Air Products Singapore Assists Sea Accident Recovery

A tragic sea accident occurred on a late Friday night in January 2003, between a Singapore Naval Vessel, RSS Courageous, and the Dutch-owned container vessel, ADL Indonesia, off the disputed island Pedra Branca, off Johor, Malaysia. The impact was so strong that the rear end of RSS Courageous, believed to be the water jet propulsion unit, was shorn off and sunk. A day later, the Navy found a metallic part some 400 meters from the collision site, weighing 30 ton. It was 57 meters below sea level.

Commercial diving and salvage experts were engaged to assist RSS to lift the metallic part. On 6 January, Air Products Singapore received a call from Fraser Diving International to inquire if we could supply the diving gases in two days, provided they gave us the specifications by the next morning. Assurance of delivery time was crucial for Fraser to win this project. We assured them we could supply to support the salvage operation on Wednesday even if they confirmed the order on Tuesday morning.

Air Products Singapore received confirmation of order at 10 a.m. the following Tuesday 7 January. Within an hour, Air Products Singapore customer service staff and production staff swung into action. The deadline to deliver the diving gases was noon on the following day. The production was split into two teams to prepare the diving gases. Everyone was busy; compressors were pumping to the maximum. By next morning, all the gases were ready, trucks and crane were on standby at the factory, and when they were ready, the quads and pallets were loaded onto the trucks and by 10 a.m.-just 24 hours after the order confirmation-trucks were streaming out of the factory towards the pick-up point.

(Contributed by Chin Kwee Yuen and Jane Lazaroo, Air Products Singapore Pte. Ltd.)

back to top

CIO-Asia Honors Air Products' E-Business & Collaboration Strategies with CIO 100 Award

For months, our customers and business associates have been impressed with the variety of collaborative tools they can use to conduct business with Air Products.
News from our Singapore office is that CIO-Asia magazine also liked what they saw, recognizing Air Products as one of its CIO 100 Honorees for our Business Alliance Environment (BAE) program. This award positions Air Products Asia as one of the Top 100 Asian companies to successfully integrate new technologies into its products and services offerings.

"In today's economic climate, our employees are finding it essential to use e-business tools and knowledge management practices to serve our customers," explained Andrew Ang, regional manager / Asia. "They add value, strengthen our relationships, and display the strategies and practices that differentiate us from our competitors."

The entry highlighted our increased collaboration and knowledge sharing vehicles such as Web Conferencing through PlaceWare and Project Workspaces through eRoom. Business partners can also gain Intranet Access through a secured transaction area-our Business Alliance Environment.
Our growth model is built around working with knowledgeable people in their own locations. Collaborative project like the BAE bring our employees, customers and business partners together in ways that weren't available even just a few months ago, truly making Air Products the Best Company to Buy From.
(Contributed by Tom Yencho, Corporate Communications)

back to top

AP Singapore's Customers Benefit from Product Safety Training

In Air Products, nothing is more important than safety… not sales, not production, not profits. In line with this philosophy, Air Products Singapore had on 4th October 2002 organized a 4-hour training session on Products Safety for APS' customers at Marina Mandarin Hotel. Eugene Ngai and Robert Martrich, Air Products' Safety experts with 65 years of EH&S experience between them, were in Singapore to share their expertise to our customers. Invitations were sent to customers from different industries and about 30 engineers from these customers (mainly from Electronics Industry) attended this fruitful session.

The session provides an opportunity for customers to understand characteristics and properties of Specialty Gases as well as the needs and requirements on the types of protective gears when handling these gases. Session includes a topic on how Air Products conducts Risk Review on products that Air Products plan to manufacture. There were videos on the different tests carried out by Eugene's team, which generated great interests among the customers. Questions were discussed at the end of the session on various concerns raised by customers and were satisfactorily addressed by our experts.

The session ended with customers bringing back excellent information and understanding on materials that they are handling currently and in the coming near future.

This is not the first training held by AP Singapore for its customers. Similar sessions were also organized for customers in 1999, 2000 and 2001.

back to top

NOTE: This release may contain forward-looking statements. Actual results could vary materially, due to changes in current expectations.

