dj Orthopedics Selected to Host Lean Manufacturing Workshop for Association for Manufacturing Excellence; Vista and Tijuana Plants Exemplify Manufacturing Excellence

SAN DIEGO, Mar 14, 2002 (BW HealthWire) -- dj Orthopedics Inc. (NYSE:DJO), a designer, manufacturer and marketer of products and services for the orthopedic sports medicine market, has been selected by the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) to host a workshop titled "The Lean Enterprise" on March 21-22, at its facilities in Vista, Calif., and Tijuana,
Mexico.

Indicative of the company's commitment to operational efficiency, customer service and effective productivity and inventory management, dj Orthopedics has successfully transformed itself from a traditional batch and queue manufacturer to a lean enterprise. The company's selection as a host site is representative of AME's recognition of dj Orthopedics as an organization that has demonstrated "best practices" in the area of operational efficiencies.

"We are honored to once again host AME's lean interactive workshops at our facilities this year," said Les Cross, dj Orthopedics' president and CEO. "dj Orthopedics is dedicated to implementing a lean enterprise model in all aspects of our business, especially in today's challenging economic climate. One of the benefits realized from the transition to lean methods has been a significant increase in our rate of new product introductions while reducing our time-to-market development lead-times."

For several years, dj Orthopedics has employed the Kaizen Blitz technique of highly focused processes aimed at improving performance to reach its key business goals of inventory and cost reduction, capacity expansion and increased productivity. Through the use of the Kaizen Blitz and lean manufacturing concepts such as teams, shop floor scoreboards, a recognition system and one-piece flow production, the company has reduced lead-times throughout the organization from weeks to hours.dj Orthopedics also utilizes the principles of the Japanese Kanban management system hand-in-hand with the Kaizen concept as a way of managing materials flow within work areas. Both techniques are combined to ensure the company's global competitiveness by creating an optimum manufacturing environment.

The first day of "The Lean Enterprise" workshop will focus on customer service, market intelligence and the product development processes, which utilize design, manufacturing and quality functional deployment concepts. Through customer case studies, attendees will learn how dj Orthopedics dramatically reduced customer order response time on its Defiance® custom knee brace (24-hours from receipt of patient measurements to shipment) and its impact on the company's bottom line. Day two will take place in dj Orthopedics' Mexico facilities, where visitors will see lean principles in action from the daily schedule and cellular manufacturing concepts to the on-the-floor team scoreboards and the plant's one-piece flow environment, which produces more than 5,000 products each day.

Founded in 1985, the Association for Manufacturing Excellence is a non-profit organization that provides its membership of 6000+ executives with a powerful series of educational events that demonstrate how lean principles can be applied across the entire manufacturing process. "The Lean Enterprise" workshop at dj Orthopedics' United States and Mexico facilities will take
place on March 21-22, 2002, beginning at 7:30 a.m. with continental breakfast and a general company overview. dj Orthopedics' workshop leaders include Ken Rolfes, senior vice president of global operations and customer care; Luke Faulstick, vice president of manufacturing; and Ruben Esparza, operations manager for Mexico.

dj Orthopedics is a global orthopedic sports medicine company specializing in the design, manufacture and marketing of surgical and non-surgical products and services that repair, regenerate and rehabilitate soft tissue and bone, help protect against injury, and treat osteoarthritis of the knee. Its broad range of over 600 existing products, many of which are based on proprietary technologies, includes rigid knee braces, soft goods, specialty and other complementary orthopedic products and its recently introduced line of surgical products. These products provide solutions for patients and orthopedic sports medicine professionals throughout the patient's continuum of care.

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dj Orthopedics Inc.
Marjorie Rowland, 760/734-4766