East Penn was honored by John Deere with the Achieving Excellence award for 2002. This award is in recognition of East Penn’s outstanding performance and classifies the company as a Key supplier.

To obtain Key status, a supplier must achieve a defect rate of less than or equal to 1/10% in quality and an accuracy rate of less than or equal to 4/10% in delivery. A company’s performance is also evaluated by three subjective categories. It is required to score between 80 to 92 percent in the subjective total of Technical Support, Wavelength and Cost Management.

This award represents John Deere’s appreciation for East Penn’s outstanding achievements and commends every employee for their role in reaching these performance levels.

East Penn was also recognized for its organizational standard of continual improvement and its continual commitment to being a quality supplier.

East Penn is a leading manufacturer of high quality lead-acid batteries and accessories for the commercial, automotive, marine, telecommunications, industrial, and stationary markets. The company’s quality systems for its entire 480-acre complex have been certified to ISO 9001:2000 and QS 9000:1998 requirements. The company’s Wire and Cable division has been certified to ISO 14001 Environmental Management System requirements. The company claims to have the largest, most modern single-site manufacturing facility in the world. For more information contact East Penn Manufacturing Co., Inc., Lyon Station, PA 19536 or visit the company’s web site at www.dekabatteries.com.