Media Inquiries:
(Air Products)
Catherine E. McDonald, tel: (610) 481-3673, e-mail: mcdonace@airproducts.com

Investor Inquiries:
(Air Products)
Alexander W. Masetti, tel: (610) 481-7461; e-mail: masettaw@airproducts.com

EDITOR'S NOTES:
*Founded in July 1999, TRiMEGA Electronics, L.L.C. (www.trimega.com) distinguishes itself as a single point of accountability, responsible to the customer from the design phase through the fab's ongoing operations. The company leverages the unique strengths of Air Products, Kinetics and Vivendi Water/USFilter to supply bulk gases; electronic chemicals; MEGASYS® Total Gas and Chemical Management Services; specialty gases and related equipment; utility management; turnkey high-purity piping; ultra high-purity flow control components; chemical and slurry distribution and blending equipment; ultra pure water and wastewater equipment; and reuse and reclamation systems. To date, TRiMEGA has secured over $300 million revenues and has completed more than 30 projects, all involving a systems approach to gas, chemical and/or water supply.

back to top

We did it again, and we did it better. One year after we were certified to ISO 9002:1994, Air Products Singapore was successfully certified to ISO 9001:2000 in March 2002 with new scope added to the certificate which covers the application design, development, installation and commissioning of customer stations and application systems, Nitrogen Services and our Helium Transfill Plant.

The 5-man day audit went on smoothly with no minor or major non-conformances reported. Management commitment, system documentation, ESG warehouse management, regulatory requirements enforcement, and record keeping of the Customer Service Department were some of the strengths recognized during the audits. The good results were not by accidents. It represents the culmination of a significant effort by the whole APS organization over the past months. Days before the audit, Ernest Khoo, Helium Transfill Plant Manager, Kannan SR, Liquid Bulk Engineer and their teams spent long hours to check through all records to ensure they were in order. The effort paid off. Zamir Ahmad, Assistant Plant Manager wrote a mission statement on the white board: "Zero non-conformance for Sakra Plant". And they did it! The Nitrogen Services team had another proud achievement added to their record, i.e. being the first Nitrogen Services in Air Products to obtain ISO9001:2000 certification. Chan Kean Eng, the management representative, who led Air Products through two certification processes, heaved a sign of relief when the results were announced at the closing meeting. "This was no easy job considering the complexity of our processes and our lean resources," she commented. She cited management commitment, sheer determination, teamwork, dedication and effective IQA as the critical factors to the repeat of Air Products Singapore's success story in ISO9000 certification.

ISO9001:2000 requires company to actively seek for customer feedback to drive for continual improvement and greater customer satisfaction. These are consistent with our mission statement in "Deliver the Difference" and corporate objectives. ISO9000 is also a useful tool to help ensure effective change implementation and work process standardization through internal quality audit. Well-defined roles and responsibilities and better understanding of procedures, work process and practices, and improved inter-departmental interfaces were among some of the benefits identified by the staff one year after implementation.

While celebrating the achievement of this major milestone and completion of this chapter, the staff of Air Products would continue to strive for improvement and excellence!

back to top

Chartered Awards AP Singapore for Supplier Excellence - Wednesday, 20 June 2001

Air Products Singapore has received ship-to-stock status from Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, Ltd., the world's third largest independent wafer foundry. The award recognizes AP Singapore's supply chain control and quality level and pertains to all electronics specialty gases currently supplied to Chartered. AP Singapore has been a supplier to Chartered for one and one-half years.

Ship-to-stock is the second tier in Chartered's three-tier award system. This designation allows our products to go right to the production floor--no more inspections of our electronics specialty gases prior to their use in wafer production. Chartered will also no longer request paperwork ahead of time for pre-approval of the products. Andrew Ang, Sales Manager - AP Singapore's Electronics Division, says, "To achieve the next level of supply chain excellence, which is the Best Supplier Award, we have to continuously provide them with our utmost service and support, best pricing, and technologically advanced products."

Tom Johnson, Director, Electronics Asia, said, "Air Products Singapore and Electronics are very excited and proud to be the recipient of this distinguished award from Chartered. I want to thank Singapore Electronics, Asia Regional Electronics, and the Global supply teams for a truly outstanding accomplishment. Chartered is the number three foundry in the world and growing at double-digit rates. This award sets the stage for our continued wallet share of Chartered's business."

