assembly Test Division test system as their transmission X-ray tester of choice. Harman Music Group has chosen to use the Teradyne XStation HS(TM) automatic X-ray inspection system exclusively for all manufacturing test in their Sandy, Utah facility.

Harman Music Group began using the Teradyne XStation transmission X-ray inspection system two years ago. Fast test times, averaging 20-30 seconds, enable the test system to keep pace with the manufacturing line which runs two shifts, seven days a week. The strong performance of the X-ray system has made it an integral part of Harman's success in continually improving their manufacturing process on over 125 different boards. Using only AOI for component polarity and value checking up front and functional test before shipment, Harman relies solely on Teradyne's XStation for verifying the integrity of their manufacturing process.

According to Paul Marconi, Director of Manufacturing for Harman Music Group, "The XStation helps us find out quickly if we have a problem with our production equipment, such as our screen printer. It has helped us improve to a yield of less than 8 defects per million."

As an XStation user, Harman was selected to beta test Teradyne's new XFrame(TM) product, an integrated software development environment for the XStation. XFrame is a PC-based software program that allows all programming to be performed off-line. The software provides complete flexibility by giving the user the ability to set thresholds rather than hard-coding them into the software. XFrame deploys a new graphical-user interface and ensures data quality using an industry-standard Oracle database. The XFrame product received positive reviews from Harman during their beta test.

According to Marconi, "Teradyne's transmission X-ray has given us the confidence to use it exclusively as our test platform. We test 10,000 boards a month and are constantly seeking process improvements - the X-ray product is a major contributor to our success. Now with XFrame, we will be able to quickly develop new test programs off-line whenever we bring new products into manufacturing. Overall, we found the GUI-driven product to be more convenient and easy to use. We are looking forward to using XFrame to help us further refine our manufacturing process."

Teradyne XFrame software provides the fastest program development time via built-in, GUI-driven inspection wizards based on the Red Hat Linux operating system. Employing D2B and Alchemist for CAD preparation, XFrame automatically generates measurement windows and thresholds. XFrame uses built-in machine simulator software so that users can perform all inspection program debugging off-line, instead of on the XStation system used in production. A centralized Oracle database is used to store and manage program data, ensuring consistent and fault-free data.

Salt Lake City-based Harman Music Group Inc. designs, manufactures and markets signal-processing equipment for professional musicians, recording studios and sound system engineers. It markets its products under the brand names dbx, DigiTech, DOD, and Lexicon Pro. Harman Music Group is a subsidiary of Harman International Industries.

Teradyne (NYSE:TER) is a leading supplier of Automatic Test Equipment and interconnection systems. The company's products deliver competitive advantage to the world's leading semiconductor, electronics, automotive and network systems companies. In 2003, Teradyne had sales of $1.4 billion, and currently employs about 6100 people worldwide. For more information, visit www.teradyne.com. Teradyne is a trademark of Teradyne, Inc. in the US and other countries.