(PRLEAP.COM) Performance-based agreement covers all maintenance operations at Cooper Tire plant.

Zurich, Switzerland, August 25, 2006 - ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, said today it has signed an agreement with Cooper Tire and Rubber Company to manage maintenance operations at its Albany, Georgia plant in the United States.

The ABB Full Service agreement covers a five-year period, and is the first agreement of its type for ABB in the North American automotive industry. The new contract complements more than 125 ABB Full Service relationships with customers in the paper, metals, mining, chemicals, oil and gas, and telecommunications industries.

“The ABB Full Service concept helps turn maintenance departments into profit centers,” said Veli-Matti Reinikkala, head of ABB’s Process Automation division. “By bringing proven best practices to the full spectrum of plant maintenance activities, we add new value to our customers’ bottom line while they focus on their core business.”
“This service agreement is one of various strategic initiatives within Cooper Tire to improve manufacturing efficiency, product and customer mix, and market share,” said Scott Jamieson, Vice President of Manufacturing for Cooper Tire. “By entrusting plant maintenance operations to an established partner such as ABB, we can better focus on our core competence of manufacturing and marketing high-quality tires at competitive costs.”

Under the terms of the agreement, ABB will assume some 100 maintenance employees and responsibility for all maintenance-related activities and equipment at the plant, and will manage the operations to contractually-agreed targets for plant performance. ABB Full Service agreements typically improve productivity and equipment availability while reducing maintenance costs for customers by up to 20 percent.

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company is a global company that specializes in the design, manufacture, marketing and sales of passenger car, light truck and medium truck tires with subsidiaries that specialize in motorcycle and racing tires, as well as tread rubber and related equipment for the retread industry. With headquarters in Findlay, Ohio, Cooper Tire has 59 manufacturing, sales, distribution, technical and design facilities within its family of companies located around the world. For more information, visit Cooper Tire’s web site at: www.coopertire.com.

ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 107,000 people.