Minneapolis, MN, February 6, 2002 - MacDermid ColorSpan, Inc., a leader in the wide-format digital color printer market, today announced that it is refocusing its business operations and marketing direction to better address the growing demand for wide-format piezo-based inkjet printing in a wide variety of graphic arts printing and packaging related applications. ColorSpan is undertaking an intensive development program to add piezo-based inkjet printing capabilities to its product line to ensure added value for current and future customers looking to more productively address new business opportunities and a broader range of wide-format printing applications. This will also better position the company for long-term growth. To support its new direction, ColorSpan is pursuing a program of consolidation and reorganization, including selected staff reductions taking place this week. ColorSpan's new program to provide cutting edge piezo-based printing technology will leverage the company's in-house expertise and intellectual properties while also working with third parties and other sources of "best in class" system components. The company plans to de-emphasize its in-house manufacturing operations and refocus on high value-added system solutions. In particular, ColorSpan's R&D staff will now address system integration issues and enhancement of front-end and workflow integration including raster image processors and color management capabilities as well as enhanced overall ease of use. It will also continue to develop and support new applications that leverage its world-class ink and media supplies capabilities. Comments Mike Miller, General Manager of MacDermid ColorSpan, "We are confident this new direction will enable us to better serve our current customers and capitalize on new market opportunities. In the future, we envision that technological breakthroughs in piezo inkjet technologies will bring to our production customers the added value, particularly in the areas of speed, media flexibility, lower production costs they need to address a wider variety of applications. These include indoor signage, outdoor UV signage, point of purchase materials, trade show displays, digital fine arts reproductions and related graphic arts and packaging applications." "Following an aggressive timetable, we expect to make new product announcements later this year. We will continue to work closely with and rely on our current network of loyal dealers to help them expand their business. We also plan to work with our parent company, MacDermid Graphic Arts, to supply solutions that enable their customers in commercial printing and packaging to address the new applications and business opportunities resulting from the increased demand for wide-format printing." ColorSpan, purchased by MacDermid's Graphic Arts division a little over a year ago, announced its highest-speed wide-format color inkjet printer, the DisplayMaker Mach 12 in April of last year, with a healthy number of units already installed.. DisplayMaker Mach 12 uses twelve 600-dpi thermal inkjet print heads with ColorSpan EnduraChrome and PermaChrome inks for producing indoor and outdoor posters, banners, signs, trade-show and point-of-purchase displays and other large-format output. The company plans to continue its ongoing work to refine and enhance the Mach 12 to address productivity issues and to ensure customer satisfaction and broader acceptance in the market. It will also maintain its successful line of wide-format printing consumables, inks and media, in support of its current and future customer base.