Shapeline wins breakthrough contract from key Brazilian steel company.

The leading Brazilian steel manufacturer, Usiminas has in hard competition selected to use Shapeline systems provided locally by Thermo Fisher Scientific to provide flatness measurements for its Plate Mill in Ipatinga, Brazil.

Lower production levels caused by the current downturn of the economy are an opportunity for Usiminas to improve its capability in producing high quality and competitive steel plate. After an extensive evaluation process, the company has now selected Shapeline to provide the measurement systems required to trim and operate the process of producing steel plates for the Brazilian and international markets. The initial order is for three complete systems with the highest possible requirements on performance and accuracy. The systems will be delivered to Usiminas by their long time business partner Thermo Fisher Scientific.

“Being our first implementation in Brazil and of such large size enables us at Shapeline to move against the trend and actually expand our business and international presence”, says Shapeline CEO, Pär Kierkegaard, PhD. “We have delivered to plate mills that are in the technological frontline for a considerable time. With this order we are now established as the global leader. Shapeline systems are now in operation from Korea in the East to Brazil and the USA in the West.”

About Usiminas

Usiminas is a large producer of steel in the Americas, with major steel mills in Brazil with a total capacity of 9.5 million metric tons of steel per year. The company accounts for 28 % of total steel output in Brazil. Usiminas produced in 2006, 8.8 million tons of raw steel and 7.9 million tons of rolled steel. The Usiminas homepage is www.usiminas.com.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO) is the world leader in serving science community enabling customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. With 2008 revenues of $10.5 billion, they have approximately 34,000 employees and serve over 350,000 customers within pharmaceutical and biotech companies, hospitals and clinical diagnostic labs, universities, research institutions and government agencies, as well as environmental and industrial process control settings. Visit www.thermofisher.com