Chartered operates five fabrication facilities in Singapore that serve high-growth, technologically advanced applications such as communications and networking. A sixth fab is now under construction and expected to begin production next year. Headquartered in Singapore, Chartered employs approximately 4,300 people at its 11 locations in North America, Asia, and Europe.
(Contributed by Andrew Ang, Tom Johnson, Marie Maly and Ed McKendry)

back to top

Lehigh Valley, Pa. (May 8, 2001) - Mr. George T. Lin, vice president of Asia Pacific Operations for Semiconductor Equipment & Materials International, Asia Pacific (SEMI), recently awarded a Certificate of Recognition to Andrew Ang-electronics business development manager with Air Products Singapore-for significant contributions to the SEMI Singapore committee and support of
regional industry activities. SEMI also has invited Andrew to chair the IC Technology Technical Session of this year's SEMICON Singapore Exposition, which will be held from May 8-10.

"We greatly appreciate the contributions of Andrew Ang to the SEMICON Singapore Committee and his dedication in chairing the IC Session," said Mr. Lin. "SEMI aims to support the development of a robust equipment and materials industry in Singapore. This goal is dependent on promoting
high-quality technical discourse through an array of important programs and seminars. Mr. Ang's participation, guidance and leadership on the SEMI Committee is great service to our program and to the development of the local industry."

SEMI is a global trade association that represents the semiconductor and flat panel display equipment and materials industries. SEMI helps its members expand global marketing opportunities and improve access to customers and industry, government and civic leaders by providing members
with information and educational resources and opportunities to promote company products and services globally through international expositions and events like SEMICON. SEMI represents more than 2,400 member companies worldwide whose products and services enable the global electronics industry. For more information, visit www.semi.org.

With more than seven years of experience in the semiconductor industry, Andrew recently assisted with Singapore's first commercial semiconductor spin-off from a research institute, helping to make its world-class technology more widely available to support advanced wafer processing,
flip-chip and optoelectronics technology. Andrew has been involved with all commercial aspects of Air Products' Electronics Division in Singapore and also serves on the company's Asia E-Business team.

The theme for Air Products' booth (#2322) will be "Delivering Total Solutions for the Life of the Fab," and the company will showcase its range of offerings, including electronic specialty gases, ultrahigh-purity bulk gases, GASGUARD® equipment and Bulk Specialty Gas Delivery Systems, electronic chemicals, MEGASYS® Total Gas and Chemical Management services, and products and services available through TRiMEGA Electronics, L.L.C., a joint venture between Air Products and Kinetics Group.

back to top

Gases/ Management Services For Wacker Siltronic In Singapore - Tuesday, February 8, 2000

Under long-term contract, our Singapore subsidiary, Air Products Singapore Pte. Ltd., is supplying all of the bulk and cylinder industrial and specialty gas requirements for Wacker Siltronic Singapore's new hyperpure silicon wafer fab in Singapore's Tampines Wafer Fab Park. The contract also calls for Air Products to provide its MEGASYS Total Gas Management services at the Wacker facility, with a team of dedicated, on-site Air Products technicians overseeing the supply of gases, equipment maintenance, materials and services.

Air Products is supplying Wacker a variety of gas products, including nitrogen, hydrogen, hydrogen chloride, argon, ultra-high purity oxygen, helium, silane, diborane/hydrogen, hexafluoroethane, ammonia, and nitrous oxide via an on-site gas facility. Most of the industrial gases are being sourced from our Sakra Island air separation plant, while the specialty gases are being supplied from our Hometown, Pa. facility, our transfill facility in Moses Lake, Wash., our Solkatronic Chemicals, Inc. business unit, and our Showa Denko Air Products Co., Ltd. manufacturing joint venture in Kawasaki, Japan. Wacker is using these gas products to manufacture nearly 250,000 polished and epitaxial 200mm silicon wafers each month at full build-out.

Air Products has established emulsion and redispersible powder joint venture companies with Wacker-Chemie GmbH (Munich, Germany) - the parent company of Wacker Siltronic - for the supply of polymer chemicals worldwide. "It's strong supplier/customer relationships like these that allow us to more fully leverage the strengths we bring as the world's only integrated gases and chemicals company," says Jerry Ermentrout, vice president and general manager - Electronics Division.

back to top