Sparton Corporation To Implement Valor's Trilogy-5000 Engineering Software Corporate Wide

JACKSON, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 28, 2005--In an effort to enhance and speed up its overall pre-manufacturing PCB assembly processes, Electronics Design and Manufacturing Service (EMS) provider, Sparton Corporation (NYSE:SPA) today announced it will implement corporate-wide Valor's Trilogy-5000 engineering software.

Acquired to assist with its New Production Introduction (NPI) process, Trilogy-5000 software, developed by Valor Computerized Systems, will aid Sparton in reducing its engineering cycle time and improving overall efficiencies on its customer programs. By implementing Trilogy-5000 and the Valor Parts Library service at 7 sites internationally, and taking a corporate-wide approach to standardizing its engineering methods on the basis of ODB++, Sparton expects to maximize its competitiveness in the aggressive NPI-centric sector of the EMS business.

Valor's Trilogy-5000 integrated engineering solution for pre-manufacturing PCB assembly processes supports all pre-manufacturing engineering processes from a single database, including BOM/CAD validation, DFM verification, documentation and fixture design, and machine vendor-neutral full-line programming and optimization. All functions are driven from a single source of product-definition data, in the form of the ODB++ PCB data model enriched by up to 36 million accurate component models imported from the unique Valor Parts Library ("VPL").

Ernest C. Williams, Director of Corporate of NPI Programs at Sparton explained "During the past year Sparton's Corporate NPI Team and our Advanced Manufacturing Operations Team have been focusing specifically on driving down cost and increasing speed for our customers, both for non-recurring expenditures (NRE) and Production. Our customers expect us to deliver DFX feedback within hours, and engineering samples, prototypes and pre-production units within a few days, maximum. The Valor solution will assist us in achieving these challenging speed and cost goals simultaneously." Explaining in more detail the specific impact on his engineering processes, Mr. Williams continued "Valor's Trilogy 5000 and VPL will empower us to optimize all of our engineering tasks: develop our solder-stencils, tooling, assembly documentation, SMT programs, all automated equipment and ICT programs concurrently, from a shared and pre-validated database. By far, this level of integrated functionality is a tremendous improvement over our current methods and ahead of anything Valor's competitors could offer; the Valor software solution will improve our efficiency, improve quality, increase factory throughput, and reduce time to market for our customers."

Sparton Corporation (NYSE:SPA) now in its 105th year, provides high mix, low to medium volume electronics contract manufacturing services utilizing seven manufacturing locations encompassing over 870,000-sq. ft. in North America and Southeast Asia along with a number of alliance partner facilities. In addition to strong core surface mount technology (SMT) and plated through-hole (PTH), printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) and complete assembly manufacturing capabilities, Sparton offers a complete range of pre-manufacturing and post-manufacturing services. Pre-manufacturing services include product development, concurrent engineering, design for test (DFT), design for manufacturing (DFM), design for assembly (DFA), printed circuit board design and quick-turn prototyping. Post-manufacturing service range from repair depot, direct ship, distribution management to field support.

Safe Harbor statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: To the extent any statements made in this release contain information that is not historical, these statements are essentially forward-looking and are subject to risks and uncertainties, including the difficulty of predicting future results, the regulatory environment, fluctuations in operating results and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The matters discussed in this press release may also involve risks and uncertainties concerning Sparton's services described in Sparton's filings with the SEC. In particular, see the risk factors described in the Company's most recent Form 10K and Form 10Q. Sparton assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this press release.