East Penn Manufacturing Co., Inc. proudly accepted the Masters of Quality Supplier award given by Freightliner Corporation of Portland, OR, on April 20, 2004. This is the sixth year East Penn has been honored with the Masters of Quality Supplier award.

For the second year in a row, East Penn was the only supplier to score a 100 percent rating in completing the required standards and qualifications set by Freightliner. Those standards include satisfying performance audits conducted by seven critical Freightliner work groups at every step of the Freightliner supply chain and achieving high marks from corporate purchasing agents in Freightliner’s supplier evaluation review process each fall. There are only 36 chosen from the several hundreds of suppliers considered for this award, and no other received a perfect score in every category.

East Penn manufactures the flooded starting and dual purpose batteries for Freightliner. As well as supplying the original equipment batteries for trucks and busses manufactured in St. Thomas, Ontario; Portland, OR; Cleveland, NC; Mt. Holly, NC; Highpoint, NC; and Gaffy, SC, East Penn supplies batteries for Freightliner, Sterling, Western Star, and Thomas Bus aftermarkeers throughout North America.

East Penn is a leading manufacturer of high quality lead-acid batteries and accessories for the industrial, automotive, marine, telecommunications, commercial, and stationary markets. The company’s quality systems for its entire 480-acre complex have been certified to ISO 9001:2000 and ISO/TS 16949:2002 requirements. The company’s Wire and Cable division has been certified to ISO 14001 Environmental Management System requirements. The company claims to have the largest, most modern single-site manufacturing facility in the world. For more information contact East Penn Manufacturing Co., Inc., Lyon Station, PA 19536 or visit the company’s web site at www.dekabatteries.com.