Centre of Excellence Formed

For immediate release, 5 June 2000


Volex Group p.l.c. forms Centre of Excellence for 
RF products in Wilmington, MA, USA
Volex Group p.l.c., the world's leading independent producer of electrical power cords and electronic cable assemblies, announced today that it has formed a new operating unit for RF products to be called Volex RF Technologies.  The unit will provide the engineering expertise, customer support and excellence in manufacturing processes for RF products on a global basis for the rapidly growing telecommunications market segment.  Volex RF Technologies will be an operating unit under Volex Inc., the US subsidiary of the Volex Group, and will operate from a new facility currently being modified in Wilmington, MA, just north of Boston.  Whilst concentrating its efforts in North America, the centre will co-ordinate with other Volex sites in Europe and Asia, thus enabling the Group to optimise production of RF interconnect technology globally.

Volex Chief Executive, Dom Molloy, commented: 

"We have become world leaders in the production of cable assemblies used in telecommunications switching, wireline applications and the exciting sector of wireless communications devices where broadband demands are leading to exponential growth in copper and fibre cabling.  The establishment of the Centre of Excellence is a natural extension of our strategy to focus on future technologies while continuing to create value for our customers." 

Dean Gammell will be joining Volex as General Manager for Volex RF Technologies.  Dean has over 14 years experience in the RF market, most recently with Tyco Electronics subsidiaries M/A-COM and AMP.  The other members of the senior team joining Volex RF Technologies include Paul Laidley as Engineering and Operations Manager, and Paul Tusini as Sales & Marketing Manager.  Messrs. Laidley and Tusini have a combined 35 years experience in RF Product Design, Manufacture and Product Management.  Both have worked among the industry's leading manufacturers of RF products.  



In reference to the announcement, Tom Hagan, Volex Inc President, commented:

" Volex has made a significant commitment to its customers regarding the Group's long term intentions to support the telecommunications market place with RF capability and capacity.  This is regarded as a critical technology area for the Group as it expands into new telecommunication markets. The new Centre of Excellence will allow us to grow this area of our business at an accelerated rate and at the same time, strengthen the Group's brand as a leading supplier of RF cable assemblies and related equipment.  We are delighted to have the very experienced and talented team of Dean Gammell, Paul Tusini and Paul Laidley heading up our efforts."

The Volex RF Technologies centre in Wilmington has 24,000 sq. ft of floor space and will be equipped to support leading edge design, development and manufacturing standards for a wide range of RF cable assembly products.  It will have an extensive laboratory with state of the art test equipment and an environmentally controlled manufacturing area, capable of producing to very exacting standards.  The Centre of Excellence is scheduled to open in August of this year.


For Further Information Contact:

Dom Molloy, Group Chief Executive 
Tom Hagan, Volex Inc President
Dean Gammell, Volex RF Technologies			Tel:	[phone]

Ludgate Communications Ltd
Chris Lynch/Graham Herring		Tel:	[phone]