Armstrong Replaces Stencil Process

Lancaster, PA, Sept. 18--Armstrong World Industries, Inc. today announced that it will cease production of its residential stencil manufacturing process at the Lancaster, PA flooring plant effective September 26. Declining volumes and a shift toward new products utilizing next-generation design capabilities are drivers of this decision. Earlier this year, Armstrong introduced 48 vinyl sheet products using its next-generation Inlaid Color Graphics manufacturing process or new MasterWorks Technology. Additionally, 46 products that require these new technologies will be released in first quarter 2004. Among these new products will be the reintroduction of Armstrong's signature product, Designer Solarian, using the new technologies to create the new and improved structure. "Being the industry's styling and design leader requires that we continue to invest in new decorating capabilities," said Frank Ready, senior vice president of sales and marketing, Armstrong Floor Products (AFP). "Floors produced using these and other new technologies exceed the demands of today's consumers. They are more durable than ever before, easier to install, and more realistic with rich, textured designs and beautiful contemporary styling. In addition, the reintroduction of Armstrong's Designer Solarian product will dramatically illustrate our company's commitment to design leadership." Products that utilize MasterWorks Technology are produced at the Lancaster and Stillwater facilities. They represent the next generation of flooring design and manufacturing technology that dramatically improves the clarity and fidelity with which flooring imagery is reproduced. Clarity of reproduction means customers are seeing the floor exactly as visualized by the styling artist. Highland Park, the first collection to incorporate MasterWorks Technology, combines photographic imaging with the dimension and embossed texture of precision, high-resolution rotogravure manufacturing process. Six styles in 25 colors make up the Highland Park Collection. A new commercial tile collection introduced last month also uses MasterWorks Technology. Arteffects, a signature, non-directional commercial tile, is produced at the Lancaster plant. Products using the next-generation Inlaid Color Graphics process are manufactured at our Holmsund, Sweden, plant. A new process that merges Armstrong's exclusive Inlaid Color process with rotogravure-printing technology, Inlaid Color Graphics takes vinyl flooring to a new level. Among the first products to use Inlaid Color Graphics is the Patina Collection. Introduced in May to selected retailers, Patina boasts three interpretive styles in 14 distinctive colors that reflect the latest interior trends. Ready notes that inventory levels of the most popular stencil products, including Jaspe and Stencil Craft, will be available to fill demand through first quarter 2004. Armstrong anticipates that fewer than fifty employees will be impacted at the Lancaster flooring plant.